Sophie Calle is a french conceptual artist, photographer and installation artist. She is regarded as a slightly unorthodox artist, breaking down boundaries most people don't even realise are there. Her long and brilliant career began by stalking people around the city of Paris in France, one of whom she followed all the way to Italy, and she has since used art to analyse the difficulties and pain in her life. When her Mother was dying she had a tape rolling at all times to record her final minutes in case she wasn't there when she did go, and when she came across a lost address book she contacted everyone in it to base a project around the person who had lost it in the first place. She's a perfect example of an artist who thinks her art through, and who gives her art real gritty substance and realness. "It became almost an obsession. I wanted to be there when she died. I didn't want to miss her last word, her last smile. As I knew I had to shut my eyes to sleep, because the agony was very long, there were a risk I might not be there. I put a camera there, thinking if she gave a last jump or start, a last word, at least I'd have it on film." One of her most memorable projects was one she put into action concerning an email she received from her ex dumping her, the last line of which became the name of her project "Take care of yourself". After two days of it sinking in, she was inspired to use it to her advantage, to use it in her art. She decided to show the letter to various women and allow them to interpret the letter according to their profession, taking photos of them reading the letter. Among the 107 women she asked was a forensic psychiatrist, who dubbed him a 'twisted manipulator', and an ettiquette consultant who analysed his manners and found them to be poor. All their contributions based on their professions really made the exhibition. 
It was a brilliant and very fascinating project, especially contextually. I think it's very feminist. I think all women at some point have gone through a similar experience, and we all deal with it usually in the same way, namely by trying to look for hidden signs and meanings by analysing every detail, and then having your friends do the same. It really highlights the way women work, because essentially every one of those 107 women have responded to it in the same fashion, if not exactly the same way. All of them have read this letter and thought, how do I interpret this? That's what's endlessly fascinating about the way Calle went about choosing these women, she chose by different professions because she knew with the different professions would come very different ways of interpretation.
Experiment: Inspired by her email project, I decided to incorporate the method she used while thinking back on my research looking at routines as a part of the sleeping process. I explained to the people I asked Sophie Calle's art work 'Take Care of Yourself', why it had come about, and what she had done, and then asked them to write down for me or illustrate, (or put down in any way they liked), how they spent their evening once arriving home from work/school, basically asking what they did before going to sleep so to speak. I then took a photo of then writing down this information. It's interesting to see how they are all doing the same thing, but have slightly different postures and ways of doing it, some lean back, others lean right up close etc. It's also interesting how the way it's written down seems almost in tune with their personalities or outlooks. Girly handwriting for girly personalities and such.
Straight and to the point. It's interesting how the person asked set it out using very little detail and very short sentences. It says more than it implies about him, suggesting a private individual.
A very practical way of looking at her routine. The neat girly handwriting goes nicely with the personal style in the photo, and the eye is instantly drawn to the bright pink nail varnish centrally.
Another very practical approach, with a blow by blow account.The lack of sleep implied by the long hours of studying documented is supported by the tired expression and harsh lighting of the photo.
A sweet approach to documenting her routine. The use of cartoons and nice handwriting reflect an artistic personality, which I think the photograph reflects nicely.
Interesting how there are arrows included to show an order of progression, this is the case in quite a few of the accounts given.
I think for this pair there is contrast between the cartoony jokey notepad account and the look of concentration on the subject's face.She looks deep in thought, contemplating her routine.
Not amazing photographs all in all, although a couple show some good composition. They are more research than an experiment as such, but it was interesting to see how at first people weren't sure what to write or where to even begin. Most if not all of the people I asked didn't fully understand it's purpose even when I'd explained it to them; it just seemed very irrelevant, even verging on the personal to even ask in the first place! Yet once they started thinking about it they began to really put down what they did, occasionally adding things in different orders ,remembering "Oh! And then I do this..." or "yes, then I do watch tv next, except on weekends when I'm working" as they recalled parts of their routine. It was mostly to see how in fact people don't really think about their routine in the evenings, and the steps they take in preparing for bed, they just know it off by heart without really taking it in.
But it was a good task to get a better sense of what kind of documentary photographs I can take regarding preparation for sleep, and while the photos mostly seem the same I find that very relevant in that we all prepare for sleep in much the same way, with just tiny differences here and there, with an extra bit thrown in (like moisturising) or taken away, (like flossing).
More critically however, while it is an interesting idea which has given me food for thought in approaching my final outcome, the photos aren't particularly high quality, are mostly very similar, and lack diversity and quantity. I think if I'd had this idea a lot earlier in my prep work, I could've gone a lot further with this experiment than I have done, I would have put more thought into how I did the photographs, given a better outline to my question, and asked more people with a greater diversity, i.e. different ages, different places etc. I might even have had them create a more accurate account of their nightly routine by taking the notepad home overnight and filling it with as much or as little information as they liked with no time pressure or distracting peers.If I were to expand on this experiment, that is how I would do it.
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