Bureaucrats: that unavoidable first impression

First impressions are important. We all make assumptions about people when we first encounter them and, although they are often incorrect, they are also unavaoidable. Jan Banning’s exhibit, Bureaucratics, is all about the first impressions that civil servants leave on visitors who enter their office for the first time. The exhibit is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston through March 23.

Banning, a Dutch photographer born in 1954, spent five years photographing civil servants in eight countries: Bolivia, China, France, Liberia, Russia, Yeman, and the United States. There are 23 color images on display, all in more or less similar construction. Banning arrived unannounced with a writer, conducted a short interterview and photographed them in their office from the perspective of a visitor. The details matter here and those details are what create the impact of the exhibit.

All images have small items that identify the person, the position, the country, and the authority of the person. Many include a small flag, a photograph of the first president or the current president (or both), a photograph, a set of handcuffs, calendars and multiple personal items: small baloons, plants, family photographs. The later make the civil servant feel more comfortable working in an office environment, but the former often convey authority or rank.

The images are based on a round of assumptions. The subjects have perceptions of themselves and of their guests. The guests, meanwhile, are making assumptions about what they see. The assumptions are different and based on the experiences of each individual viewer.  The exhibit explores this theme.