I am not sure how to end this project, and in truth have spent the last day trying to convince myself why I should not keep going.
The project ends with one of my heroes of the street, Diane Arbus. And it ends without video because I chose not to shoot. Arbus was influenced by Walker Evans, August Sander, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and there are endless photographers she has influenced. She confronted her subjects with forcefulness and a sensitivity that clicked into place the moment the shutter was came open. Her subjects were mirror images of herself, and thus she lost herself in their image. The exhibition of her work at the Met Breuer reminds me of the historical context for the work I am finishing on this 30th day. The process has altered my physical presence in public space, the sense of my own body, and has created a sense of comfort among strangers that comes from the intensive presence I experienced making this work.
Surveillance is not about looking, it is about the dominance of a watching eye that is not really seeing. The Civilian Body Camera project forced the indistinguishing eye of the surveillance camera to look.