Angela Strassheim

I wish I could see a proper chronology of Angela Strassheim's work from her very early days through to her present work.  I would be interested to see how she evolved over time eventually creating something like the body of work titled, "Evidence".  Through her other photography, I can see she has a keen sense of aesthetics. For this reason, among others, I understand why you recommended I look at her work. A lot of her photography is very satisfying compositionally. It seems like she pays attention to the borders and the physical weight of the photograph in the eye.

This photograph, for example, illustrates precisely the attention to composition and the movement of the eye within and around a photograph.  The combination of the placement of each individual toy, the asymmetrical but similar bedding pointing toward the girl in the middle, the wide angle lens used, and the overblown light exposure on the little girl in the center creates a very distinct world.  The picture resonates as intentional, but not forceful.  The angles of the toys, their shadows, and the beds kindly guide my eyes to the center of the photograph, where we see a girl separated into a heavenly world.  Looking up at her, we can see that her world is so close but so distant from reality. This picture gently discusses the power of imagination and freedom.  The height of the camera also makes the toy horses look larger like life, and make the girl up the couple of stares look like a goddess of her imaginary land. I feel that there's so much to say about this photo but it wasn't begged of me.  Maybe this happened because I was immediately distracted by the photograph's aesthetic beauty and playful use of colour.

Now for some photos from "Evidence"

What I love about this photo is that it stands on its own. Without knowing what it's about, it's beautiful.  It is suggestive and provocative, yet subtle without knowledge of the title of the work.  I find the frame within the frame striking, as my eye is immediately drawn to it.  Then it approaches the radiator, partially illuminated, seemingly by car headlights or some other direct form of light. But then I notice the discolorations on the walls and their shapes.  Once i reach this discovery, my sense of ease created by the beauty of the photograph is disturbed by a dark and morbid atmosphere.  And suddenly I feel like all my previous positive emotions are null and I am overcome with darkness.  How powerful!?

I love this bathroom picture too. There are so many different textures and details to look at.  The objects underneath the tub, the rust (?) mark on the sink, the black structure to the right, the reflective walls, the shadow of the tub, the filthy tiled floor, etc. My eye jumps around from bit to bit.  It's a very heavy photograph, printed very dark. But the highlights and variety of grays within it anchor it. 

As I was looking through her photos, I stopped at this one. I passed the others of houses from the outside, but this one struck me.  Looking into it more, I am interested by the windows and triangular roof of the house at first.  Then I'm drawn to the curtains in the windows, then the bushes peppered on the lawn in a perfect line seeing me to the right side of the photograph.  Then I'm lead to the foliage, the overcast sky, the contrast of the grass against everything else colorless. I think there's something eerie about the photo due to all these aspects. The half-bare trees, the dark triangular shape on the roof, the dark cloud hovering over the house.  I'm not sure if it stands on its own, but in context of "Evidence", it speaks loudly.