Sunday Artist 11/2

Catherine Opie

Opie's landscapes explore cultural identity is regards to the environment surrounding us all. These works feature vast landscapes in which people, or human presence, is the main focal focus, and yet minuscule and almost insignificant. This work attracts me partially because the viewer is forced to find message in figures that are not easily stereotype. The mind automatically tries to assign general attributes to other human figures, and what makes this work jarring is the fact that you can't do that. The other reason I'm drawn to her work is because of the loneliness the viewer feels. There are typical at least two figures or buildings in Opie's photographs and yet, because of the vast appearance of the landscape, there is an isolation that is unnatural and uncomfortable. To me, those aspects make a great photograph.

Opie does not appear to have her own website, however her work and info can be found at the following:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/notebook/2008/11/03/081103gonb_GOAT_notebook_aletti
http://www.art.ucla.edu/faculty/opie.html
http://www.regenprojects.com/artists/catherine-opie/