'Closing' - The facets of the face

What is in a face? How can a face identify who we are? Agnes, the character of Milan Kundera’s book Immortality is asking such questions. A face we have not chosen, but given are supposed to communicate our inner selves to the rest of society.

 
Are our faces who we are? Chris and I wish to analyse this further related to photography and the experimental design medium of makeup. Photographs are not necessarily the truth, nor is the exterior of the face, both act as a representation of the truth. The immediacy of a face and a photograph could very well be altered by the creator, creating  a blur of the real and the hyperreal. In a progressively commercialised society, photographed faces are often idolised, resulting in the fade of a rational reality. Before the existence of photography, faces were remembered by minds. Some were immortalised by paintings, which is still prevalent today through artist's work such as Jenny Saville and Francis Bacon; however the fast pace of photography and post production is resulting in the face being explored more and more. We are remembered by a photograph, and this ultimately allows the face to become immortalised through the confines of it.

Chris asks,

 can portraits, that only capture our figurative presence represent our ‘self’?

We will explore this idea within the 'Closing' series by focusing on the intimate details of the self such as the hands and feet, as well as the obvious face in order to explore how geometrical form can hint to emotional and psychological form within. Several artists have attempted to investigate the face in this way such as historical photographer August Sander in 1920s Germany, the contemporary artist Chuck Close and Avedon and Penn’s portraits of selected individuals as well as the images of art photographers Reneke Djikstra and Thomas Ruff.

Physically, our anatomical differences are unique to us, the texture of our skin for instance. Our differences help to identify us and by enhancing this it will aim to focus on the reality of who we really are. Human anatomy was an increasing interest in the renaissance for painters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo. Especially famous is Vinci’s ‘Vitrucian man’ which scientifically illustrates the proportions of a man. Interested in human proportions German photographer August Sander photographed not what people wanted to project, but a deeper psychological reality that was lurking under the surface of the skin. He did this by focusing on their proportions and gesture which is what we aim to explore in the project.

'nothing is more hateful to me than photography sugar-coated with gimmicks, poses and false effects' - Sander

The anatomy in this chapter will become a landscape, vast and unique in comparison to any other scenery. Contemporary painter Chuck Close paints vast images, which at first glance can appear to be a photograph of someone, but when studied closely it becomes abstract and leaves the viewer to make up their own interpretations as to what they are looking at. This is crucial in 'Closing' to challenge the viewer to surpass their own experience and knowledge of human form, and allow themselves to be immersed into the finer details in order to really feel what they are looking at, as appose to just seeing it.

'Closing’ is the moment where the conscious inevitability of sleep blurs itself with the unpredictability of the unconscious state of dream. Hanna Segal quotes 

'It is a surreal moment in time where conscious and unconscious thoughts unite within the realm of life experience' in order for the world of reality and fantasy to join into an ironic state of reality and ‘surreality’. In this series of images we wish to focus on the reality that exists before sleep occurs. The reality of ‘Closing’ is very important in signifying the concept of self as subject of consciousness before exploring the unconscious inner self. Therefore we wish to work with realism and enhance the features of the model’s face. By photographing rather close-up images nothing will be able to disturb the viewer from focusing on the model’s features.

The images will be photographed in black and white to avoid the model's features to be distracted by colour, leaving the image to be about nothing but the exterior of the self. Thomas Ruff insists that his photographs capture only the surface of things, only being interested in producing the image and its means of productio, and leaving the viewer's interpretation to create the resounding depth and meaning. 

Like the analogy of a song whereby a set form of lyrics and melody is presented, the meaning only becomes clear within each individual interpretation of such 'guidelines' of a song. Chris states that

'An interesting portrait is one which we either recognise ourselves in, or reject. Either way it is a subjective experience. The surface will lead to ‘guidelines’ of the viewer to subjectively interpret'.

Craig McDean