The Screenshots

2000, 20 digital images, 600x800 px each.

A series of drawings from an isometric perspective, in the style of a computer game. The subject of each drawing is the image, or images, that created a cultural event. Historical events (like the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel) are used interchangeably with fictional events (like the picnic scene from The Sound of Music).


Frequently Asked Questions

Screenshots - FAQ - 2/12/01

General:

Q: Are you going to do more screenshots?

A: Probably not.

Q: Can I use these images?

A: Non-commercial use is fine. For commercial use, write me - jhaddock at whitelead.com.

Questions about Content:

Q: Who is the guy crawling in the road (Hernando)?

A: James Meredith, civil rights activist, first African American student at the University of Mississippi. In 1966 he was shot by a sniper while marching in support of voter registration. AP photographer Jack Thornell won a Pulitzer in 1967 for his photo of Meredith after the shooting.

Q: Does anybody know all the events that those pictures are for? I know a few, but I don't know what all of them are.

A: (thanks to cpt kangarooski)

  • - "The Sound of Music"
  • - Assassination of Martin Luther King (Memphis, Tennessee, 1968)
  • - James Meredith shot by a sniper on US Highway 51 (Hernando, Mississippi, 1966)
  • - General Nguyen Ngoc Loan shoots a Viet Cong prisioner during the Tet Offensive (Saigon, 1968)
  • - Federal agents seize Elian Gonzales (Miami, 2000)
  • - Kim Phuc and other Vietnamese flee napalm (Trang Bang, Vietnam, 1972)
  • - Bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman (Brentwood California, 1994)
  • - "The Godfather, Part II"
  • - Jack Ruby murders Lee Harvey Oswald (Dallas, 1963)
  • - "Twelve Angry Men"
  • - Reginald Denny and Damian Williams (Los Angeles, 1992)
  • - Rodney King beaten by LAPD officers (Los Angeles, 1991)
  • - "Mary Poppins"
  • - Quang Duc commits suicide to protest Vietnamese War (Saigon, 1963)
  • - Theodore Kaczynski's cabin (Lincoln, Montana)
  • - Car crash killing Diana Spencer and Dodi Fayed (Paris, 1997)
  • - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at Columbine High School Cafeteria (Littleton, Colorado, 1999)
  • - Anonymous man faces down tanks at Tiananmen Square (Beijing, 1989)
  • - Civil Rights protesters attacked with fire hoses (Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)
  • - Fence to which Matthew Shephard was left to die (Laramie, Wyoming, 1998)

Q: What is 12 angry men about and where is #12? I only count 11.

A: Kind of weird, but there are only 11 actors in that scene of the movie (really, check it out). For some reason the foreman (I think) wasn't included in the shot. If anybody knows more about this, please let me know.

2/12/01 - A couple people have suggested that the foreman was in the bathroom. I don't think so though (have to watch it again to be positive). Either way - this scene is the climax of the whole film, its still weird if one of the characters is in the bathroom.

Q: Why don't you do one of Kurt Cobain?

A: The topics I chose for the Screenshots were ones that had an enormous impact on me. For some reason I wasn't paying much attention to the news when Kurt Cobain died. This applies to a lot of other events that would have been included if someone else had done the series.

Questions about Form:

Q: I've heard you say that the images on the website are "the real pieces", what does that mean?

A: The images were drawn at 800 x 600, 72 dpi. They were intended for screen resolution - Screenshots.

Q: So, if everything is on the web, what will I see if I go to an exhibition with the screenshots in it?

A: Blow-ups of the screen images. I use a Cymbolic Sciences Lightjet 5000 to make 22.5" x 30" digital C-prints.

Q: Are the prints for sale?

A: There was a limited print edition in 2000, Contact Howard House Contemporary (Seattle) at 206-256-6399 for information.

Q: What software did you use to make these?

A: Photoshop 4.0 (pc version). I used an old wacom Artpad II pen as well.

Q: So, how exactly did you make these?

A: Here is a very basic tutorial on how I made the Lee and Jack screenshot.