“You are the subject, Life is the Object”-L.Model
Lisette Model once said, “Don’t click the shutter until the experience makes you feel embarrassed.” Her photography so exposes the subject that it feels as though the clicking of the shutter is peeling off their clothes and their skin, leaving behind just their essence in a black and white form. She photographed people she didn’t know, people who spoke to her visually. She liked things that were different and distant to her, like Coney Island and American Jazz. Lisette’s works felt effortless. Most of her subjects had no pose, and the result was a deep and candid picture. It felt as though she stole a moment of a stranger’s life and held onto it, and the stranger had no idea.
Lisette’s followers did similar pieces, but hers stand out amongst the rest. I felt like in her follower’s pieces there was an aspect of her photography, but not a single one could match hers. One artist, Raymond Jacob, had work that resembled hers in the fact that he worked in the same places as she worked, taking pictures in Coney Island like she did. Leon Leuinstein used a similar technique as she did, where the photo was taken of the person’s back, and no face was seen, yet it still gave the subject a story and still was intriguing. Many of the artists, I felt, lacked the effortlessness. For example, Peter Hujar’s pieces felt too posed and structured, like he put too much effort into seeming like he didn’t. This is not to say that they weren’t beautiful pictures, but they just did not have the same freeness that Model’s had.
One of my favorite pieces actually was not Model’s, but was similar to hers in a very important way. The piece is called “Burst Balloon, Midtown, NYC 1989”, by Bruce Cratsley. It was a picture of a party balloon, popped and left on the sidewalk. The rubbery remains were still attached to a curled ribbon, which trailed off in the distance. Like Lisette Model, Cratsley does not need to fill up the entire picture with eye-grabbing material to get the point across. He takes something simple and lets it tell its own story. The balloon looks rejects, sad, and abandoned. It is easy enough, from just the simple image he gives us, that the balloon was from a child’s party, or a grand celebration, that was simply forgotten when it stopped serving its purpose.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I liked your description of the photograph. I actually didn’t compare the works by the different artists. So your response was very interesting. And I think it’s cool that she took pictures of people she didn’t know. Sometimes I see people that I might have liked to take a photograph of and there is a certain mystery about it. The distance. Candid, is a nice way to describe the pictures.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:39 am
The title of your post really got my attention and that quote you used in the beginning was really poignant and thoughtful. It made me actually visualize myself taking a picture of a tree or something and just when I push the button to capture the picture, the tree/whatever makes me blush. I really liked how you thought of her photos as peeling off their skin. It’s an interesting way to look at that photos. It’s definitely going to make me think twice whenever I take pictures. Nice post
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I love the way you put your post together. I happen to have been in LOVE Lisette Model’s work for years and feel the same as you; no one can capture her freeness or imitate her style. The very fact that people are trying to do so takes away from the feel of the photo that should be real. What you said about stealing a moment of of someone’s life was beautiful.
October 24th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
This post was very interesting. I agree with everything you said. The balloon was also one of my favorite pictures. I found this picture quite sad. How bout you?