SELF PORTRAITS

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A Brief Statement About My Current, Personal Work

 

When I photograph someone, need that person to be willing to take part in a fiction that they have no possible way of understanding. They know that I am not taking a snapshot of them to show others how they look. They've been given a mood board to get a feeling for the tone of the shoot. Along with a wardrobe and prop list, that's all they know in advance.

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All these people have lives complete with feelings, problems, relationships, and all the elements that fill our days. In my photos, they are also symbols. They're willingly objectified and I use their image to tell various stories. When I'm at a photo session of this kind, the model is simply positioned in a specific setting, my lights are arranged, and I press the shutter button on my camera. What I do with that image during the editing process has little to do with the person in the photo. 

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In the realm of digital editing, there is no such thing as a 'happy accident'. Every visible bit of clothing, skin, and set is accepted, altered, or rejected. Each procedure requires a conscious, carefully made decision on my part. The model is nowhere in sight. Every photograph I do is a self-portrait.

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