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The Guardian

‘A rarefied world of privilege': lives of the New England upper class

In the late 1970s, Tina Barney began a decades-long exploration of the (often hidden) life of the New England upper class, to which she and her family belonged. Photographing close relatives and friends, she became an astute observer of the rituals common to the intergenerational summer gatherings held in picturesque homes along the US east coast Developing her portraiture further in the 1980s, she began directing her subjects, giving an intimate scale to large-format photographs Tina Barney: 'This was a very early photo and I had just begun working with a 4x5 view camera. I used the available tungsten lighting so the exposure was long, and therefore my mother had to hold still for a couple of seconds. The table setting was typical for her to create since she was an interior decorator and she enjoyed the process' 'There's so much action going on at this moment since the setting was my sister's wedding reception. I had a flash on top of my Toyo 4x5 camera and it caught so many terrific details. The flowers going through my sister's head, her hands that mimic the little angel behind her dressed in gold, the angel's halo looking like my sister's hat, and on and on …' These personal, often surreal, scenes present a secret world of the haute bourgeoisie – a landscape of hidden tension found in micro-expressions and in what Barney calls the subtle gestures of 'disruption' that belie the dreamlike worlds of patrician tableaux Tina Barney says: 'This photograph was very different for me. I usually didn't make such minimalistic compositions plus I rarely made verticals. At this time I was influenced by Thomas Ruff's giant vertical heads. Having two heads however was more difficult to photograph since I had to struggle with the focus and I was using an 8x10 camera which is not an easy task' Family Ties collects 60 large-format portraits from the three decades that defined Barney's career The images highlight the artist's approach to large-format photography, her ongoing interest in the rituals of families, and her own ideas of composition, colour and the complex relationship between photography and painting Tina Barney: 'The gaze is the most powerful detail in this photograph. That gaze defines the entire spirit of a human being, exits through the eyes and is perceived by the viewer therefore holding our attention. The grace and composure of this young girl is hard to find as a photographer' Tina Barney: 'I was photographing a family in Barcelona when I realised one of the family members was downstairs having their bust sculpted in clay. What is curious is that the white lamp in that space interested me more than anything else. Its graphic white form stood out against the green leather door' 'The more stuff in a space or a room for me, the easier it is. The more minimalistic a space is, the more difficult, because then you have to work harder. You've got to think about that figure and what to do with it' Tina Barney did not idealise. Her subjects appear to us in the complete banality of their daily lives