Barbara Probst - Exposure

Produced between the years 2000 and 2006, the series 'Exposure" by Barbara Probst documents the contrast between the use of time, space, surrealism and the decisive moment (Henry Cartier Bresson) through her exploration of how all manner of types of framing can be used within Photography. When I first discovered the work of Barbara Probst (who was born in Munich in 1964), it took me a while to figure out what the purpose behind her work was.  I mean, my first impressions of the image below were "Okay so what is the purpose of what appears to be a two images of a lady jogging around and jogging to the edge of a rooftop? This kind of question from a viewer is what makes the context and appeal of a piece of work stand out. After looking into more images of her work online, I noticed a pattern that showcased that each image from the series was in fact conjoined into two images. Some showcasing Black And White displayed with colour and each pair of images had one that was mostly out of focus. But why though?

      (Fig 1: Exposure #39: N.Y.C., 545 8th Avenue, 03.23.06, 1:17 p.m.

2006)

 My discovery of the Barbara Probst's Exposure series, led me to wanting to diverge my interests in finding the answer to these questions further into the backstory of this body of work. This led me to my University's library in which I came across a review in "Issue 72 Of Source Magazine" of Barbara Probst's Exposure series by Tom Allbeson.  

The article led to me to discover that the purpose of the body of work was to document the representation behind the photographic exposure and photographic decisive moment. 

                                          Fig 2: Barbara Probst Exposure #11A: N.Y.C

One of my chosen images from this body of work, showcases a view of what you would think would be two separate images taken from different angles showcasing different subjects. In fact, what this conjoined image is showing is two different angled images of exactly the same subjects from different vantage points at exactly the same time showcasing a decisive moment within a point in time. In order to archive this, Barbara Probst placed a number of radio controlled cameras around the street of New York that this shoot was taking place. The result of this was an interesting take on using multiplicity within a moment in time. 

There is such a feeling of beaching someone's privacy within this one image. The feeling of being looked upon without realising it by a camera portrayed as CCTV and having a camera photograph you from extremely close up is an uneasy thing. The use of capturing the little girl out of focus portrays capturing something on the move. I think of the effect that paparazzi has on peoples privacy when I look at this image.