this mysterious, covert french photographer is drawing attention to his "eye-catching" black & white photos of women's faces and eyes plastered in the most unlikely public places in countries across africa, south america and asia.it's like "where's waldo," except here, his photos are conspicuous enough because they are poster-sized (and sometimes larger) and literally stare back at you! (no magnifying glasses needed!)
the photo above is at the french embassy in phnom penh, credit goes to my friend sreisaat (based in cambodia) who graciously allowed me to post her photo here. sreisaat also took miss iggy there for poster-ity.
according to marie claire magazine, JR traveled for a year photographing women who were victims of abuse & discrimination in their respective countries, then blew up the photos and enlisted the aid of locals to install his pieces in buildings, bridges, stairways, and even the sides of countryside trains. he refuses to reveal his real name for risk of prosecution--technically, he's vandalizing in the name of art!
but this is art with a mission. he wants to honor the fortitude of the many women he captured in film by immortalizing them as public murals. they're real, they exist.
international women's day is on march 8th. see more of his impressive work on his website (click "themes" then choose "women" on the dropdown menu) and watch the videos of her women subjects telling their stories of strife in their own homelands.
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6 vandalized my wall:
that is literally an "eye-catching art" and really preferable over the vandals of the city.
Thanks for the additional info, FF. The artist/photographer said so himself that the photographs are a comment on the role of women and domestic violence, an issue that is thorny in most countries, especially in India and African countries where he took most of the eye-photos.
Wow... awesome... almost scary !
pretty weird... I really don't like paintings, photos, etc with somebody on it staring at me.
lawstude: indeed! but it's a risky type of art he's doing...it's like "catch me vandalizing if you can!"
sreisaat: i wonder if one of his posters is up at the french embassy in NY. hmmm.
sidney & shiera: yes, it does have a creepy vibe to it. but his other photos on other locations actually show full faces of women who are pensive or sad.
interesting photo...really an eye catcher. :)
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