Gillian Wearing-
The series of photographs called "Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say" brought Wearing international recognition when it was first exhibited in 1993. This selection of five images shows the range of responses which Wearing elicited from passers-by, whom she selected at random, and asked to write their thoughts on a piece of paper. Wearing challenges social stereotypes and assumptions, and often works in collaboration with members of the public as a means of 'interrupting the logic of photo-documentary and snapshot photography.' She has said 'A great deal of my work is about questioning handed-down truths.'
Questions:
- Do we have any real way of knowing if Wearing's images really are the honest expression of their subjects' thoughts, as they are presented?
- How does this work reflect the obsession with confessions and privacy that is typical of reality TV shows?
14 comments:
We have no real way to know if the images are what the subjects are feeling. In fact, because of the second part of the title it leads me to suspect that it is what she is feeling or someone else. I guess this comes from personal experience. When i lie or am not being totally truthful, i usually divulge too much. Ill come up with this long terribly ellaborate story and tell it all, not realizing that if i kept it simple, people are more likely to believe me
I admit, i am a sucker to reality TV shows, but i think like most people, everyone wants to see how people would react in different situations, and relate it to themselves if they were placed in a similar situation. However, i dont believe that most of what is shown on TV is genuine. They have to be dramatic and interesting or no one would watch them. but people arent interesting all the time. I believe they take most of what happens on a particular show and edit it out of context, so one person seems crazy, or so we sympathize with another more.
I would have to agree with melissa here as well. We dont exactly know that what the subjects feel is the same as what is written on them. Further, this is actually a point of interest to me, and I would argue the contrast of the person's expression in the photo, and the actual word is what really makes these photos interesting and successful. Its the incoherent expression that makes the photo's compelling, and feels a little like propaganda, or perhaps like reality tv, where the commentary is telling us one thing, but our instictual basis of observation tells us another. Like the guy that is in the picture that says I'm desperate. We dont know if he is or not, but his expression doesnt neccessarily conjugate feelings of desperation. Then again, we have become master of disguising our true feelings. Perhaps that may be the true focal point in this series. Just my little two cents.
Question One: Do we have any real way of knowing if Wearing's images really are the honest expression of their subjects' thoughts, as they are presented?
If a stranger walked up to you and asked if you liked their hair what would you say? No matter what it looked like you probably would say that it looked nice. That is only because you know that is what they want to hear. I feel that this is what Wearing is doing. When you ask someone to reveal their emotional states and personal issues you need to have some kind of trust with that person in order to get a "real" answer. The strangers are only going to reveal so much. So NO there is no real way of knowing if the images are of honest expressions. There may be a little honesty but not "real" honesty due to a lack of trust.
Brandi Ashlock
Question 2: How does this work reflect the obsession with confessions and privacy that is typical of reality TV shows?
To me reality TV shows are not real. After the edits are made nothing is as it seems. The produces twist everything into something that is exciting and interesting. I believe this is what these stranges in these pictures are doing; they are only giving us the juicy stuff that they think someone wants to see or hear.
Brandi Ashlock
Question 1:
We don't have any real way of knowing if the images are honest expressions. I believe that having a stranger ask you to write down your thoughts on paper would cuase random thoughts to enter your mind, and therefore distort any attempt at an honest answer.
Question 2:
I believe confessions and privacy on reality TV shows is a joke. The person doing the confession knows he or she is being filmed and seen by many people. They say what they think people want them to say. There is also the point that Mellissa Smith touched on. The producers need an interesting show to keep it on the air, and therefore will do what it takes to get the ratings (like telling the cast what to say in the confessions, for example). Wearing's work reflects my exact point in showing that you can't really tell if a person is being honest or not, especially when there is a camera in their face.
I don't believe that we have anyway of knowing if it was truely the subject who wrote the expression, however I do believe that the expression is one that expresses their feelings. They obviously agreed to stand there and be photographed with the quote right in front of them and therefor don't seem to mind that being a lasting image of themselves. If it were me, I wouldn't want a long term caption of myself with something I didn't agree with.
I would definitely relate this to reality television in that, even though the people on television may not truely act in real life the way they do on thier shows, it's still the image that they allow to be portrayed to the world and therefor an image that they don't mind as being the world's vision of them.
