I first stumbled onto Sophie Calle’s work at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
Calle is a French conceptual artist who combines photography with the written word.
The exhibit — I believe the overall theme was voyeurism — featured “The Shadow.”
In this work, a private eye followed Calle around for a day and then reported on his stalking. Meanwhile, Calle kept a journal of her activities. The work combines the two with pictures the detective took as he tailed her.
The day I saw this, I had my children with me so I didn’t get to spend as much time with it as I would have liked, but still, for a few moments I was mesmerized.
The Shadow/La Filature
In April 1981, at my request, my mother went to a detective agency. She hired them to follow me, to report my daily activities and to provide photographic evidence of my existence.
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