Unidentified Man, Otani Hotel, Los Angeles

In 1980, conceptual artist Sarah Charlesworth mounted a perturbing series of large-scale photographs of men and women (some identified, others left anonymous) falling from buildings. She found the images in international newspapers, then enlarged the typically grainy reproductions to human scale, forcing viewers to confront the final works body to body. Charlesworth intended the photographs to cultivate a sense of empathy for her subjects, caught in the seconds, perhaps, before death, though we cannot know for certain whether the images record tragic events or stunts staged for the camera. The ambiguity inherent in these images renders these works a reflection on photography itself. Captured at a decisive moment given the seeming velocity of the body’s descent, this photograph stills the fall altogether, refusing us necessary context and rendering the inevitable crash to the ground elusive. Despite the limitations imposed on our ability to interpret the narrative of these images, they exert incredible emotional power.