artist entry: week 09: october 25

Dawoud Bey: photography: products of the attitude

interest and relations:
I believe a valuable piece of information while looking at Bey's work was what he said about the environment in his images, "Because that is the place in which they spend a significant amount of their time. I wanted to have that aspect of their experience represented in the construct of the pictures, even if what the text revealed was outside of that experience". I feel that this is the reason I am photographing the way I am. I am capturing people in the place where they are most comfortable, juxtapose that to the act of being monitored which might be uncomfortable, and then have my subject write about that moment, write about the experience. So as a final product, I have the physical aspect of the person captured, but I also have a piece of their mental and emotional state of mind. I feel it is important to look inward and be reflexive. We sometimes forget to look inward and be conscious. Sometimes, we run on autopilot and numb our feelings and our thoughts and just let the days run together.

biography:
"A product of the 1960s, Dawoud Bey said both he and his work are products of the attitude, “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”² This philosophy significantly influenced his artistic practice and resulted in a way of working that is both community-focused and collaborative in nature. Bey’s earliest photographs, in the style of street photography, evolved into a five-year project documenting the everyday life and people of Harlem in Harlem USA (1975–1979)."

"Bey is interested in the portrait as a site of psychological and emotional engagement between the photographer and his model. The multiple panels of Bey’s signature style, evident in this 1993 Polaroid triptych, allow him to capture momentary changes in expression, fleeting gestures, and the subtle articulations of personality."

quotes:
“My interest in young people has to do with the fact that they are the arbiters of style in the community; their appearance speaks most strongly of how a community of people defines themselves at a particular historical moment.” -Dawoud Bey

"Because that is the place in which they spend a significant amount of their time. I wanted to have that aspect of their experience represented in the construct of the pictures, even if what the text revealed was outside of that experience. Visually, I wanted to situate them in the context of the space but not have that space dominate or even be equally as present as they are on the photographs, which is why they are more optically foregrounded." - Dawoud Bey

images:

review, artist & gallery link:
http://www.dawoudbey.net/
http://whatsgoingon-dawoudbeysblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFX0ti0fTUs&feature=player_embedded#!