There is nothing intrinsically creepy about walking down the street while a stranger walks ahead of you, but point a camera at that person’s back, taking shot after shot as you follow, and you are a stalker.
Tamir Karta’s Follow series is both creepy and beautiful. The central figures of the stranger being followed, awash in layered, time-lapsed backgrounds, become a distillation of obsessive intent, the visual constant in the photo anchoring the viewer’s own fixation.
As we shift back and forth between staring at the victim’s back and deciphering the chaotic time-lapse, it is as if we are complicit in the stalker’s pursuit or at least silent, helpless witness to the lead-up for whatever tragedy may take place.
Karta takes us along with him and the effect is mesmerizing, both seductive and repellent.