THE TATE MODERN opens the shutters on Exposed today, an exhibition that features sneaky peaks of Greta Garbo (pictured), Marilyn Monroe and Paris Hilton, examples of what the gallery calls “voyeurism, surveillance and the camera”.
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Tracing the history of undercover camera-wielders from the late 19th century to the celeb-crazed 2000s, Exposed contains 250 works by top photographers taken “on the sly, without the explicit permission of the people.”
“The UK is now the most surveyed country in the world,” reports the Tate Modern.
“We have an obsession with voyeurism, privacy laws, freedom of media, and surveillance.”
That seems like a bit of spin to make the show ‘relevant’ and is anyway given an ironic twist when you realise that the gallery itself has plenty of real, live CCTV cameras on its walls.
A shame, because Exposed doesn’t need that kind of PR schtick, not when, along with the celebs, there are harrowing pictures of kids escaping napalm in the Vietnam War and heart-rending scenes from the Rwandan genocide.
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera runs from 28 May to 3 October. Tickets are £10, £8.50 for concessions.