Abigail Solomon-Godeau is Professor Emerita of the Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of several books, including
Sarah Parsons is Associate Professor of Art History at York University.
Abigail Solomon-Godeau is Professor Emerita of the Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of several books, including
Sarah Parsons is Associate Professor of Art History at York University.
This essay probes whether the non/relation of the photographer to his or her subject determines the effect or affect of the work. Solomon-Godeau begins with Sontag’s indictment of Arbus as a predatory photographer, exploiting people she photographed. She argues that the ethical and political distinction between insider and outsider photography may obscure a slippage between viewing relationships, those that operate between photographed subject and actual viewer. Nan Goldin and Larry Clark stake their claim for authenticity (and “non-objectification”) on their belonging to the milieus they have photographed. Rejecting this notion that being “inside” a particular milieu automatically exculpates the photographer from a voyeuristic and objectifying role, Solomon-Godeau asks whether it is not possible to consider the photographer’s utter exteriority as no more (or less) capable of rendering a certain truth within the limits of what is given to be seen.
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