Strike a Pose!
by BBC South Yorkshire contributor Ali Davies
This following is from an anonymous letter Shizuka Yokomizo sent to various strangers, and you can see the subjects who responded to this project at the Site Gallery until the end of August:"I would like to take a photograph of you standing in your front room. A camera will be set up outside the window in the street. If you do not mind being photographed please stand in your room and look at the camera through the window for 10 minutes. I will take your picture then leave."
How would you react? Would you strike a pose, or would you draw the curtains?
Yokomizo was born in Tokyo and studied at Goldsmiths in London.
She essentially a photographer, but also works in video art and focuses on the gap between self and other, hence the title of the show 'Distance'.Her work reflects the relationship between public and private and has a solitary feeling of isolation. We see images of people standing alone, playing the piano and names in lonely-hearts ads.
The 'Stranger' series shows people looking through windows.
These are somehow contrary to normal portraits, where the viewer stares at the subject, instead the subject seems to stare back at you.
It is unusual to make eye contact with a complete stranger; the experience is both original and unique. It is portraiture turned on its head, the viewer and the sitter almost swap places.These are not portraits, however, as Yokomizo says, "I didn't try to create a personality, you don't know them, it is simply an encounter." The work sometimes seems voyeuristic.
In previous works Yokomizo took photographs of people sleeping, reiterating the theme of public and private. In a video piece 'A Boy with his father' we see a boy awkwardly posing.
Like photographer Gillian Wearing Yokomizo is interested in people's reactions when setting up a photograph, people getting ready to pose before the eagerly anticipated shutter release.There is also an element of the passing of time in Yokomizo's work, people waiting to be photographed.
In 'Forever (And Again)' women in the autumn of their years play Chopin on the piano, something that has taken these older ladies hours to learn.The exhibition questions the distance we have between others and ourselves.
Although it gives you an insight into other people's worlds, it makes you think how little you actually know about the people you encounter everyday.
8 comments:
the one with the man on the phone makes me think he is been talking for the last half hour infront of the window, and is sort of interested in getting his photo taken, but at the same time distracted, he's multitasking.
The second photograph by Shizuka is really interesting to me. It seems that the girl is getting really angry to the photographer or to the viewers. It looks like we are pretty close to her privacy, so she kind of shows that stop sign by crossing her arms. Another interesting point is the way the window is half way openned; it creates a new frame inside the frame.
I think this is a really cool idea for a body of work. I like how confrontational all the subjects seem to be. It's like they're saying "yes, you can take my picture, but I'm still in charge of the show". I like seeing how people react to different situations and this is a very unique situation to put someone in and I like it very much.
Im a big fan of the initial idea of the shoot, the entire stand infront of your window for 10 minutes really lets the photographer be more of a watcher and let the subject have a free will and almost be the director for the shot. The images are all great enviromental portraits and the story behind it is even more interesting to me.
I like how all the people in these photos seem to be almost put off by having to take time away from their daily ruteen to stand in front of a window. It could be cause they're really irritated, or maybe they're just nervous and don't know what to do in front of the camera. All except the guy in his tighty-whiteys talking on the phone....I thought he was entertaining.
Once I read that these people were aware that the photographer was outside their window these photos looked different to me than they had at first glance. To me it meant that these people had thoughtfully posed for this so I had to go back and look again.
I thought the guy in his underwear was hilarious. I admired his boldness and sense of humor.
The first two where the women (are they both women?) are crossing their arms... It seems like they might have been uncomfortable with this idea but their curiosity got the better of them. Hence why they are there, but their stances are very closed off, arms folded and such. The second lady looks almost angry to me.
The concept behind this is fascinating. What an easy way to find volunteer's for a shoot. Other than that I feel nothing.
The idea of forcing a subject into an impromptu portrait is pretty clever. At least in my experience when you prompt someone that you're going to take their picture they want to clean up a bit or fix little imperfections. By photographing them so suddenly inside their homes you get the real image. An unadultered photo of a stranger in their own home.
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