Thursday, September 2, 2010

Angela Singer

I really admire Angela Singer’s commitment to photographing. I have to admit that there are periods of time where I do not photograph for a couple weeks and I am always upset with myself for that. Sometimes I find myself over thinking about what I am photographing and I admire Angela for that not being an issue for her. She photographs without hesitation and shoots almost everything she sees. She does seem almost obsessed with the idea of having to create images on a daily basis and I wonder what would happen if she were not able to photograph for one day? It is obviously a desire she has but I wonder is it something she needs to do as well? Her granddaughter seems to be concerned with Angela’s need to photograph but I do not think it is something she should be too worried about. It may be annoying to have a grandmother who is always documenting her life but I think she is lucky. I cherish the photographs my grandparents took and shared with me. It gave me an insight into their lives before they were ever grandparents or even parents. Angela’s granddaughter is lucky to be able to look at thousands and thousands of photographs that have documented day after day of her grandmother’s life.


What I find most compelling about Angela’s work is the absolute truth in it. For the most part she shoots exactly what is around her. When you look at her images you get a great sense of what her life is like. She photographs her family, her home, her food, even her checks. I also like that her work seems to take the little things in her life and make them seem like big things by giving them their own spotlight. She makes you stop and really take a look at things that other people wouldn’t normally take photographs of or things you wouldn’t care to look at. I think that her work is strong as a whole. When the video shows her show in the gallery it is just perfect. The way the gallery hung her images in a grid was perfect. I think that if I were to see just a single image of hers I wouldn’t feel as compelled by her work. It is the overwhelming amount of images that makes her work so great.

This work is important because it documents an ordinary women’s life. Angela Singer is a woman who grew up in a small town and very rarely left. Her world is something that we wouldn’t normally see but she has given us the privilege to peek into her everyday life. Angela’s life may seem simple to me but that is what makes it so important. She turns the simplicity into something magnificent because she gives every small aspect in her life the attention that I normally would not.

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