Celebrities Observed -- Sima Ariam: Portraits
Posted 3/26/2003
By Richard McBee

The difference between photography as an art form and amateur
snapshots is well defined. One kind of photograph expresses a complex of
ideas that delve into the human condition, society, politics and aesthetics,
while the other is simply light-hearted, seeking to capture a moment of
personal interest.

A personal snapshot is unlikely to evoke the attention of a wide
audience, while a photograph, as a work of art, by its very nature must
transcend a limited personal perspective. Occasionally, though, these
distinctions are not as clear as they might seem, especially when the subjects
are public figures well known in politics and culture. This is the case in the
current exhibition of Sima Ariam: Portraits: Photographs of Israeli and American
Cultural Figures at the 92nd Street Y Weill Art Gallery.

Israeli born Sima Ariam is a successful New York City psychologist who
photographs the denizens of the Jewish and Israeli cultural and political elite.
They also happen to be her friends and acquaintances. At informal moments at
various parties and social events over the years, she has compiled what
amounts to an extended family album on film. These photographs are a hybrid
between family snapshots and a social document of the movers and shakers of
the late 20th century Jewish world. The inherent tensions between these
different forms: photo-documents of famous people, snapshots of someone
else`s friends and psychological portraits immediately becomes obvious.

A similar issue arose in the recent "Richard Avedon: Portraits" exhibition
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The earlier works in the show were of
celebrities: Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, and Eisenhower. In
these images it was difficult to concentrate on the photographic qualities of the
print because the fame of the individual kept intruding and distracting from the
aesthetic experience. Later in the exhibition, the subjects are not famous
individuals. Here, the photograph reasserts itself and the human personality in
all its complexities becomes the real subject.

Similarly, a recent self-portrait by Avedon stares defiantly at the viewer,
emphasizing the distinction between the artist and his audience.

In a startling contrast, Sima Ariam`s portrait of Richard Avedon
effectively deconstructs the artist`s image of himself. Here the artist is
vulnerable, his powerful eyes uncertain and introspective behind enormous
glasses. Her photograph is revealing and yet tender. It is exactly this kind of
unexpected image that Ariam strives for in her portraits, capturing the
unguarded moments of celebrities who seem almost always on guard, always
protected by their public persona.

Ariam has been photographing her friends and acquaintances for the last
fifteen years, gaining the praises and accolades of the artists and celebrities that
she counts as her friends. She works with a simple automatic camera,
frequently utilizing available lighting. Most of the time she shoots close to her
subjects, avoiding darkroom cropping. Her work is evenly lit, avoiding
dramatic or evocative lighting in what is a purposefully snapshot style. As a
psychologist, she has learned to "read" a face and is constantly looking for the
moment of exposure to peer beneath the public facade of her subjects.

The double portrait of Gideon Efrat, Israeli art critic, and Aliza Averbach,
Israel photographer, is one of those candid moments that, perhaps because this
couple is not familiar to us, begins to crackle with psychological tension and
possibilities. A shaft of light, coming from the upper left, strikes his forehead
and continues down his white tie, effectively linking his silhouetted hand to the
highlights on her cheek and forehead. The natural light provides a pathway of
meaning that joins action, implied in his hand, with thought and insight found
in their highlighted brows.

Ariam`s portrait of A.B. Yehoshua, one of the best-known Israeli writers,
approaches the subject in a more straightforward manner. As we see in many
of her better known subjects, here the author seems to be openly greeting the
photographer, welcoming the camera`s gaze and thereby disarming the viewer
in a flood of warm hospitality. Even though his writings delve into dark
passions that threaten the civilized facade of most people, the image of his
head cocked to one side is here disarmingly friendly and curious about the
viewer. Does he want to get to know us better? To what end? Ariam`s
approach here is playful and familial.

In sharp contrast, the portrait of the iconoclastic American artist Larry
Rivers carries a different intensity of insight. His sharply turned head, accented
by his piercing eyes and straining neck muscles evokes the volatile passion he
was so well known for. Here her work confirms what we already know.

This exhibition of 25 large-scale color prints, each 40 x 30, treads the
thin line between the personal and the public, wavering between snapshot and
photograph. As an unabashed amateur, Sima Ariam applies her psychological
skills to casual images of her friends. The product of her playful curiosity and
persistent visual explorations is a unique insider`s view of celebrities observed.
Paradoxically her work increases in complexity and interest the less we know
visually or intellectually about the subject. This is perhaps the unavoidable
price celebrities exact from the photographer who dares to intrude upon the
corridors of power.

Sima Ariam: Portraits ÷ Photographs of Israeli and American Cultural
Figures. 92nd Street Y Weill Art Gallery, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New
York, NY 10128. (212) 415 5500; Sunday ÷ Friday; 12-4 p.m. Also on
view at simaariam.info. Until April 18, 2003.◙

Richard McBee is a painter of Torah subject matter and writer on Jewish Art.
Please feel free to email him with comments at rmcbee@nyc.rr.com.



Self-Portrait; black and white photograph by Richard Avedon ÷ Courtesy
richardavedon.com


Richard Avedon; color photograph (40 x 30), by Sima Ariam.



Gideon Efrat and Aliza Averbach; color photograph (40 x 30), by Sima Ariam.


A.B. Yehoshua; color photograph (40 x 30), by Sima Ariam.