Thursday Entry: Activation

"It is only through activating the space of the spectator that the space of the photograph begins to take shape"
-Michael Tarantino

Tarantino, M. (1999) "Haunted Houses".
James Casebere: Asylum, 104-115.

Author Michael Tarantino's five part article is a thorough and lucid examination of James Casebere's Asylum series. The series of photographs under consideration is of models of interiors, devoid of people, and featuring blank white walls and careful lighting. The author notes that Casebere's imagery is subtle enough to suggest a narrative and not impose one. The photos are curious and allow the viewer to cull information from various elements. In more than one image, the window in the scene is not letting in enough light to sufficiently illuminate the space, yet the interior is awash with light. Tarantino finds oddities like that to be part of the artist's plan to activate the viewer into giving the work a second look. He sights Casebere's variation of angle and distance between the viewer and the subject as further strategies to gain the appropriate attention that the work demands. There are four photographs depicting the entrance-ways to neighboring tunnels that actively pull in the audience because of their disparate framing (two are vertical and two are horizontal) and the variation of the point of view.

In my most recent individual meeting with Paul, the two of us discussed my need to adopt different points of view, and the distance between the viewer and the object(s) of interest in my photographs. Casebere is very subtle in this regard; his images pull you in and you do not often find yourself questioning the vantage point. I find myself more immersed now in Casebere's work having read Tarantino's article.