by Tony McAteer
The street photographer is now stuck between a public unease with an increasingly voyeuristic society, and political concerns
about security and dissent. Both act to make problematic any observation other than the sanctioned or the official.
Attempting to deal imaginatively with encounters of suspicion while photographing, I took up the implied idea of my shots as
evidence of intrigue and drama. From numerous shots taken in cities I arrange moments, expressions and movements that can
be construed as suspicious or unnerving – in many cases these are the ‘in between’ moments and expressions that are usually
discarded in favour of a more complete, self-contained shot. Playing on the panic and suspicion that seem to permeate our
dominant social narratives, I weave suggestive pseudo narratives that present the public domain as an unsettled, tense place.
All shots have been taken in perfectly innocent situations. It is simply the way expressions and movements are arranged,
and the suggestive aesthetic of surveillance that enhance the sense of seeing something tense, dramatic or violent.
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE
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Submitted on the theme of STREET LIFE, Spring 2011