Assignment- Part I - Mel Kobran

1. Phillip Toledano's PHONESEX.
2. The photos are all portraits of individuals in a comfortable space, most likely their home. The full body shots are well light in a way that assures the viewer that the shots were staged, but perhaps the expressions on the subject’s faces were not.
3. Showing (in most cases) the full body of the subject gives the viewer a clear idea of who they are looking at. This information allows the viewer to make their own judgments and assumptions about what they imagined a phone sex operator to look like, and whether or not what is presented in front of them fits or doesn’t fit that idea.
4. The frame consists of one subject, and a few identifying elements in their environment that allude their home life.
5. The fact that the personal elements were included force the viewer to consider the subject as a real person, and not just a voice on the phone. Likewise, it’s apparent that Toledano took a lot of time with the subject before he got the perfect shot since all of their expressions are individualized, and for the most part relaxed.
6. The concept of portraits of phone sex operators in their home spaces is really interesting to me. It was definitely essential to take the photos in their own homes to get an idea of the “behind the scenes” of the industry. What’s even more compelling though is the text associated with each picture. Without the text, the photos would lose meaning and likewise the text without pictures would lack the personal element that seeing the subjects faces in their homes provides.

1. David Knight’s Disconnected.
2. The formal aspects of this series are a combination of crisp harsh light, on a single subject behind a fog of dust and an aged appearance.
3. These formal elements create a barrier that literally disconnects the viewer from the subject of the photo, I feel like this fog is very similar to the static Lauren was talking about in class. These people are removed from everything else in their environment. They are completely isolated since there is no reference given as to where they are and this makes them seem even more disconnected from any specific time or place, and especially from the viewer.
4. The content of each shot is one individual in an unidentifiable place. They appear disoriented and uncomfortable. The light comes from one corner of the frame, and seems to be a point of tension within the shot. The rest of the shot balance with the hazy filter, which looks like a mix of dust, scratches, lens flair and cobwebs.
5. This concept is fairly straight forward with the series’ idea of disconnected. The formal elements within the series literally disconnect the subject from their environment, and likewise the viewer from the information within the frame.
6. The artist’s concept of disconnection is very apparent in the work. The work is uncomplicated but still has a certain impact, and it works well not only as the personification of a theme, but as beautiful work that functions as an aesthetically pleasing artwork.