Here you can see a woman in the back of a car with a man’s arm around her shoulders. She looks away from him, her expression is sombre. There is a large gap between the two of them and the man’s face and body is cropped out of the frame. The distance between the two figures appears to be not only physical but there’s also a great emotional distancing. This photograph is one of a series called ‘Parts’, in which Lee has photos of herself in different scenarios with different men and in every case the man is cropped out of the photo, apart from a nondescript part of his body, commonly his arm. I feel like Lee might be making a point about the fact that there is always more to a story than what one can see at a glance. Even though this is a photograph, and the nature of it is still and silent, I can imagine that this car journey was almost as silent as the photograph itself. There appears to be some sort of disdain and discomfort coming from Lee towards the man in the car. He desires more intimacy and she does not want to comply. Lee may have made this photo to highlight how many women feel trapped in relationships that aren’t good for them. There’s no obvious evidence that he has physically abused her but the distant look in her eyes looks like she could be close to tears. There is not any amount of affection left for him. It doesn’t seem like a temporary argument, this photo seems to represent a long term scenario. The way Lee has used the technique of cropping a larger image effectively visually emphasises the sense of unease and discomfort.

Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: https://nmwa.org/blog/2013/11/01/fluid-identities-the-parts-and-projects-of-nikki-lee/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Tonkonow.com. (2017). Nikki S. Lee. [online] Available at: http://www.tonkonow.com/lee_parts.html [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].