Thursday 25 March 2010

Dana Pope Exhibition at the Impressions Gallery, Bradford.



Dana Pope's work, 'Not Natasha', is a series of images which have been shot since 2006, while Pope was in the Republic of Moldova, documenting the experiences of sex trafficked women, and their famillies.

Pope has created a somber feeling by combining light and dark with a muted, limited, and not overly saturated colour palette. From what we can see from this scene, the surroundings are in relative disrepair. The curtains we can see are tatty, dirt and stains are apparent on the floor and walls, and the bed has no sheets or coverings on its battered matress. The presence of a bed in the frame with a discarded object on it, conveys the topic that the photographer is considering clearly. Not only that, but even though the subject is somewhat seperate from the bed, it still remains lined up with her line of sight.

We are clearly given a sense of voyerism, and of looking 'in' upon a private life - the subject seems unaware of the camera, and distracted by something she is looking at in her hands, just out of the frame. Not only that, but the pose of the subject - knees pressed together and leaning forward to view the object in her hands, rather than relaxed or outstretched, conveys a sense of concern and contemplation. The combination of this sense of contemplation, combined with the direction of the subject's gaze, leads us to believe the two separate subjects (the girl, and the bed) are somehow tied together in the girl's thoughts. The large amount of dark space around the girl in the image draws our attention to her, and leaves space for her thoughts, and the thoughts the viewer holds about her.

It is clear that the photographer has separated us, the viewers, from the subject of the image. not only is the subject placed far away in the distance in the frame, but she is placed inside what is seen as another room, or perhaps a reflection in a mirror. Also, this choice of framing conveys a sense of good and evil - the placement of light and dark within the frame plunges our subject into a constrained space in which she is surrounded by darkness.

As with many of the images in Pope's series, it is not the identity or nature of the woman in the image which is the focus, but rather the situation and location in which the photographer is documenting her. The realtive annonimity of the subject leads the viewer to think more about the place and situation we are being shown, than the subject herself. This photograph is a strong example of the ways in which Pope has approached her documentation of the eastern European sex trade.

Maria Galvin

1 comment:

  1. Some good observations in here,but you've made the classic mistake of misnaming the artist! This looks sloppy, like you haven't read the text or really care who the artist is- same advice for essays- you need to proof read!
    Helen

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