Jaques-Henri Lartigue once said “I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects” (www.theblogatainsworthimages.ainsworthimages.com, 2011). He famously photographed not simply the beautiful and picturesque, but the extraordinary and bizarre. His photographs managed to capture single moments in time and turn them into lasting artworks. One of his most celebrated photographs which baffled many as to how it was actually taken is of a woman 'flying' down the stairs. This highlights the way a still image can enhance the movement and magic of an everyday action. Many street artists and performers look to photography as a way of highlighting their themes and making their work stand out. Photography is used to advertise and promote performances and companies, as well as being an integral part of the performance itself.
Robin Rhode uses photography and media to highlight his art and performance work. For example in a piece entitled ‘New kids on the Bike’, the photograph is the performance. Without an audience, Rhode takes images such as this into galleries and exhibitions. He also does performance work, but his work today is mainly based around film and photography. “My timeframe for a work on the street was longer, unlike the duration of the live performances I was doing, which took a little less than five minutes” (Rhode R, 2008:46).
Photography can also enhance performance by being another media within it. In our seven deadly sins performance we used different medias for each sin. Lust was depicted as photos of a girl in corsets and underwear. The pictures were idited in black and white, with a few sections of red to stand out. We also made a film, sound recordings, set, design, acting and costume. We also used photography on our invites to intrigue the audience and to give a taste of what the performance could be about.
