Visage
2020
Gelatin Silver Prints (unique)
24 x 20 in (61 x 51 cm)
Certain early photographs — daguerreotypes, tintypes — are in fact mirror images. The subjects in these pictures are reversed from left to right. In portraiture, this subtle distortion is significant because it represents a key difference between how we see others and how we see ourselves. Visage engages this paradox by enlarging found portraits to life size and then reproducing those enlargements 1:1 with a custom built 20×24″ camera using direct positive paper. This final step flips the subjects back to their natural orientation and produces a unique photographic encounter.