Circular response, part 2

The project ‘Circular response’ consists of photographs shot in shopping districts. Shopping districts typically illustrate the power of images in consumer societies. The images anticipate our needs and attract attention to shops and products. It has been argued by some that these characteristics are part of a circular process in which image and consumer respond to each other: people produce images and images ‘produce’ people. This project is an investigation into this process of circular responses. It is as much about the commercial power of images as it is about us. Its distance from ordinary life (as most of us know it) and its capacity to both speak to us and about us are compelling reasons for a photographic exploration of this kind of imagery. The photographs in this project thus focus on the image rather than on the product for sale. As a consequence, the photographs in this project are very much the result of a strategy of re-contextualizing. Brands have been left out while new elements have been brought in, particularly by using reflections. Emphasizing the elements of time, emotion and alienation are also examples of this strategy.