One of my favorite photographers is Jeff Wall. I love his stuff. His photos are meant to be viewed in grand scale, often measurinng 8 to 12 feet or so. And they are back lit behind a lightbox – a Jeff Wall innovation in the photography world. Wall disliked the way photos are often exhibited as small prints. "I don't like the traditional 8 by 10," he's quoted as saying in an article on Wall from last weeks The New York Times Magazine entitled "The Luminist" . 
"They were done that size as displays for prints to run in books. It's too shrunken, too compressed. When you're making things to go on a wall, as I do, then that's too small." he goes on to say. His inspiration is large, grand artworks like those from Velazquez and Manet to Jackson Pollack and Carl Andre – all of whom created artwork to be viewed on a larger, lifelike scale. Pieces that held their own, on a wall or in a room. "If a painting can be that scale and be effective, then a photograph ought to be effective at that size, too." Wall describes in the article.
If you don't know Wall, then you should. Apparently his work is being exhibited at the MoMA in NY this month and later at the Art Institute of Chicago and finally here in San Francisco at the SF MoMA. The MoMA has done quite a nice little website for the exhibition here . It's even highlighted on The FWA .Don't be surprised to find Wall's work a bit "staged-looking". It is. But you'll have to see the exhibit or read the article to find out why that's his style.
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