structed realities to draw attention to our percep-
tion that historical time is linear.
Working in a similar way, Spanish artists Joan
Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera devise species of
fauna and flora, and using scientific documenta-
tion such as field notes in conjunction with photo-
graphic documents, the artists present the fake
plants and animals in a scientific manner—even
going so far as to exhibit the ‘evidence’ in museums
or museum-like settings. In this ‘mockumentary,’
trust in written evidence supported by photo-
graphic documents is challenged.
Tableaux photography has also been used to
draw attention to contemporary political issues,
as in the work of the Canadian team, Carole
Conde and Karl Beveridge, whose collaboration
extends to working directly with unions and com-
munity groups. Working with nuclear plant work-
ers to produce their 1985–1986 seriesNo Immediate
Threat, Conde and Beveridge challenge society’s
notion that nuclear energy is a safe and clean
energy source. In carefully arranged tableaux in
which every prop and gesture is meaningful, they
articulate the problems of nuclear energy, and
bring to the fore the health problems that these
plant workers face.
Staged photography has also proven effective for
dealing with issues of gender. In herTourismseries
(1983), Laurie Simmons uses small toy figures of
females set against projections of tourist attrac-
tions such as the Tower of Pisa, Stonehenge, and
the Parthenon. These stiff plastic figures remain
outside of the surface of the ‘‘picture perfect’’
images and this is analogous to the place of
women in relation to culture.
Cindy Sherman and many other artists, turn the
camera upon their own body within a staged envir-
onment. Sherman’s early black and white Film
Stills (1977–1980), quote various female stereo-
types from B-movies through costume, posing,
and stylization. Sherman shoots the sometimes
grainy, filmic images against specific backdrops
(outdoors or projected images) that reference
already existed cultural images. In these recrea-
tions, she draws attention to the female stereotypes
in popular film, television, and advertising.
Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss
have been working together since 1979. Among
their collaborations, they have created Wurst-
series(Sausage series), which uses a small scale
tableaux to recreate and reinvent scenes from
everyday life. InThe Accident(1980), they have
used cardboard, cigarette butts, and cold cuts to
stage a ‘‘car’’ accident between two sausages com-
plete with ‘‘human’’ victims in the form of cigar-
ette butts. While the content is humorous, the
accident scene provides a darker comment on
disasters caused by humans.
Other contemporary artists who have worked
with constructed reality in photography include Jo
Ann Callis (American), Lorna Simpson (American),
Carrie Mae Weems (American), Sarah Charlesworth
(American), Boyd Webb (British), Evergon (Cana-
dian), Brenda Francis Pelkey (Canadian), Janieta
Eyre (Canadian), Diana Thorneycroft (Canadian),
Holly King (Canadian), Yasumasa Morimura (Japa-
nese), William Wegman (American), Lucas Samaras
(American), and Pierre et Gilles (French).
Although constructing a ‘‘reality’’ enables art-
ists to manipulate photographic elements to cre-
ate specific readings while simultaneously drawing
attention to their role in this production, equally
significant is the final form of the photograph.
The translation of the installation/stage from its
three-dimensional form into the two-dimensional
photograph creates new understandings and in-
terpretations of the elements and relationships
displayed within the image. The conversion of
the actual into the photographic turns the envir-
onment and/or actions into photographic codes
and conventions, that is, into a visual language
that is interpreted in a different manner than if
one was viewing the set-up or setin situ.The
transformation from the actual elements into the
pictorial is key for artists: understanding the
ways in which a photographed object, relation-
ship, or action can be interpreted by viewers
allows artists to arrange the elements to position
the audience to create certain understandings.
Artists, as manipulators of these representational
codes, are able to create and express subjective
information. It should be noted that the fabri-
cated pieces or installations were important only
insofar as they served the artist’s purposes, that
is, for the production of a photograph. Many
artists dismantle their constructions after the
photo shoot because it was the image and not
the installation that was considered the final art
work to be exhibited in galleries.
NancyYakimoski
Seealso:Barthes, Roland; Conceptual Photography;
Deconstruction; et Gilles, Pierre; Fischli, Peter and
Weiss, David; Heartfield, John; History of Photo-
graphy: the 1980s; Levi-Strauss, Claude; Lissitzky,
El; Man Ray; Manipulation; Photogram; Photo-
graphic ‘‘Truth’’; Postmodernism; Representation;
Sherman, Cindy; Simpson, Lorna; Skoglund,
Sandy; ‘‘The Decisive Moment’’; Wall, Jeff; Webb,
Boyd: Morimura, Yasumasa; Weems, Carrie MaeCONSTRUCTED REALITY