Parking on Personal Webcams is Cheryl Sourke’s
body of photographic images and time-based works
that examine how once private behaviour is
repositioned through the internet. With the
emergence of recent technology the boundaries
between the public and private spheres have
shifted. Increasingly the web has become a dynamic
social space used for preserving memories and
sharing mundane and personal histories. Familiar
activities such as bathing and hanging out are
recast within this “fourth wall,” a virtual
environment where anyone with a webcam can become
an actor, producer or exhibitionist.

While this series is derived from a single
internet camera, some of the works present short
episodes while others sample across different time
periods. Some sequences incorporate photographs of
the same size, whereas others combine large and
small images.

Webcams are commonly used to record or monitor
events that unfold in the real world and normally
these images only appear in cyberspace. However,
Sourkes is fascinated by how these pictures are
transformed through technology at the moment when
they cross the threshold between everyday living
and virtual space.