Ricky Yanas

Decoy

“You need to destroy those negatives.”

“You need to destroy those negatives.”

International Bridge of the Americas,
Chamizal National Park, 3600 Paisano Blvd.,
El Paso, TX 79905
September 2010

Photo (right):

Teresa Cervantes

In fall of 2010, I began to produce a series of diptychs depicting myself in the act of being stopped from photographing certain institutions (mall, haunted house, border checkpoints). The images on the left, which I take with my 4 x 5 camera, are often deadpan shots of the landscape or structure I am engaging. The alternate image is taken by a second shooter, standing away from me and out of sight of authorities. Through a loose strategy of baiting the authorities with my large camera (totally inefficient for getting sneaky images), I create a revelation of the ideology standing behind the apparent freedom allowed in most public places. Act out of line, the guard will correct you. Where is the line? This is unclear. Such ambiguity works to create irrational fears and boundaries. Unlike my previous work, these images are not only aesthetic objects removed from the world for reflection but also act as documentation of particular phenomena in the mediated landscape.

ALL PRINTS:
2 parts: print: 20 x 24 inches/ image: 16 x20 inches each


Creative Commons License Everything here is made by a Ricky Yanas
of some sort, or otherwise righteously stolen.