"Pictures Of People Who Mock Me"

that cop is an ahole, i hope they find out who he is and he gets suspended

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I wonder if she's ever read Sontag's "On Photography," in which she argues persuasively that we can really assume much from an image that was caught in a fraction of a second? Like one of the pix in Jordan's link where a passerby is glancing sideways in the zaftig woman's direction. We don't really know what she's looking at, our eyes move all over the place. But the narrative she wants us to believe is that not only is the woman looking at her, she is "mocking" her by doing so.

In any event, I would urge the tattooed cop to pick on a guy his own size.

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The first shot in the article, more than the cop shot for me, fits her argument. That guy is staring at her with a smirk on his face and a little bit of shock. I've seen it pointed at me all too often for being overweight at auditions and music gigs. It's usually followed by some nasty comment under their breath about my appearance or, more disturbingly, with a comment meant to be heard by me. I mean, I had someone at an audition table moo at me while melodramatically putting a big red X through my headshot before I started to sing; he was the costume designer for a reading of a rock musical where they wound up wearing jeans and t-shirts. This stuff happens more than you might want to think and it's hard to deal with.

Whether or not everyone is actually responding to her size is not the most relevant part of the series for me. She's capturing human reaction to her body and/or the camera and it's pretty fascinating to see how people choose to behave when they know they're being watched. The narrative about her weight is her interpretation of the project, which is the level of fine art BS every visual artist has to create to justify their work. It's no different than random shots as metaphors for seemingly unrelated issues at every gallery in the world.

I think the more interesting narrative is the discussion about whether or not she is provoking the reaction in her subjects. That's the entire point of her exercise. She wants people to react to her appearance. She sets herself up to be ridiculed because people think that's an okay thing to do. There's an element of absurdity to the whole project, especially with the swing shot, but the discussion about whether or not society judges overweight people so openly ultimately seems like the point of the project. She might not get as many reactions if she wasn't eating in public, but she would still get usable shots. Shoot, she'd get usable shots if she could find a way to hide the camera so no one but her knew it was there.

Also, the very presence of a photographer alters how people behave. The presence of any kind of observer does that. What does the photographer look like? Could some or the reactions be to the fact that it appears that a photographer is exploiting an apparently depressed woman? Point a camera lens anywhere people can see you, and most of them will look in the direction the camera is aimed.

Also, how different might the photos be if the woman was a grinning woman brimming with joie de vivre?

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"Shoot, she'd get usable shots if she could find a way to hide the camera so no one but her knew it was there."

Which would be closer to what she is trying to say these photos are "about."

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Late to the game (as usual) but I have to agree with Namo. When I looked at the pictures, I thought - "wow, put yourself in a position where you look mentally ill/damaged and then assume that peoples reactions are solely to your weight".

I have struggled with an extra few pounds all of my life, and as a kid, folks were sometimes cruel, but I also know plenty of thin folks who had plenty of cruelty thrown their way.

She seems to be stacking the deck, almost baiting a response. Not only do we not know if these responses are truly directed at her, we can't be sure that if they are, her weight is the primary cause of the reaction.

Send a thin person dressed like she is down the street with the same mannerisms and actions and I would bet you would get many similar responses.

If some folks are mocking her, they are mocking the image that she intentionally put out there in order to garner a response.

Updated On: 4/24/13 at 12:29 PM

But couldn't one make the argument that people feel just as free to mock overweight people knowing there is a camera in front of them, as they would if there were no camera?

You can, absolutely. But I still maintain that very few of these shots actually look like she is being actively mocked.

There is so much other stuff going on in the crowded photos.

"There are hundreds of us walking in the same direction up this packed sidewalk. Why is this lady facing sideways and not moving as we bear down on her?" is one possible reaction in one photo.

I like the one in Chicago with the famous reflective sculpture. Nobody anywhere seems to be noticing her at all. I am not sure if the fact that she has been "invisibilized" is part of the mocking she wants us to see.

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There are too many manipulatives for me to consider this a sound study. I think, given her assistant professor status, it's more a case of publish or perish. Interesting premise though.

The pigeon-toed stance in the cop shot makes me think she's trying to recreate the cover of the first Elvis Costello album.

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Not for nothin, she's not THAT FAT! I mean, not stare-at fat, as far as I can tell.

I see tons more (pun intended) people who are three times that fat every day. Maybe people would stare at them, but I don't get why anyone would make a big deal out of that woman, who's not freaky lookin.

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So people will mock her,Stockard...and then take a pic of it.

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