Portrait and human figure photography is probably one of the constants in my work. Some of my most recent work in this area involves selfies — sort of Cindy Sherman, except for me and my purposes. It’s kind of required, seeing as I continually “confront” other people with a camera lens. My own self-perception should be as much at stake when seeking this interaction from other people.
“Is that me?” Quartet
“Is that me?” Trio
Here’s a sampling of the portrait and human-figure photography that I love doing.
This is a scan of an old photo I took around the age of 16, which I developed myself in the darkroom.
“Gurl with a Pearl Earring 2015” This was a weird shot that wasn’t “anything” but a mistake of sorts. Victoria was moving and some strange effect had created the scaffold for the photo treatment here. I would have deleted it, but I just couldn’t let go of it, it was so strange. I started playing around with it in Photoshop, and was flooded with the memory of Bill Viola’s “The Crossing.” Her earring so struck me as reminiscent of Vermeer’s “Girl with the Pearl Earring” at the same time. I got the image to this form, in which I tried to capture the Vermeer and also the wall of flames the arises and dissolves the figure in Viola’s Crossing. Happy accidents, go figure.