The Easel

A Catherine Opie moment in Los Angeles at MOCA and the Hammer

Opie came to prominence with her photos of the Los Angeles gay and lesbian community. They were distinctive not just because they dignified the person but also because they clearly drew on the tradition of art portraiture. Her work is now highly diverse, recently including pictures of Elizabeth Taylor’s home. But there is a common thread – to go “beyond the idea of … voyeurism and into ideas of what is human”.