Can You Spot the Suspicious Behavior in These Photos?

Breaking into a run. Standing too long in once place. Repeatedly looking over your shoulder. Everyone does these things from time to time, and they aren’t usually cause for alarm. But in Esther Hovers’ series False Positives, such things are very suspicious indeed, and suggest a heinous crime may soon occur.

Her images emulate the actions so-called smart cameras would deem “deviant behavior.” Connected to highly sophisticated software, these cameras can, among other things, detect abnormal activity like a person leaving a package or backpack on a busy street corner and alert the authorities. This, of course, prompts all kinds of conversations about privacy, security, and control. Hover hopes to contribute to the discussion. “[The project] aims to raise questions about deviant and normal behavior within public space,” Hovers says. “Should intelligent surveillance cameras be the judge of this?”