Making a Scene
My latest project is entitled “making a scene” about emotion and performance. I began shooting this project in August 2010 until December 2010. During that time I worked with 20 actors and shot 3000 images. I called out emotions to each actor and they improvised a performance on the spot in front of the camera. The resulting images are below. Scroll down past the images for a book and a video featuring local actors Sydney Daly, Lulu Deboer, Heather Sims, Jessica Robinson, Paul Vaughn and Laurel Whitsett.
Making a Scene Project Statement:
Emotion, in my life experience, is the root of all drama. In this body of work I direct actors and models through a sequence of emotions. Rather than assume the role of observer in a dispassionate way, I choose to actively set up these performances in the studio. The resulting photographs are surreal, subconscious reconstructions and rearrangements of ‘reality’ that come out of the experience of improvising the emotions. The chiaroscuro of the spotlight illuminating the figure in the darkness implies a tension between real life and the imaginary. The work takes on a dramatic focus, which is the basis of my art.
Video: