Art Basel Photo Essay: People Watching Art

For PORT, NYC-based photographer Barbara Anastacio went to Miami to document people as they observe and enjoy art

“These images were taken during Miami Art Basel 2012. They are the result of a day excursion to private art collections, such as the Rubell Family Collection and De La Cruz Collection. I wanted to explore the discipline of the bodies in the spectacle of looking at art. The gesture of attention, the movement of contemplation, the physicality of awe as they present themselves in the embodied politics of art watching. The voyeuristic journey of people watching becomes the exhibition itself as beauty literally turns to the eyes of the beholder. Most people assumed I was documenting the art, as everyone does in the digital era of mobile apparatuses. However, aware of being watched, someone came up to me asking to see the picture I had just took. Luckily, I was actually shooting film and there was no way back…”