3

Beauty and promise

The protagonists in Prager's photographs often appear to be locked in situations of peril – confronting choices which may have devastating, or perhaps remarkable, consequences. In Molly, 2009, a young woman, holding a takeaway coffee cup and standing beside two abandoned bicycles, is seen looking up at a thick rope dangling inexplicably into the frame. As she stands transfixed the wind catches her dress, revealing a glimpse of her underwear. There is a tension here between a sense of optimism and beauty, and a possible fatal demise – the same fraught emotional state that runs throughout Prager's Week-end series, 2010. She has described her intention behind these photographs, not without humour:

I saw a theme of apathy and impending death running through these pictures – the death of dreams. Originally, I was going to call it, Weekend, without the hyphen, but by adding the hyphen, it emphasizes the word, 'end,' so it could also mean, 'Weak End.' That adds a layer of comedy to it which I like.⁵

Although the locations of these works are not specified, their sundrenched appearance alludes to Los Angeles. The illusory, intriguing quality of the city continues to inspire Prager – it is her eternal muse:

This series is, in a major part, inspired by Los Angeles … [Los Angeles] is a beautiful place. The magic is still here. Everything is possible, but there is a very dark element here too. I think that's what makes Los Angeles so inspiring. You can feel it when you've been here for a few months at a time. The sky is always blue, the birds are always singing – it's a strange picture of perfection – but there is this eerie monotony that creeps in after a while. I think it can slowly drive people crazy – that sense of unease under the surface of all this beauty and promise … I stage my pictures with this place in mind – a place where dreams die quietly.⁶