Pieter Hugo - Looking Aside

Pieter Hugo does some very interesting work on people who look 'different' - his series 'Looking Aside' is particularly moving.

"In this intimate and unsettling series of images, created between 2003-2006, the artist points his lens at those people whose appearance makes us “look aside”. Hugo’s subjects are the blind, people with albinism, the aged, his family and himself. In doing so, he forces us to confront ourselves and our preconceptions and prejudices, and question why we are so awkward when we encounter people who are unusual in some way. In these frontal declaratory portraits, we see what we usually choose to look at from the corners of our eyes"

I especially like these images because, as with most of the artist I have looked at that are relevant to my project, the subjects are photographed in a straightforward and unflinching manner, leaving the viewer to make their own assumptions. Hugo doesn't attempt to represent the people as miserable or as being negatively affected by their differences, which I feel is very important. 

I also like the close cropped style, and am glad that I took images in this format for each subject I visited!