Rachel Langosch Subversive Photographer

The Ecstasy and Agony of larry…

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing a thesis photography show by Rachel Langosch. When I entered the gallery I was presented with a series of technically superb intimate shots of people in what appeared to be their homes. Rachel is technically an accomplished photographer so the imagery itself was enjoyable to see, but she also possesses that extra element what I call a peoples eye, she has a true sensitivity towards her subjects that she shares with one of my favorite photographers, tomusan. But there was another underlying element to this show, Rachel was addressing the issue of consumerism in today's society and all these "intimate" pictures were in fact creations of hers done in guerrilla style shot in Ikea stores in the area. The settings that seemed so homey and intimate and gave you a sense of truly peeking into these peoples lives were all fake in the best sense of the word. And if Rachel had not let me know I would have never known, which is one of the interesting yet contradictory elements of her project. If I hadn't known, her point on consumerism would have probably have been lost, so in fact she had to go outside her imagery to bring in that element. I am not totally sure what I think about that, but still on another level that sense of subversive humor where me as the audience may or may not be in on that level of truth is something I really like. That Rachel has created a number of elements that provoke more thought and consideration from me is one of the reasons I am very impressed with her.

The second element I want to bring up is her lighting in these shots, they were as if she had done her lighting with full kit in a studio, yet this was all done with found conditions. Again, you would have never known, and in fact at least two shots I was sure she had set up the lighting as they were up to the standard of what I have seen from studio shots. Another reason to be impressed.

Here is a link to posted images I found.

http://www.myartspace.com/viewer/gallery/?subscriberid=1p6q7dipsa7nsg31&gallery_id=knnjewhhda7nwfj1

Full disclosure, Rachel is the daughter of a very good friend of mine, but I assure you if I wasn't this enthusiastic about her work I would have simply refrained from writing anything, and unlike her father I am not prone to hyperbole in respect to her talent. Not that he is wrong, he is just a very doting dad.

ta ta for now!