Book Quiz

The work that most interested me in the book was the portraiture that was a combination of a controlled setting and the unintentional reactions to the settings by the "models." The artists that used this technique are spread throughout the book and their work can be interpreted to have different meanings.

Shizuka Yokomizo

Yokomizo sent letters to random people and told them to be standing in front of their window at a certain time. She went to their house at that time and took a picture of them through the window. Although the same approach was used for all of the pictures, the subjects in the photos make them very different. In fact, by using the same approach for all of the subjects, it makes it easier to compare and contrast the differences between the people. What is really interesting about these images is that they were taken at night, which means that the people could not see the photographer, but could only see themselves while they looked through the window, so the viewer sees the subject as they are responding to themselves. I am interested in this set of photos because it is a kind of portraiture where the surroundings and the the emotion are all natural and so we get a real glimpse of who the person is rather than what they want to look like or what the photographer is trying to make them look like.


Jitka Hanzlova
Hanzlova did a series of portraits where she stopped people in the street and asked to take their pictures. Again, the subjects knew they were being photographed, but in this case they had no time to prepare. We see each individual's reaction to being photographed by the stranger. Since the same treatment is used in all of these photos, the viewer can compare and contrast to learn things about the subjects in the pictures.

Hellen Van Meene
Helen Van Meene's portraits are a little different because the setting is completely set up by the photographer. The only thing not premeditated in the photo is the response of the subject. The surroundings elicit a natural reaction from the subject which Van Meene captures. The reaction of the subject is the main focus of the photos. We can read a lot about the person through the emotions they are emitting. Usually Van Meene tries to capture the awkward and/or emotional state of adolescent girls which is usually a natural response to having a picture taken anyways.

The thing that most interests me about these portraits is the relationship between photographer, model, and viewer. The fact that the subjects know a picture is being taken makes them interesting because each person reacts to this differently. Having your picture taken is a somewhat invasive thing. You know the viewer will be scrutnizing everything about you. The photographer can manipulate things in the photo, but the personality of the subject will always be a part of the photo. The point of view of the photographer will also always be apparent in photographs. The viewer also brings their own set of personal experiences to interpreting the photograph. Portraits are very personal and so they can draw strong emotions from the photographer, model and viewer easily.