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Jeff Wall
Fieldwork. Excavation of the floor of a dwelling in a former Sto:lo nation village, Greenwood Island, Hope, B. C., August, 2003. Anthony Graesch, Dept. of Anthropology, University of California at Los Angeles, working with Riley Lewis of the Sto:lo band 2003
Transparency in lightbox 2195 x 2835 mm
Collection of the artist. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Cinematographic photograph

Fieldwork takes Wall’s notion of ‘near documentary’ a step closer to documentary photography proper. He arranged to photograph this archaeological dig as it took place at a site near Vancouver. The American anthropologist and his colleague weren’t acting; instead, Wall photographed them daily as they went about their work over a period of three or four weeks, believing that they would become accustomed to his presence and ignore the camera. As the title indicates, the anthropologist is accompanied and observed by a member of the native tribe whose long-abandoned dwelling is being excavated.