observing the observer as he observes himself being observed.

i just posted this photograph the other day as part of a group, but it's so incredible i just have to put it up again, on its own. there are so many levels of observation and representations of ways of seeing-- representations of representation, really-- happening simultaneously here... it makes my head hurt, in a good way!

we're looking through the lens of a camera at a scene of a man painting a self-portrait. he looks in a mirror, which of course also reflects the scene we see through the lens. he paints himself looking in the mirror and painting. and the painting of course portrays the artist looking in a mirror, painting a self-portrait. the painting is unfinished, but we see the space where the painting within the painting remains to painted. presumably the painting within the painting will likewise reflect this mise en scene.

i love it! i wish i owned a huge framed copy of it... click on the image to see it bigger-- it's worth it!

(by the way, if you haven't seen the first post in which i included this image, scroll back a couple of days. jacques-henri lartigue was a truly amazing photographer... the other images are deserving of a closer look as well, especially the shadow photograph.)