Sophie Calle's art series Suite Vénitienne followed and photographed an unsuspecting man through Venice over several years, capturing both him and the possessions in his hotel rooms, raising questions about privacy and what people reveal through their possessions and activities. New York artist Arne Svenson similarly photographed neighbors in their apartments across the street without permission, capturing the ordinary but mysterious nature of daily life behind glass though faces were unseen; his work was legally protected as free speech though debated on privacy. Figurative art can also include video art such as Ben Heine's Lion Walk.

1. Figurative art
Rhianna Hicks, Laura McDonald, Hannah Keech

2. Tansy Lee Moir
Novar figure beech 1
Crichton torso beech 1
Hopetoun half-tree 7
Novar beech in soft light
Rhianna

3. My work..
Rhianna

4. Michael Landy
Shepherd's Purse
Annual Wall Rocket
Creeping Buttercup
Rhianna

5. Rhianna

6. Sophie Calle
• Sophie Calles Series called Suite Vénitienne (1980-96) follows her
pursuit of an unsuspecting man that she followed through Venice.
The way in which she includes herself in the work as the hunter in
pursuit is both surreal and intense almost as you can feel her behind
the camera. Her work is a really interesting look into identity and
peoples possessions which say a lot about who they are.
Throughout the images you can see she actively stalks the man but
she goes even further into invading people’s privacy in the photos
that she took when serving as a maid in a Venetian hotel of peoples
possessions in their hotel rooms. However, in an interview with The
Independent she talks in responds to the invasiveness of her art
work "In my work I do things that I would never do in my life. In
normal life I am much more discreet. I am not intrusive. I don't
investigate my friends' lives. But if it's a project then it's different,”
(Duguid, 2009). This project seems to highlight questions of how
what we have and do says about us. Also it shows just how much
information you can get about someone just by watching.
Laura

7. Arne Svenson
• New York City Artist Arne Svenson recently came under fire for his
series of photographs The Neighbours in which he photographed
the glass building across from him. In the photographs you can’t
quite tell what the subjects are doing, giving the ordinariness of
everyday life a new sense of mystery and ambiguity. "For my
subjects there is no question of privacy; they are performing behind
a transparent scrim on a stage of their own creation with the curtain
raised high. The Neighbours don't know they are being
photographed; I carefully shoot from the shadows of my home into
theirs."(Weeks, J. 2013)People have questioned whether this is an
invasion of privacy, to the extent two neighbours tried to sue but the
court ruled it under the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
In none of the photos did Svenson Show the subject’s faces so it
could be argued that as there not identifiable their privacy hadn’t
been breached. It’s hard to balance the idea of artistic licence
between the privacy of the subjects which has been an issue for
most artists.
Laura

8. Figurative art can also be seen within
video art
Hannah

9. Ben Heine
Lion Walk
Hannah