Sophie Calle

As an intriguing, almost eccentric character whose choice of subject matter and exhibitionism of privacy consistently incites controversy, the study of Sophie Calle and her work is one of unique yet almost simplistic style of documentation where the contents of other people’s lives are the uncompromising muse.

My initial visual reaction to Room 28 was that the theme of the photograph and its topic was somewhat unsophisticated and effortless, and though I was admittedly drawn to it I was unsure of the definite concept and the artist’s intention.  The first few words that spring to mind when I see this piece are “intimacy, personal possessions, and individuality,” and on some level there is an atmosphere of an invasive and obtrusive role bestowed on us as the audience. The images appear quite personal, and the composition of each frame shows a variation of perspective, shape and texture; each providing their own window into a separate aspect of one person’s life.

Sophie Calle -L'Hotel ; Room 28 - 1981

The candid, impromptu style of the shots immediately puts the audience in a position of infringement on another’s privacy, and because of the lack of direct human emotion or expression in the photo, it's ambiguous as to how welcome such an intrusion is. These photographs that portray the messily-strewn objects that were carelessly placed by an unassuming hotel guest causes our morally-conscious aspects to feel ill at ease, but a more investigative side of judgement forces me to further inspect the content of the pictures, as well as the way in which they are placed, and attempt to form a story and plausible character from such little information. A lot of the pictures’ content -not so much from Room 28 but other photographs in the series- bear an uncanny resemblance to objects that fill the spaces of my own home; the rows of arbitrarily-placed pairs of shoes and empty coat hangers forming irregular patterns of repetition, the slippers and unfinished crossword left where they were last used, and the creased white sheets of an unmade bed are all familiar images. The sense of abrupt and hurried abandonment demonstrated by the anonymous guest whose objects they belong to remind me of the itinerant nature and lifestyle one adopts when staying in a hotel or on holiday, and while the content of the images seem shockingly private to be viewed as a piece of art by the public audience, there is a sense of reassurance in what you see before you associates with aspects of character that you already know of and therefore find empathy with.

As an artist who chiefly produces works of conceptual significance, Calle frequently defines the relationship between photography and text. In her notoriously exhibitionistic fashion, ‘The Hotel’ showcases Sophie Calle’s documentation of the rooms she cleaned as a hotel maid, and while her intentions are friskily playful, the blatant intrusion of the guests’ privacy cannot be ignored. Calle’s work is often found to revolve around other people; some who are aware of their participation, others not, as shown in this statement from Interview Magazine:

“The people whose possessions I photographed for L’Hôtel never knew that I was in their rooms; the people who participated in Les Dormeurs, where I asked friends and strangers to spend eight hours in my bed . . . I never had victims. Well, there were only three cases, twice with lovers: Exquisite Pain and Take Care of Yourself, and The Address Book.”

Sophie Calle’s works are recognised as some of the most provocative forms of conceptual art out there, and the themes and contexts of her exhibitions often push the boundaries that separate privacy and publicity. A renowned photographer, conceptual artist, writer and installation artist, the subject matter of Calle’s work often revolves around that of an urban environment. The majority of her urban photography focuses on the interiors of buildings and, more specifically, as her exhibition “L’Hotel” depicts, the insides of hotel/motel accommodation. A Parisian feeling lost in her home city, Calle homed in on individual strangers and followed them around. In her one exhibition, Suite Vénitienne [please follow me], the artist even temporarily took the role of a stalker, and followed a male stranger all the way to venice. Her streak of exhibitionism continues to show in other projects, including ‘The Address Book,’ in which she found a lost address book and proceeded reach the contacts, publishing their thoughts on its owner in a weekly magazine, and ‘Take Care of Yourself,’ where she asked over 100 women of various jobs to analyse a break-up letter she received.

Sophie Calle -L'Hotel ; Room 47.  1983

This image shows the format in which the photos of ‘The Hotel’ were exhibited in galleries. ‘The Hotel’ showcases a series of different hotel rooms, each room consisting of nine pictures, and above said photographs is a frame of equal size, typically containing a coloured picture of a bed and below it, 2-3 columns of text; writing containing quotes and observations, prose with a journalistic quality to it.

The procedure and story behind Calle’s obtaining of the images in ‘The Hotel’ is a curious one and, like much of her other work, a controversial matter. Working as a hotel maid in Venice, Calle visited guests rooms and, before they were cleaned, documented her findings in photographic form, as well as adding text (as seen when the photos are exhibited - see above) which is prose of a somewhat journalistic style. The less technical, more conceptual technique in work ethic and mindset adopted for her projects is a style particularly idiosyncratic to Calle.

