an incredible french artist/photographer working with poor communities is the latest recipient of the 2011 ted prize. jr's work provokes thoughts about freedom, commitment, identity + limit. one of two current projects is 'wrinkles of the city', which asks questions about memory of the city + its inhabitants. apparently, jr is constantly working on: raising questions...
and there are definitely clear social justice objectives inherent within the imagery of his enormous photographic installations. after gaining the trust of locals, he takes their portraits, before appropriating building facades + streets into large canvases. he then overlays + obscures them with powerful images of the faces of invisible, displaced + overlooked peoples in lower socio-economic situations.
jr's work provides yet another layer in the existing discourse surrounding the shame, embarrassment, hope + nobility associated with those living in poverty around the world.
it makes me smile. very big. [jr's book women are heroes, from an exhibition of the same name, is on my christmas wish list.]
[all images via]
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