Inscription of alterity, artifactization of the gaze: the photography of vulnerable people in Lee Jefries

Abstract This paper takes up the photographic work Lost Angels (2014), by Lee Jefries, which portraits people living on the streets in large urban centers, to think about how the effects of the structure in photographic image constitute a contingent relationship of alterity. Through these portraits of vulnerable people, Jeffries signs ways to summon the look articulated between the desired codification and the regularization of the aesthetic dimension. In this duality, the images are examined based on the possible repercussions of the modes of figuration that trigger a certain visual delight according to the ways in which the presence of people is called upon. We reflect on how documentary photography could offer visual operators in the topics of human portrait and what is its specific designation in these subjects’ exposures in a plastic and conversational perspective of the image.

摘要 本文以李·杰弗里斯（Lee Jeffries）2014年的摄影作品《迷失的天使》（Lost Angels）为研究对象，该作品刻画了大型都市中心的流浪群体，借此探讨摄影图像的结构效应如何构建出一种偶在性的他者性（alterity）关系。通过这些处境脆弱的人群肖像，杰弗里斯揭示了一种在期许的编码逻辑与审美维度的规训之间所形成的凝视召唤路径。在这一双重性框架下，我们依据影像对人物在场的召唤方式，围绕触发特定视觉愉悦的具象化模式所可能产生的影响，对这些图像展开剖析。本文进一步反思：纪实摄影如何能够为人类肖像主题提供视觉运作路径，以及在图像的造型性与对话性视角下，这些拍摄对象的影像呈现具有何种专属的属性定位。