Compulsion. Alex Prager.

Compulsion. Alex Prager (USA).

Published by Michael Hoppen Gallery, 2012. Edition of 1,200 copies. This book has been published on the occasion of the exhibition “Compulsion”.

[Purchase: out-of-print]

Alex Prager’s photography reminds stills from film noir. Her most recent work Compulsion was inspired by the photography of Weegee, Cindy Sherman and Enrique Metinides, and films such as Metropolis and Un Chien Andalou. Prager constructs dramatic and surreal scenes with helpless people trapped in bizarre accidents: a woman falling from the sky, people floating in green water, a lonely house caught in the flames. All the pictures are paired with close-ups of human eyes. A viewer observes the tragedy but never takes part in it: a society of compulsive spectators. These images are an artisitc reconstruction of dramatic events so often covered by the media as well as a commentary on our impulsive need to treat tragedy as an entertainment.

Compulsion is a small softcover book published for a special exhibition shown simultaneously in London, Los Angeles and New York.

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