Sophie Calle - Suite Vénitienne

In the photographic work Room 28, There are nine images placed in a 3x3 formation and, when exhibited in a gallery, contains a frame of of the same size, consisting of a coloured picture of a bed and three columns of text. Because all nine images are of equal size, similar exposure, style of composition, and are all taken in a monochromatic black and white, there is not one particular image that grabs the audience’s attention. However as we are innately drawn to the centre of images as a point of focus, the central image, which appears to portray various bottles and tubs of toiletries, naturally serves such a purpose. The images all contain different aspects of the hotel room, all taken from different points of perspective (some are front on, others from a more angular/bird’s-eye view). In the image which I chose to focus on, the photograph, which is in the second of the nine pictures, depicts three pairs of black leather shoes, three white garments of sorts, and a black trilby hat, all placed on a metal rack in an untidy fashion. Two of the three pairs of shoes are clustered together and placed to the far left, not very neatly aligned and with untied shoelace dangling down, over the edge of the shelf. On the far right is the third pair of shoes, but because of the cropping of the photo only one whole shoe can be seen. All three pairs are clearly made of patent leather, and are well-polished, as the reflection of the light source (presumably the flash of a camera because the lighting appears harsh) show in gleaming white patches on the heels. Messily draped across the first two pairs of shoes are wads of white fabric, a slightly mirky grey colour in the light of the image. The third pair has a black trilby hat placed on top of one shoe and from the middle of the shelf above (which the picture doesn’t show) hangs a few different straps of fabric - most probably suspenders. Between the first two and the third pair of shoes there is a small amount of space that is devoid of any garments, thus revealing the geometric pattern of the metal rack. The artist, in capturing this photograph is making a point of the untidiness and callous way in which the guest has treated his belongings (the shoes, suspenders and hat all indicate that he is a male) and the overall photograph’s story is told of a person who we can only imaging from the small details that could portray his character.

[top-bottom] One of the nine images in
L'Hotel - Room 47 ; my visual study of said
 artwork

The hotel room images by Sophie Calle make me feel a sense of; emptiness, haunting from both the objects’ presence and its owner’s absence, and as my role of the viewer I feel slightly uneasy and intrusive because of the subject matter and my understanding of the story behind it. There is an air of investigative and secretive intentions to the atmosphere and, without realizing it, I begin to refine a portrait of the person who is staying in this room; their interests, hobbies, tendencies and habits, and even fashion sense all converge to make a person who is still technically anonymous to the audience.  The urban environment is shown through hints at individuals that must, in some way, contribute to society. It humanises the concept of a city and its people, as the theme of an interior context creates a mood of introspection and depth to what is portrayed in the photographs. The composition of the images depict the candid nature of a hotel room left untidied by a guest - who was in  no way was expecting their callous mess to be visited with the intention of documentation, but functional rectification. The subjective nature of the camera angles/perspectives as chosen by the photographer force us as the audience to perceive the content of the photographs in a certain way, and this is how Sophie Calle controls the mood that is conveyed to her audience.  

Sophie Calle - Les Dormeurs

The work of Sophie Calle is of value to my own study of urban spaces, as she chooses to view the concept of an urban environment from an angle that focuses on individuals specifically, using urban architecture and interior design as a backdrop for the exploration and documentation of the idiosyncrasies and traces of character that we as humans embody and leave behind in an environment otherwise hostile with anonymity. Her controversial choice of subject matter -or rather the way in which she carries out her photographic projects- portray her typical ways as an exhibitionist of the most private and intimate affairs, and continues to make Calle a strong and unpredictable conceptual artist. 

On a more personal level, I am regrettably quite ambivalent towards the photographic works of Sophie Calle; though the concepts and aesthetics (most emphatically that of formalism) of her pictures interest me enough to like them, I cannot help but feel indifferent, almost apathetic towards the technical side of her photography, and the level of complexity that they demonstrate. However, I still regard her work as being of high artistic value and significance, particularly where a subjective matter of taste is concerned, and her style as an artist continues to intrigue me. 

Calle’s technique of capturing her images have swayed me in the decisions regarding how my photo-shoots will be conducted. The genuinely candid nature of her urban photography has influenced me to attempt to not make my photos seem in any way staged and, if the subject matter requires arrangement of any sort, to allow for slight imperfections or signs of messiness in the photo’s composition, in order to strongly convey human characteristics and plausibility in regards to the context.