Jessica Todd Harper

Biography: Born in Albany, NY, Jessica Todd Harper began shooting photographs at the age of 15 when she couldn't get into a painting class at her local junior college. After she began shooting, she couldn't put her camera down. She studied art history at Bryn Mawr College, and got her MFA in photography at Rochester Institute or Technology.

Significance: Harper creates a voyeuristic feel and allows viewers to look in on intimate, and seemingly ordinary, family moments.

Art Historical or Photographic Movement: Jessica Todd Harper is a young photographer who doesn't seem to be directly related to any particular movement, although her images do reflect the paintings of early Northern European artists.

Critique/Review: In an article titled Triennial of Contemporary Photographers, James Rosenthal felt that Jessica's "snapshots" or family life commented on class, money, and taste. I'm not sure that I agree that this was Harper's intent so much as to capture the intimate family moments.

Composition: Jessica Todd Harper's compositions have a painterly feel, she works with soft light and captures scenes of family life. There is usually a single figure in the the scene that is making eye contact with the camera, while the remaining figures seem to go about their daily lives. The images seem to be scenes from the home as opposed to composed images. The main subject of her photograph tends to be centered. 

Concept/Aboutness/Idea: Jessica's photographs generally capture moments in family life that seem somewhat unsettling and disconnected. Much of the time, the subject of the photograph is staring directly at the camera while the rest of the figures in the scene, or scene itself seem detached and completely oblivious to the fact that they are being documented. The scenes she shoots appear to be private, intimate moments. Her compositions are everyday, but haunting.

Method: Jessica shoots in natural light, and tends to shoot her friends and family. She is influenced by Northern European painters such as Vermeer and Memling who painted scenes from daily life. She sometimes adds in subject matter in photoshop digitally.

Motivation: I feel Jessica Todd Harper's motivation was to capture family life without the facade of normalcy the families tend to portray in public. Her snapshot style images seem disconnected and at times, haunting.

Opinion: I think it was interesting how Harper worked with her subjects and created a strong sense of connectedness with a single figure while the rest of the scene remains oblivious to their documentation. I also find her use of natural light absolutely beautiful. Her images have a soft, quiet feel the them. I think it is interesting how the images seem like scenes you are a quiet bystander in as opposed to photographs themselves.