Showing only Notes & Links tagged voyeurism on art, design, creativity and, technology by Casey A. Gollan

Untitled from Suite Vénitienne, 1980-96, by Sophie Calle

For months I followed strangers on the street. For the pleasure of following them, not because they particularly interested me. I photographed them without their knowledge, took note of their movements, then finally lost sight of them and forgot them.

At the end of January 1980, on the streets of Paris, I followed a man whom I lost sight of a few minutes later in a crowd. That very evening, quite by chance, he was introduced to me at an opening. During the course of our conversation, he told me he was planning an imminent trip to Venice.

Stranger (6), 1999 by Shizuka Yokomizo
C-type print, 108 x 127cm

Dear Stranger,

I am an artist currently working on a photographic project which involves people I do not know. I would be delighted if you could get involved in this project. The project may be exhibited in some exhibitions next year.

I would like to take a photograph of you standing in your front room from the street in the evening. Acamera will be set outside the window on the street. If you do not mind being photographed, please stand in the room and look into the camera through the window for 10 minutes on []/[]/[]:[] pm. I will have come before []/[]/[]:[] pm and set up my camera. I will take your picture for 10 minutes and then leave.

Instructions
It has to be only you, one person in the room alone. Please turn all the lights on and stand at least 1~1.5m away from the window. If you are too close to the window, you will become just a shadow in the picture.
I would like you to wear something you always wear at home. Please do keep reasonably still and calmly look into the camera. 10 minutes is a very long time to keep still. Please try it as much as possible but you can relax from time to time. If you do not want to get involved, please simply draw the curtains to show your refusal.

I will NOT knock on your door to meet you. We will remain strangers to each other. However, I will send you a small print later on with my name, address and telephone number. If you do not want your photograph to be exhibited, you can then let me know.

I really hope to see you from the window.

Faithfully,

Artist

(Via Kaila)

These transparent living spaces, once the quintessence of twenty first century Modernism, have become eyesores, particularly at night when they take on the appearance of showrooms in Amsterdam’s red light district.

How often have you walked down streets where you’ve seen much more of another person’s life and lifestyle than necessary? Yet like a moth drawn to light you couldn’t resist?

Steven Heller — People in Glass Apartments: Observatory: Design Observer