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Laurie Simmons

To be completely honest, when I was first shown Laurie Simmons work I thought to myself "what's the big deal?" I found her work to be sort of mundane and I did not really see why people rave about her aside from the fact that she clearly has great technical skills. However, when looking through her online portfolio it became clear that Laurie's genius lies in her ability to get in touch with peoples memories (especially many girls childhood memories) through her use of dolls to create the scenes that she then photographs. I find it hard to explain what is so special about Simmons' work but I think that the selection from a biography about Laurie which I have included below does a good job of summing it up...

Simmons stages photographs and films with paper dolls, finger puppets, ventriloquist dummies, and costumed dancers as “living objects,” animating a dollhouse world suffused with nostalgia and colored by an adult’s memories, longings, and regrets. Simmons’s work blends psychological, political, and conceptual approaches to art making—transforming photography’s propensity to objectify people, especially women, into a sustained critique of the medium. Mining childhood memories and media constructions of gender roles, her photographs are charged with an eerie, dreamlike quality. On first glance, her works often appear whimsical, but there is a disquieting aspect to Simmons’s child’s play, as her characters struggle over identity in an environment in which the value placed on consumption, designer objects, and domestic space is inflated to absurd proportions. - www.pbs.org

While some of her work I find to be a little bit creepy, I think that it is backed by imaginative and well thought out concepts. My favorite photos of hers are the photos in which she uses the bottom half of the female human body (the legs) and places an object on top. Simmons has worked with artists and fashion designers such as Chanel and designed the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival Award. (Image included below) Not only is she an esteemed photographer, she also has received a lot of attention for her Films and writings. Below are some of my favorite works by Laurie. for more information Check out her website at www.lauriesimmons.net or head over to the MOMA, Whitney or the Met to see her work on display in person!

2002 Tribeca Film Festival Award, Designed By Laurie Simmons

Chanel 2005, Laurie Simmons (Private Commission)

Underneath 1998, Laurie Simmons

The Instant Decorator 2001-2004, Laurie Simmons

Walking and Lying Objects 1987-1991, Laurie Simmons

Walking Camera 1987-1991, Laurie Simmons

Walking Gun 1987-1991, Laurie Simmons

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