Alex Prager‘s latest exhibit “Compulsion,” which opens April 5 at Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City, continues to explore the cinematic esthetic she is known for. Like much of her early work, there are detailed and dramatic photos that look as if they were taken on a movie set. But now her “characters” are at a distance or sometimes even missing from the frame, allowing each viewer to determine his or her own version of the events taking place in the photo. Inspired by the grisly scenes captured by tabloid favorites Weegee and Enrique Metinides, the cinema-style photos in “Compulsion” feel almost invasive; as if we are all spectators of a crime we were too late or unwilling to prevent. Further playing on the role of the viewer, each of Prager’s “scenes” are paired with a closely cropped photo of a woman’s eye.

(more…)