Sophie Calle
Biography/Overview:
Born October 9th 1953, Sophie Calle is a french, writer, conceptual artist and photographer. She mixes image and text to provoke very intense responses typically stimulated by picture film or literature. Her most astounding works suggest human susceptibility, and examines intimacy and individuality as well as brushing on various types of stalking and surveillance.
In the process of secretly investigating, reconstructing or documenting strangers’ lives, Calle manipulates situations and individuals, and often takes disguise while doing so. Thus, in the act of pursuing a stranger to Venice, or taking the position of a hotel chamber maid to observe the guests, Calle conditions and recasts her own identity for that period of time. The documents or “evidence” that result from these conceptual projects are presented as photographs, photo-text installations and zines.
Career:
After completing her secondary education, Calle set off on a seven year expedition around the world, during which time she developed a strong sense of political justice, identifying herself as a Maoist, feminist and member of the proletarian Left. Upon her return to Paris, she found herself in an alien city, without a clear direction, without friends, without employment. As a result, she took to the streets, following strangers on the road like
a detective, recovering her hometown through the paths of others. The project eventually led her to follow one such stranger to Venice while surreptitiously taking photographs of his journey.
In 1979, Calle invited strangers and friends to spend a few hours each on a single bed so that it was occupied continuously for eight days straight. She took photographs and conducted short interviews with each individual, one of whom was the actor Fabrice Luchini, and noted the important details of these brief meetings in a notebook: the topics they discussed, the positions of the sleepers, their movements in bed, a description of their breakfasts. “The Sleepers” caught the attention
of art critic Bernard Lamarche-Vadel, husband of one of the
subjects, who invited Calle to exhibit at the Paris Biennale in 1980.
Her work seeks to create a bridge between art and life through installations, photographs, text and video and borrows the style of reportage and inventory.
‘Suite Venitienne’
Venetian Suite consists of black and white photographs, texts and maps that document a journey the artist made to Venice in order to follow a man, referred to only as Henri B. She had previously briefly met him in Paris. Suite Venitienne records Calle’s attempts to track her subject over the course of his thirteen-day stay in Venice. She investigates and stalks him, enlisting the help of friends and acquaintances she makes in the city. Eventually Henri B. recognises Calle, and they share a silent walk. Even after this encounter Calle continues her project, shadowing Henri B. from a distance until his arrival back in Paris.
The photographs that accompany the text are candid snapshots that document Henri B.’s movements and record the places he visits in the city. Henri B. was a keen amateur photographer himself, and while shadowing her subject, Calle also attempted to replicate the photographs he took. The installation also includes photographs Calle took using a ‘Squintar’ mirrored lens attachment, which allowed her to photograph subjects without aiming her camera directly at them.
Despite these artistic precursors, Calle has described how her project was originally conceived as a personal exercise. She has said: ‘When I made it, I did not consider myself to be an artist. I was just trying to play, to avoid boredom.’ The political aspects of her work include surveillance; are we being constantly monitored? and to what extent is it acceptable? Furthermore, her project exploring the morality behind photographing a subject that is unwitting. It also touches on the socially accepted norms to do with modern photography – whats acceptable and what isn’t. Her work has caused a lot of controversy; many people applaud her concepts and bravery while others believe what she’s doing may be obsessive, wrong and breaching human rights.