- Zach Phillips
It is very difficult to know if the images are genuine. Alot of times it is better to portrait something that is expected and typical of society than to actually perpetuate true, deep into the soul feelings. Sometimes it is believed that to show true emotions is a sign of weakness therefore it is better to give a strong and deceiving front. The image is what people what us to see we can only make assumptions.
Oralia Gonzalez
1: The person in the picture is truly putting themselves on a piece of paper to some degree. While some may argue that people tend to "put on a show" in the presence of a camera, their over-reaction is still an exagerration of their personality. As for how much of themselves they reveal with a phrase; they are not writing anything specific, just a statement that seems fitting to them depending on where they are in that particular moment of their life. A snapshot of a person, not a movie about their entire life.
2: This work in relation to reality TV is very similar. The photographer has probably taken countless photos but chose the ones that best suited their personal taste and those photos that best suited their vision for the body of work. As for the viewers personal interactions; people are all insecure about their personalities and tendencies and it reassures them to see human nature displayed in its most "real" form on television. There are those who swear by reality shows and those who do not take them seriously; "Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say" will invoke that same spectrum of emotion.
Danish Rajwani
There is no dishonesty in this world we might hide our feelings but that does not mean that we are dishonest. I have to agree with zach in some way. Anything that comes to our mind or we agree to, could be part of us and it is possible that we might not even know that part of us yet. Life is a reality shows itself we all playing in different manner in our every day life. We have a roll to play sometime the roll is very close to our nature and some time is not and we all been in a situation where we had to act different than what we really, truly believe inside. In this series of work you can see this situation by looking deep in the peoples face and try to understand them. You will see that it could be honest. It could be the other way around to. The feelings that these people have in there hand could be there very moment thoughts and feelings. So I think any thing that comes to our mind could be part of us.
1. Do we have any real way of knowing if Wearing's images really are the honest expression of their subjects' thoughts, as they are presented?
There really is no way of knowing if thats the person's true feelings or not. The only one who knows if the signs are true or not are the subjects themselves. It maybe a reflection of what they really feel. It may be close or a version to what they really want to say, but the accuracy of the statement is something that we can never be sure of.
2. How does this work reflect the obsession with confessions and privacy that is typical of reality TV shows?
It motivates people to speak their mind more and they dont have to be really conspicuous about it either. In this case, a simple sign will help you unleash some feelings inside you. Reality shows are sometimes like plays that show you the possibilities of what may happen if you were to confess your feelings.
1. We cannot know for sure if these people are telling the truth. In fact, we should probably assume it is not true because we should not believe everything we see. But should we really care? These are not people we know, so we shouldn't care if it's the truth or not. More importantly, we are interested in whether or not we can relate to what is offered in the picture. If we can relate to a picture of someone holding up a sign saying, "I'm desperate" then we will care more about that than whether the person is being honest or not.
2. I do think this is the photography version of "reality" tv. People like to feel like they are one the "inside" and that's why they're interested.
1. I would have to agree with the majority of the previous post. It seems so obvious that the pictures are staged. Maybe the photographer paid him to hold it while he took a shot. It would definitely be hard to believe that the person feels exactly what the card says they feel. I would have had to been there to believe it.
2. Oh man, reality TV is an absolute joke. It's just another way to get your fifteen minutes of fame. It's a shame that people would actually eat a spider or live in a house for 6 months or pretend to fall in love with someone in order to get some money. However, it is addictive as hell. There is really nothing more to say than reality TV sells.
We, of course, have no real way of knowing if these images are really expressing their honest thoughts at the time. But, if the images must work, we must take them for being truthful. I don't know exactly why a person would admit to being desperate, but a man did just that. So perhaps, this was a true feeling. There is something I love in the photos, whether it be the casualness of them, or the fact people wrote in their own handwritings on the poster frame. It seems to give a very personal look into these people, once reading what they wrote, and then looking at their facial expression to see if you can see resemblance between the two.
1. We cannot know if this is what these people are truly feeling or if it is just what they want you to think about them. When asked to write what they are feeling on paper by a stranger for a photograph, some will want to write something that makes them seem intellectual or crazy or something that might make them laugh themselves.
2. The confessionals in reality TV shows are very similar to this project. They ask someone one on one how they "feel" but these people know that it is going to be seen and heard so they put whatever spin on their "feelings" they want.
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