Alex Prager

Alex Prager is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker. She was inspired to create work after she saw an exhibition of William Eggleston's photos. Her work has a classic Hollywood feel using highly saturated colors and most of her films feature female protagonists. The films in particular examine the emotions and feelings that go through our minds during different experiences and how we react to them. Many of her photographs resemble film stills (much like Cindy Sherman) and she gives the viewer just enough information to make up stories about characters in their own imaginations.

Face in the Crowd is perhaps her most famous series from 2013. Prager depicts large crowds in separate locations, each individual person being a character that the viewer could write their own backstory for. Prager works with huge sets, hundreds of actors and extras, and lots of props and costumes to compose her photos and films. The accompanying short film stars Elizabeth Banks as a woman who admires a large crowd and then decided to join the sea of people. Her facial expressions convey a sense of wonderment and excitement which then turns to anxiousness and uncomfortableness. I think Prager is trying to highlight the fact that can humans pass each and get so close to one another, whether it be in a crowd or in daily life situations, and never get to know anything about one another or ever learn about that person's story. Another meaning could be how someone can feel lost within a crowd. They could feel drowned out or forgotten because of how massive it is, how massive the world is. I also believe the film highlights the human experience and how someone can feel alone yet be constantly surrounded by people, all aspects that I can relate to.

https://www.alexprager.com/face-in-the-crowd-excerpt

Other topics her films explore include science fiction, death, stage fright, and human emotion. Another film that I particularly related to is called La Grande Sortie. In it a ballerina on her opening night performs her routine in which she increasingly becomes more and more aware of the crowd watching her. You can tell by her facial expressions that she becomes self-conscious and worried about what the crowd thinks of her. The film explores the pressures artists can feel when presenting or performing something they've made. It is hard to let something you've put all your heart and soul into out into the world for all to see and judge.

https://www.alexprager.com/la-grande-sortie

Alex Prager inspires me because she proves that anyone can do whatever they feel called to in life no matter the circumstances. She never had a formal art education, but worked hard and followed her passion and has become super successful all on her own. She let nothing hold her back. Her approach to making art always starts at the most basic concept, the human experience. She is able to portray basic human emotions in ways that captivate audiences and I hope that I will be able to create something that can resonate with audiences like she does.