Occupying Wall Street: A Visual Diary by Accra Shepp

• I decided to go see Accra Shepp’s Occupying Wall Street: A Visual Diary at the Steven Kasher Gallery.
• Every week Shepp produces around twenty black and white portraits of subjects participating in the Occupy Wall Street protests. New images are added to the exhibition on a weekly basis. I found the fact that the exhibition was a work in progress particularly fascinating, as it is a fitting way to show an event that continues to unfold, in real time. Furthermore, by inviting visitors to contribute their comments to the images, Shepp encourages the audience to step outside their role as spectators, and become active participants who critique the work.
• Although many of the subjects were looking directly into the lens and standing alone, the greater depth of field allowed the audience to get a sense of the surroundings, and environment. Instead of isolating the subjects, and stripping them of their surroundings, Shepp successfully framed his subjects by people in the background to capture the “togetherness” of the environment. I believe this was done on purpose, as at the epicenter of the movement is the notion of individual people collaborating, connecting and collectively making the protest real. Had the images been of larger groups of people, it would have still difficult to see the individuality in the movement. By providing a great depth of field Shepp highlighted individuals, yet stressed their connectedness to one another.
• I had hoped some of Shepp’s images could have captured some of the more artistic, musical, and playful interactions that happen at Zucatti Park. Instead, most of the low key images showed a subject facing the camera and at times holding various signs. The lighting choice was fitting to the images as it evoked a sense of mystery, and seriousness. Perhaps images of people sharing a meal, or playing music together could have exposed the more human narrative, as appose to pure documentation of the event.
• I noticed that the rule of thirds was used to create balanced images that focused the attention on the subject. In most of the images the subject was slightly off center, positioning them on the imaginary lines of the grid. Often times, the head of the subject was in the top third of the image, the body in the middle, and the feet in the bottom most quadrant.