FIRST ANALYSIS

Vee Speers is an Australian photographer based in Paris. After studying at the Queensland College of Art, Speers worked as a stills photographer for the ABC television. Since moving to France in the early 90’s, Speers has worked in fashion, photojournalism and is today an established fine-art photographer. Her work has appeared in many prestigious publications, and has been exhibited in London, Paris, Japan, Italy, Tunisia and South America, as well as in her native country. Vee Speers photo's are taken to amuse or to get to the viewer thinking. In the birthday party collection she has stripped away the stereotypes of children, there is no innocence of them. The children have a sense of danger from the social expectations of a birthday party smile, the paranoia of society changing who we are. These pictures portrait imagination of a child can be whatever they want to be. The faces are looking directly at the camera to create a dramatic tension between the picture and the viewer also making the child the focal point. The children are placed in front of the same white wall even though they look directly at the camera it shows and tells to the viewer little about themselves. The only instruction Vee Speers give to the children is not to smile, them not smiling hints that they don't really want to have their photo taken. I would like to learn how to create this effect when taking photo's. I like her birthday party collection because of the innocence and confusion behind the face of the children, its makes me wanting to know and see more.