Object Details
Artist
Stan Douglas
Date
2013
Medium
Digital fiber print mounted on Dibond Edition 22/25
Dimensions
Image: 24 × 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
Support: 34 1/2 × 28 inches (87.6 × 71.1 cm)
Frame: 35 3/8 × 28 7/8 inches (89.9 × 73.3 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired through the generosity of George M. Garfunkel, Class of 1960, and Sandra Garfunkel
Object
Number
2016.004
Influenced by the photojournalism of World War II, Stan Douglas is interested in the control a photo(…)
Influenced by the photojournalism of World War II, Stan Douglas is interested in the control a photographer has over his final product. Inspired by artists such as Weegee, Douglas is intrigued by how the camera interacts with its subjects, both revealing and obscuring information through connotative visual cues. In Guilty, 1950, Douglas implies an episodic series of events within a single image. The work’s title furthers the narrative by inviting many associations and blurring the line between record and reality. Who is guilty in this photograph—and why? Does the guilt belong to the subject shielding his face? Or does it refer back to the photographer snapping this seemingly private moment of his subjects? In its ambiguity, Guilty invokes a curiosity within viewers and challenges us to reconsider the concept of truth behind the photographic medium. (“15 Minutes: Exposing Dimensions of Fame,” curated by undergraduate members of Cornell’s History of Art Major’s Society and presented at the Johnson Museum April 16 – July 24, 2016)
