Portraits Without Script
Using a simple studio setting with an advancing slide projector and a vintage projection screen, a series of portraits is created with no specific script. Models in the sessions are framed by light coming from the blank photographic slides, and by the photographic frame of the camera. They are confronted by light first, and with each carousel move, they are prompted to take a different pose. The advancement of the carousel is not regular, creating sudden moments of appearance and disappearance. Conflict arises between the confessional blinding light source, and the intimate setting of the photographer's studio. The series aims to discuss the dynamic of power and control present in the photographic portraiture, between the sitter and the photographer. Models are looked at and observed from various angles, revealing the production setting and complexity of the multiple photographic gazes. Portraits are highly theatrical; they are staged and documentary at the same time. Final photographic prints are produced in various sizes, and mounted on aluminum with face-in non-glossy Plexiglas material. This technique allows for creation of photographic objects, which are then lit with the set of slide projectors in the final presentation. Slide projectors thus become elements both in the production of the photographic portraits, and as light sources in the installation.
