The immensely popular shadow tracings were a cheap quick method of recording a person’s profile”
Bill Jay on Photography, From Magic to Mimesis
These portraits are a new way of seeing ourselves, but being reminiscent of the 18th century silhouette they are anchored in the past. More than a simple record of a human profile, they are subtle and complex; layered, textured, flawed and beautiful.
This series of images was directly inspired by Len Lye’s photograms. It’s a re-discovery of the craft of photography revelling in the mysteries of a seemingly archaic darkroom, combining technique with observation, and pairing artistic intent with uncertainty of outcome.
This series explores the points of contact through which a blind person would ‘see’. It follows the journey of a blind man navigating his way around a city in order to meet up with a friend. On a deeper level it examines the idea of the blind seeing without sight by utilising other senses – such as hearing, touch, and other points of contact.
I have portrayed this concept visually by creating images that attempt to convey touch, sound, and contact through the cane – focusing on each specific experience by using vignettes cropped around, or shaped by, the points of contact. To emphasise the sensation of contact each photo has been shot from the level where the contact occurs. The series is shot in black and white to reinforce the notion that this is not true visual experience, but rather perceived visual experience. The level of focus within each image shows either the familiarity of the object or definite physical contact.
The house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer… the places where we experience daydreaming reconstitute themselves in a new daydream, and it is because our memories of former dwelling places are relived as daydreams that these dwelling places of the past remain in us for all of time.”
Gaston Bachelard,The Poetics of Space
With inspiration from Gaston Bachelard’s philosophies I visited the former childhood homes of a select group of people. In each house the former dweller would recount to me strong and engrained memories associated with the house. The resulting images depict a each of these memories; the area in focus indicates the exact site or object associated with the memory.
This series The Salvationists came about through my interest in a particular community, and a desire to clarify elements of their cultural and personal identities through the genre of portraiture. I decided to photograph both individuals and couples who are affiliated with The Salvation Army. Their uniform is a link to the organisation they are a part of, but the context they’re shown in is their home which contains indicators of their personal identity.
The images appear to be documentary in nature, however a shift in truth is evident in knowing that the role of the uniform is reserved for times when an individual is participating in the activities of the organisation. We then become aware that the photograph must have been set up and there must have been some process of establishing a relationship. It becomes clear that an element of their private life is on display. We then see that the individuals are not only a part of an organisation, there is more to it than that.
Through the act of portraiture the project explores where one locates one’s identity, and how that identity is perceived. In the case of those who are members of The Salvation Army, we are more likely to think of those in uniform as helping someone in need before we think of them as individuals. The Salvationists explores what more can be told about a person when photographed within a certain context. The nature of a photograph often tricks us into believing that it truthfully reflects the world, or that a portrait can reflect the truth of a person’s character. However, as Richard Avedon once said, “A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.”
Having worked as fashion photographer for over a decade I have noticed first-hand that the age of models entering the industry keeps getting lower and lower. As a result I believe the average age of models appearing in fashion editorials, advertising campaigns and runway shows is also a lot younger than it was 10 or even 5 years ago. It is not unusual now for models as young as 15 and 16 to be put forward for a casting where the target audience for the resulting imagery is women in their 20s and 30s. I have even had a couple of 13 year olds and a 12 year old visit my studio recently on ‘go-sees’ (and I don’t have any children’s wear clients).
Fashion imagery itself is often highly provocative and sexually charged. Therefore it is standard practice for these high-school age girls to be transformed through the use of make-up, styling, photography and Photoshop so that they appear to be mature, sexually assertive women in the final images. I believe that the portrayal of very young models in this manner needs to be brought to people’s attention.
The aim of this particular series of images is simply to reveal the deception. By showing mock ‘school portraits’ of young models alongside highly stylized fashion images of the same subject I hope to better educate the viewer about this particular aspect of the fashion industry.