Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Andrea Modica (Marissa's Pick)



Andrea Modica became most well known for her book "Treadwell".  She was a young artist from Brooklyn when she decided to follow the life of a little girl, Barbara, and her family in Treadwell, NY (population 200) in 1986.  She photographed them for nearly a decade and in turn became a facet in their world.  Many of her images are beautiful as well as uncomfortably real.  She creates (and documents) this little girl's unique and dark adolescent experience.  Though many of the images in this series are composed, she reveals a very real and psychologically poignant portraits.  The fact that Barbara is growing up in poverty and battling diabetes is the only really clear narrative within the series; she leaves a great deal of interpretation to the viewer.  They all seem to be these dramatic fleeting moments but don't depict any particular happening.  
I am always really amazed at how involved an artist can become to their subjects.  Although her presence with a camera had to have had an impact (as I really feel it always does, unless the subject is unaware), she is still documenting their lives in a personal way.  I can see how this work relates to Sarah's pick last week of David Hilliard.  Though his presences is obvious, even in his technique, he evokes a feeling of a personal moment.




1 comment:

Unknown said...

I miss my Aunt Barbara! She was a dream, an inspiration, and a hero!