Foam #22: Peeping

In this spring issue of Foam Magazine are portfolios by eight photographers, each of whom has a very particular way of looking. Peeking, secretly watching a subject that is not really supposed to be seen, or is at least unaware of being watched, is a central concern of the portfolios included here. Of course this does not mean we avoid classic forms of voyeurism, in the sense of deliberately and covertly watching unsuspecting persons for the explicit purpose of sexual stimulation, the kind of activity whose stereotypes are the dirty old man in the bushes or the neighbour behind the curtains with a pair of binoculars.

Although, in a society in which the distinction between public and private domains is increasingly diffuse, and where under the pretext of security countless hidden cameras spy on society, the voyeur has been to a great degree institutionalized. Big Brother is watching you!

With: Michael Wolf, Paul Kooiker, Tim Hetherington, Prague's Secret Police, Evan Baden, Trevor Paglen, Chris Jordan, Yasmine Chatila