Matthew Reedy, 2006
On Friday, October 6th, a handful of talented UW photography students presented rare behind-the-scene glimpses of life at Wisconsin’s Historical Society Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI. The photo entitled “Bob” (the clown) proved to best encapsulate the mystique and wonder that follows life under the Big Top. Bob is a clown in the midst of applying his makeup. Unfortunately, the hand held mirror used to help him apply his oil-based disguise covers his face.
Upon closer examination, the Circus World gallery show also included several works that had little or nothing to do with clowns or the Big Top. One body of work, in particular, caught my eye. The photos were a series of common household settings sprinkled with human elements such as feet or hands. What first drew me to these images were the brilliant, unforgiving tones that made no attempt to hide or conceal the imperfections of the human body. In fact, the brash, vibrant colors and bold compositions exulted these so-called imperfections and brought the blotchy skin and telling wrinkles to the forefront.
Jessie Eisner-Kleyle, who incidentally made significant contributions to the headlining show, photographed these very honest and obtrusive images. Jessie’s body of work is inspired by fairy tales such as Cinderella (represented by feet) and Red Riding Hood (represented by hands). Jessie explains, “I like the idea that different memories or emotions reside in different areas of the body.”
It’s not just the body parts that are provocative; it is also the carefully chosen locations such as the kitchen sink or the bathtub that provide mood and allure. Jessie says that she and her husband purposefully seek out apartments and houses that contain period kitchen fixtures or bathtubs, so that Jessie has something interesting to shoot. “The scenes are endless and I think that by making the pictures not look “modern” it helps them evoke times past – when families were perfect on the outside, but not so much on the inside.”
“I like the images to be dark….to make the viewer feel like they’ve just interrupted something,” says Eisner-Kleyle.
I can honestly say that Jessie has succeeded in this regard. With each image I viewed, there was a sense of intrusion and accidental invasion of a rather personal and private setting. At first, I would look away for fear of seeing something forbidden, but the images are so matter-of-fact. It is hard not to eventually examine the nooks and dimples of each image out of curiosity and to realize that these images could have easily been taken in anyone’s bathroom or kitchen. It is Jessie’s portrayal of truth that strikes me the most.