View

In an art museum, all eyes are trained on what is being displayed. The works of art are the obvious focal point for visitors; after all, you do not pay to go to a museum to look at blank walls. While visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, I photographed not only famous works of art but also the museum they were displayed in and the people who were observing them. I took my photographs from the Art Institute and digitally removed the paintings from each image so that there appears to be open frames around empty spaces of walls. Without the artwork, the viewer’s eye is drawn to the patrons of the museum. These patrons are often focused on the works of art so that they are oblivious to me in the background photographing them. While it does feel almost sacrilegious to me as an art lover to erase these magnificent pieces, I was excited to turn my camera lens on subjects that are less focused on. The concept of taking pictures of people looking at things and then removing the thing they were looking at fascinates me. I considered the idea of what is missed when you narrow your focus and exclude the broader surroundings. In this series, I changed the subject from the art to the people who observed it. Now, the viewer becomes viewed.