On today’s World Wide Web, a few clicks in any direction will invariably see you come across some form of street style blog, the phenomenon that rose to fame some 7 years ago with Scott Schuman’s The Sartorialist (yet is more deeply rooted in Bill Cunningham’s ’70s work for The New York Times) is one that shows no signs of subsiding – no matter how tiresome it may have become. Offering a refreshing antidote to this contrived fashionista voyeurism, the work of Swiss artist Beat Streuli puts real people, doing real things, in the same frame as prosaic wannabe blog-superstars position their irksome subjects.
With the aid of a telephoto lens, Streuli presents intimate portraits of his subjects, as if they’re a conscious participant in each shot – the results are precise moments in time that blur reality; often appearing more movie still than secret snapshot. A step on from the iconic images of ’50s street photographer Robert Frank, Streuli’s images capture a melancholic beauty in the mundane, whilst leaving you to ponder the paths each subject is walking… where they’ve been, what they’re doing, who they are, why they’re there – it’s obsessive people watching in the name of art.
Until 3rd February, Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery will play host to a sizeable collection of cinematic snapshots from Sydney, Brussels, New York, São Paulo and Guangzhou to name but a few; whilst a slide and video installation of images from Castellón and Birmingham taken this summer will complete this exhaustive collection of Streuli’s recent musings.
Beat Streuli
Photograph from series Porte de Ninove 2007-8
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Photograph from series Queens, NY 2010
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Image from the Birmingham 2012 series
Digital projection, variable dimensions, 2012
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Photograph from series Manhatten 2009
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Photograph from series Brussels 2005-6
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Image from series New York City 2005-10
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Photograph from series Amman 2008
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Image from the Birmingham 2012 series
Digital projection, variable dimensions, 2012
Courtesy the artist
Beat Streuli
Photograph from series Queens, NY 2010
Courtesy the artist
