Aperture Foundation
Alex Webb Exhibit Review
Alex Webb is a photographer who was born in San Francisco, CA in 1952. His exhibition took place at the Aperture Foundation in Manhattan on West 27th St, New York. The exhibit was wonderful with lots of photographs of Alex Webb. The space of the gallery is pretty decent. At the exhibition, books of Alex Webb were available for purchase, as well some of his works. The event was about Alex Webb and some photos that he took in Mexico. There were forty five photographs on the walls.
Through these photos, the photographer Alex Webb wants to show us the reality and the moments that these people (Mexicans) were living and how they were surviving their lives. There were many issues that you can see through his photographs. We are able to see a difference in the emotion of the people; loving, smiling, playing, laughing, hugging, worried, arguing, crying, prostitution, and death. Furthermore, Mexico has change throughout times. Alex Webb’s photographs are showing us a change in Mexico from 1975 to 2007. In 1978 when Webb started taking pictures in colors, looks like life in Mexico was great; beautiful. But in 2007, life was basically changing. He shows that in a photo where someone is dead on the street and people are crying. Last but not least, thatâs the vision that Alex Webb is telling us.
The image below is a very interesting photo of a “Bar” in Mexico. It was taken in Comitan Chiapas, 2007. This is another example were the photographer Alex Webb wants to tell us that something bad was happening in Mexico. Usually, there’s always at least one security or one man standing out of the door to protect the store. But instead a man, there’s a dog standing right in front of the door. Also, we can see just a portion of the sky and the street lamp. The night feels lonely, maybe no body wants to be in the street because of the crimes; that’s why they using a dog to be standing on the door. Furthermore, the green and magenta lights shows that that’s a “bar”. Overall, the photo is beautiful really interesting shadows within the dog and the store. Also we can imagine a vanishing point because of the overhanging of the roof and the side walk; two perspective lines.
Your interpretation of the exhibit is an interesting one. Alex Webb has gone on record to say that the Mexico of mystery and beauty is still there despite the headlines about violence. His even having to say this though confirms in my mind that there has been a change.
The photo that you selected to discuss does does stand out from earlier work in that there are no people in the shot. The perspective in the shot draws our gaze into the dark. The strong contrast of color adds to a sense of anxiety.