Down the Barrel (of a Lens)

What does it mean to be seen and documented in public space without your consent? Down the Barrel (of a Lens), is a large-scale video installation of charged imagery culled from the NYPD’s declassified surveillance film collections from 1960 to 1980. Each scene captures the moment when civilian targets realize they are being taped by a 16mm police camera and choose to stare back at their watcher. This series of haunting historical portraits poses questions about policing, acceptable intrusion, personal privacy, and quiet protest. Created as a Public Artist in Residence with NYC’s Department of Records, Down the Barrel (of a Lens) has been exhibited at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Army Terminal and screened at The Museum of the City of New York. The New York Times described it as an “intriguing, sometimes disturbing juxtaposition between the watchers and the watched.”