Peeping Tom is a large-scale projection work that extends Lewis’ investigation into what he terms the “parts” or “bits” of cinema (titles, end sequences etc.). The work takes its title and its inspiration from Michael Powell’s seminal 1959 psychological thriller, “Peeping Tom”.
Powell’s “Peeping Tom” is the story of a young film-maker called Mark Lewis who, in pursuit of the ultimate image of fear, films the death of the young women he murders with his specially modified camera and tripod. These filmed images of death are part of a larger “documentary” that the fictional character, Mark Lewis is making: a documentary that also includes footage of the discovery of the bodies, the police investigation and pursuit of the killer, and the filming of Mark’s own death/suicide.