The exhibit Dressed and Undressed is a multi-level gallery of photos from photographer William Wegman. These photos showcase his work over the past thirty years, which involve his dogs in several different sets and poses. What’s so unique about this exhibit is that his photos are exclusively taken on twenty-four by twenty color polaroid images. The physical space is vast and open, with each piece having generous space between the next to bring focus on one photograph at a time. The gallery contains tens of pictures, with each one having its own distinct theme and feel to it.
Despite the exhibit’s pieces being all photographs of dogs, each photo is unique. Aside from a dog being in the image, every photo contains features that makes each one stand out, such as the pose of the dog, the backdrop, the placement, and even what the dogs themselves are wearing. As the name of his book is titled William Wegman: Being Human, it’s easy to notice that title also applies to the photographs showcased in the exhibit. Many of these dogs are dressed up, from socks on their noses, to wearing full dresses with wigs. While the main subjects are dogs who are sometimes also wearing human clothing, I believe that the exhibit is about both dogs and humans. These dogs are placed in human situations to show the viewer that not only is this how dogs would look if they had more human features, but this is also how but this is how we would look if we were dogs ourselves. For example, in Wegman’s photograph Lighting Director, one of the dogs in the photo has the head of a dog, but the rest of its body is one of an actual human being.
One photo that I loved in the exhibit was titled Lawn Sculpture, taken in 1997. This piece was two sets of photographs combined into one larger image. Each photo contains one half, with each side having a dog. When combined, it makes for an image of two dogs sitting in front of a backdrop of a house. The house is clearly not to scale, as the top of the dogs’ heads nearly reach the second story windows of the house while sitting. The combined image has an off-balance feel to it, with each dog placed at the different areas of each photograph. However, when combined, the dogs are perfectly placed on each side of the house door. The viewer is getting an eye level view of the dogs, as they appear to be looking straight ahead into the camera. The scale of the image and the placement of the dogs between the entrance of the house is why I love this piece. The dogs almost seem like they’re guarding the house from the placement. It makes me feel that dogs are like secondary owners of the house that they live in.
What I did not do when we were looking at this in the gallery was look at the title. I am glad that you put it in your comments. It changes how I see the image. In this photograph, the title implies that the dogs are not real. However in the photograph, it is the dogs that actually present before the camera and the house behind was clearly painted. I find it funny that here unlike the other photographs in the show, the dogs are just sitting being dogs-no costumes but the representation is still called into question by the title. Instead of pretending to be people, the dogs are pretending to be art. Its funny because of course the photo is art.