Research 2
Whilst doing some more research, I came across this article on the guardian’s website.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1539700/Race-row-as-Big-Brother-sinks-to-vile-spectacle.html
The artical talks about the Big Brother race row involving Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty. After reading this article, I realised that these people are only made a public spectacle of because Big Brother is filming all the time and then edits the footage for entertainment purposes.
This idea of being filmed while only half being aware of it got me thinking about the idea of CCTV. We walk around every day aware that we are being filmed, and this in itself makes us a public spectacle. The idea of a public spectacle is that only the direct people around us are witnesses, but we still remain blissfully unaware that of course, nearly every public area is under surveillance. Be it for our own safety, or the fact that ‘they’ want to keep an eye on us is not the point. My point is that these public spectacles on any level are most likely to be captured on film, and are viewed by an anonymous person.
So, I started looking at photographers who have captured the public from places where CCTV may be installed. I found two images that I liked by two different photographers.
Wernher Krutein
This first image is by Wernher Krutein. It shows an image of London. Everything that we see in this picture has no idea of the photograph taking place. The photograph in itself is a spectacle because it is meant to be viewed by us, the consumer.
Miklos Gaal
Finally, this photograph is by Miklos Gaal. This image is a bit different, choosing to make use of space and emptiness as opposed to the busy metropolis of a city like London. I like this photo because the people, the spectacle in this picture are slightly blurred, making them seem totally anonymous. This photograph seems again a bit like a CCTV image. I like the idea that this place is like a public park or recreation area, and that even we are still observed in what is deemed to be a safe and tranquil environment.
