While you were sleeping
Rachel Rees
Issue date: 2/26/07 Section: Lifestyle
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A few weeks ago, Chicago-based artist Yvonne Doll appeared on the "Today Show." Doll's most recent project consists of taking pictures of sleeping commuters as they ride Chicago's transit system with her Motorola V557 cell phone. These spontaneous portraits, in addition to being made into tangible works of art, are also posted at SleepyUrbanite.com, a website Doll created to circulate the works. She started it in the hope that one of her subjects may find themselves fast asleep on the webpage.
Doll came up with the idea of cell phone portraiture when she was a student at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she "used to make art every minute of every day." She saw the cell project as a way of regaining the frequency with which she once produced art, and it couldn't be more convenient considering the amount of time Doll herself spends on the transit system.
"We can either let technology pull us apart," Doll said on "Today," "or we can use it to feel more connected."
The images are vestiges of the daily grind and sheer exhaustion that overcome commuter workaholics. Though quite possibly an attempt to undermine the classification of the works as "art," some have asked whether Doll's undercover photography oversteps personal boundaries. At what point is it OK to capture someone's photograph without permission?
Doll herself doesn't necessarily see her work as an invasion of privacy. To her, it is more a way of documenting humanity. Being inconspicuous provides the most natural results. She finds it fascinating how people choose to engage in the intimacy of sleep in one of the most public places - a bustling urban city such a Chicago. And it is the public nature of the transit system that makes Doll's documentation legal.
Nearly 70 years ago, the great American photographer Walker Evans brought a camera onto the New York subway to document the people on board. And he did so with a bulky 35 mm camera concealed within his jacket. Evans was able to capture people in a vulnerable state. Although few subway portraiture pieces of his find their subject fast asleep, they are obviously unaware of his lens. All poses and facial expressions are entirely natural and it is this naturalism - one that he and Doll are both able to create - that make the works so breathtaking.
Doll came up with the idea of cell phone portraiture when she was a student at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she "used to make art every minute of every day." She saw the cell project as a way of regaining the frequency with which she once produced art, and it couldn't be more convenient considering the amount of time Doll herself spends on the transit system.
"We can either let technology pull us apart," Doll said on "Today," "or we can use it to feel more connected."
The images are vestiges of the daily grind and sheer exhaustion that overcome commuter workaholics. Though quite possibly an attempt to undermine the classification of the works as "art," some have asked whether Doll's undercover photography oversteps personal boundaries. At what point is it OK to capture someone's photograph without permission?
Doll herself doesn't necessarily see her work as an invasion of privacy. To her, it is more a way of documenting humanity. Being inconspicuous provides the most natural results. She finds it fascinating how people choose to engage in the intimacy of sleep in one of the most public places - a bustling urban city such a Chicago. And it is the public nature of the transit system that makes Doll's documentation legal.
Nearly 70 years ago, the great American photographer Walker Evans brought a camera onto the New York subway to document the people on board. And he did so with a bulky 35 mm camera concealed within his jacket. Evans was able to capture people in a vulnerable state. Although few subway portraiture pieces of his find their subject fast asleep, they are obviously unaware of his lens. All poses and facial expressions are entirely natural and it is this naturalism - one that he and Doll are both able to create - that make the works so breathtaking.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Yvonne Doll
posted 3/20/07 @ 7:35 AM PST
Rachel,
I loved your article, very well written and thought provoking. Thank you presenting your really interesting take on Sleepyurbanite.com.
Yvonne Doll
www. (Continued…)
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