We look in, stopped ‘held to attention’ by the gaze of an ‘other.’ There is a directness, a confidence, pride exuded – click – the image is taken written into history, a sign and index of a moment. There is a documentary element to Sullam’s latest work ‘Askari/Security guards,’ the images all lined up, a work force of protection, identities caught, displaced, set before us the viewer. The work arrests the eye, no longer can we wander by or drive through we are faced with these photographic portraits that raise questions concerning identity, power.
Extract from critical essay by Rosanna Prescott, on Tom Sullam’s ‘Askari’ project.
