So many stories in the big city, Gail Albert Halaban
«There is no sex or violence. But there is something compelling about being able to see into the private worlds of ordinary people. The voyeuristic, slightly melancholy effect recalls certain paintings by Edward Hopper. Halaban also took pictures of people while in their apartments with them, and these have a poignant intimacy. [...] While the photographs shot from distant windows suggest a kind of surveillance, in fact the artist collaborated with her subjects and asked them to pose and position themselves in their homes for the camera. So they are a form of portraiture. Scale is important too. Because the people are so tiny in proportion to the whole picture, there is an expansive effect. And for the same reason, there is a sense of social amplitude: so many buildings, so many people, so many stories in the big city.»