Take a picture of everything you want, then forget about it
Erin from Blackbird Spyplane interviews photographer Merry Alpern about her 1997-1999 project "Shopping," where she secretly filmed women in NYC department stores and dressing rooms using a spy camera hidden in her purse. They discuss the project's voyeuristic ethics, the anxiety around identity and appearance that inspired it, and what the images reveal about shared female spaces and the ritualistic choreography of trying on clothes.
Summary
This transcript is an interview between Erin (editor of Concorde, Blackbird Spyplane's women's vertical) and photographer Merry Alpern about Alpern's photography project "Shopping." Erin discovered Alpern's out-of-print book after seeing images on Instagram and tracked down the photographer to learn more about the work.
Alpern's "Shopping" project consists of photographs taken between 1997-1999 in various NYC department stores and dressing rooms. The images were captured surreptitiously using a spy camera—a camcorder lens attached to Alpern's purse that peeked through an eyelet cutout. This followed her earlier project "Dirty Windows," which photographed an illegal lap-dance club through a bathroom window. While "Dirty Windows" was more scandalous, Alpern notes that "Shopping" provoked stronger reactions because viewers felt the intimacy could apply to them—they wondered if they could have been filmed.
Alpern explains that the project originated from her own anxiety at age 40 about what she was supposed to look like. Her boyfriend suggested she "take a picture of everything you want, and then forget about it," which inspired her to combine her shopping habit with photography. She visited high-end stores like Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Loehmann's, Chanel, and Victoria's Secret, capturing footage she would later convert to still images using a video-capture device that printed them as small postcards.
The conversation explores the gendered nature of shopping spaces, the camaraderie that existed in communal dressing rooms, and the repeated choreography of trying on clothes—bending knees, hoisting garments, turning in mirrors, checking one's back. Alpern notes that these spaces and rituals have largely disappeared. She defends the ethics of the project by pointing out she's the only recognizable face in the images and wasn't trying to incriminate or expose anyone. Erin and Alpern discuss how seeing women of different ages and body types in shared dressing spaces was important culturally, contrasting with today's environment where young women feel pressure for anti-aging treatments.
About this episode
Rare ‘90s photos that capture the desire and anxiety of shopping
Key Insights
- Alpern argues that 'Shopping' provoked stronger ethical concerns than her earlier 'Dirty Windows' project because the intimate domestic act of trying on clothes felt more personally relatable to viewers, making them question whether they could have been filmed themselves.
- Alpern's motivation for the project stemmed from her own anxiety at age 40 about not knowing what she was supposed to look like anymore—neither young nor old—and observing that everyone in dressing rooms was similarly trying to figure out their identity through clothes.
- The spy camera's technical limitations and the resulting pixelated, grainy aesthetic created an unintended voyeuristic quality that would feel more recognizable as surveillance in the late 1990s, whereas today the same grain reads as a deliberate aesthetic choice or filter.
- Alpern notes that communal dressing rooms—where women of different ages got naked together and asked strangers for opinions on garments—created a camaraderie that exposed viewers to natural aging and body diversity, something increasingly absent in modern shopping experiences.
- Alpern justifies the project's ethics by asserting that she is the only recognizable face in the images and explicitly included herself as the filmed subject, positioning herself as both observer and observed rather than concealing her involvement.
Topics
Transcript
Welcome back to Concorde , Blackbird Spyplane’s “women’s vertical” that the fellas love as well. Every edition is archived here . Chef up these fall outfit recipes . Stop drawing imaginary lines in your closet . The best natural-fiber activewear is here . Our newly revamped, intel-rich guide to “Beautiful Life-Improving Spyplane Staples” like deodorant, detergent, tees, bedding, skincare, socks and more is here . Give a gift subscription This past summer , a bewitching set of images floated across my (Erin’s) IG feed. They were color photographs shot between 1997 and 1999, painterly but pixelated, of women shopping in stores — and navigating private moments in dressing rooms — all over New York City. They came from a book…
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