ASSIGNMENT 5: Exhibition Review

Located in the Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Suite 204), photographer Lisa Ross has set up her first solo exhibition I Can’t Sleep: Homage to a Uyghur Homeland from January 17th through March 26th. The suite the exhibition is in had been decorated by Ross herself with monochromatic images of anthropologist Rahile Dawut (who had recently disappeared while in Xinjiang, China, the home of the Uyghur people) as the wallpaper. Her photographs are large prints that hang on top of those images. Lisa Ross spent 15 years in Western China photographing the Uyghur people, until the Chinese state had amplified its efforts to assimilate these people, which encouraged Ross to display these pictures to the public. The subject matter of the photos are the Uyghur women and children alongside their outdoor beds located on grape farms, while the subject is the exoticization of the Uyghur people by the Chinese state. The form of the photos is strongly based on color and contrast as seen with the stark difference between the subject matter’s clothes (bright and colorful) and its background (low saturation, not many colors). Ross’ style is separating the subject matter from the background by giving the subject matter high contrast and color and the background low contrast. The internal context shown is the Uyghur people sleeping outside next to their fields during harvest so they won’t have to go back and forth between the fields and their homes, and the external context is the recent efforts made by the Chinese state to force these people to leave their culture and religion. Compared with other artists, Ross’ work strongly brings out the subject matter, but without taking it out of real life, like other photographers would by making the everything (except the focus) black-and-white. As a viewer, this work evoked surprise and curiosity about the people presented in the photos because Ross was able to maintain the realistic aspect while brightening the subject matter. 

I chose this photograph because the colors of her bed and clothes really separate her from the background, but without being distracting. The subject matter is of a Uyghur woman sitting on her bed with a field of grapes behind her, and she is sleeping outside for the harvest, as are the rest of her family. This fit in perfectly with the other works because it shows a young woman while the others showed the elderly and children, so it completes the age gap. I really connected with this photo personally because my entire family came from farmers who would wake up early to tend the fields, and they too had piles of colorful quilts that I still have, as well as colorful, patterned clothes.  

Overall, I was really impressed with the show. It surprised me to see so much thought put into documentary photos, and the whole history behind Ross’ cause. I think the artist was trying to show the lives and culture of the Uyghur people, and she did an excellent job at communicating that because not only did she document these people, but she also explained and handed out articles explaining their situation in full. I enjoyed the show, and after seeing her passion first-hand, I would love to see more work by Lisa Ross.