Playing a part?On of my favorite artists, a French photographer who goes by JR, has recently landed in Cambodia. JR is well known for his large scale black and white portraits that he pointedly plasters around a given city, town, or community. He is rarely vocal about his portraits, and he rarely explains the projects that he is working on. One quote I found, was from a similar project he did in France, ""The photos have a lot of messages," JR said. "But the main one is: 'Look at me, I exist, I'm larger than life.'" Seeing his latest work from Cambodia gave me chills. Cambodia has an unfortunate notoriety for trafficking and the exploitation of women... and we do a lot of prevention work there. The faces of these women in the portraits feels so telling of their fight. Scorn and sadness. Maybe I'm just projecting because of the work that I do. Maybe not. Maybe that is the point of art like this... striking a nerve of passion. Art can be so filled with controversy, not even including the controversy that he is a street artist.
My question is, does this type of art play a part in the abolition fight, or is it a clanging cymbal?
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3 comments:
I love this! Art speaks to the soul, rather than just the mind. It's not logical, but emotional. So I think that art that tells a story speaks louder than words sometimes.
I believe in what Love146 is doing & I'm thankful that you're being a voice for the voiceless. Even in art. :)
-Michelle
JR is taking pictures of women who would never otherwise get seen or heard. In addition his work is accessible to many. Bravo JR & Love 146!
Hey! Just wanted to let you know that the link for JR's site is broken.
It should be "http://www.jr-art.net/" not "http//jr-art.net"
I love his art, and I agree with the latter comment.
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