LAURA MOORE
’LIKENESS’
7 APRIL – 30 APRIL, 2016
Likeness, 2016, installation view. Photography by Mark Pokorny.
ID: There are three large framed black and white images on a white wall. Each image has a light brown framing, and a thick white border around the photo. The first image on the left has a person with short, black spiked hair wearing a black t-shirt with a black necklace with a stone on it, with their arms crossed and a serious looking expression. The second photo in the middle, is a close up of a persons face, they have short buzz-cut hair, they are slightly smiling and wearing a white t-shirt. In the third photo, to the right, there is a person with long light coloured hair, wearing a short-sleeved top and a textured white skirt. They have their head tilted slightly up and staring down at the camera, with one hand on their hip.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Likeness combines the traditional realms of studio portraiture and wet darkroom printing with modern smartphone camera technology. This collision of photographic histories and technologies strives to capture both the adolescent subjects and the medium of photography during a shared period of evolution.
I have captured these portraits on a smartphone and then used the phone itself as a negative to make a tradition silver gelatin print with an enlarger. This enmeshment of photographic histories and technologies results in portraits that become more unclear and obscure the closer you get to them. From a distance the images look perfect but as you approach, the grid-like pixels of the phone screen become visible, making the image more difficult to perceive.
Likeness, 2016, installation view. Photography by Mark Pokorny.
ID: There are five framed photographs in Verge Gallery. There are three large framed black and white images on a white wall on the left. Each image has a light brown framing, and a thick white border around the photo. The first image on the left has a person with short, black spiked hair wearing a black t-shirt with a black necklace with a stone on it, with their arms crossed and a serious looking expression. The second photo in the middle, is a close up of a persons face, they have short buzz-cut hair, they are slightly smiling and wearing a white t-shirt. In the third photo, to the right, there is a person with long light coloured hair, wearing a short-sleeved top and a textured white skirt. They have their head tilted slightly up and staring down at the camera, with one hand on their hip. In the far back corner, there is an image of a person with their face turned away from the camera, but their eyes looking directly outward. They have short hair, and a checkered long sleeve button up top. Next to it, there is another image of a person with their hair tied up into a pony tail, with a headband on. They are wearing a short sleeve shirt and a necklace with a pendant on it.
As an artist, I am interested in the reasons we take photographs and the way we read them. My work addresses themes of identity and representation, examining both the abilities and the limitations of photography in order to question the way the photographic image is received and interpreted as meaning.
This work examines the nature of photography itself and experiments with the capacity of the photographic portrait to represent complex meanings about identity and human relationships. The way we use and view photography is changing rapidly. This generation of teenagers is playing an important role in directing the future of photography through the adoption of new technologies. In turn, as these adolescents are beginning to assert their independence and form their own identities, photography is playing an ever more important role in the way those identities are established.
Likeness, 2016, installation view. Photography by Mark Pokorny.
ID: There are three large framed black and white images on a white wall, each image has a light brown framing, and a thick white border around the photo. The image on the left has a person with their hair tied up into a pony tail, with a headband on. They are wearing a short sleeve shirt and a necklace with a pendant on it, they are angled away but looking faced forward. The image on the right has short hair slicked to the side, faced onward, wearing a dark bomber jacket and a patterned t-shirt underneath.
My brother (Likeness #1) was born in 1999 and the first photographs of him were taken on a digital camera. He is of a generation whose lives have been documented by digital photography. This generation are coming of age in a time when more photographs are being taken than ever before and the most common cameras are on our phones. A time when photographs are rarely printed but instead shared virtually. This is a generation whose identities are mediated and validated by photography.
Likeness, 2016, installation view. Photography by Mark Pokorny.
ID: There are three large framed black and white images on a white wall, each image has a light brown framing, and a thick white border around the photo. The image on the left is of a person with their face turned away from the camera, but their eyes looking directly outward. They have short hair, and a checkered long sleeve button up top. Next to it, there is another image of a person with their hair tied up into a pony tail, with a headband on. They are wearing a short sleeve shirt and a necklace with a pendant on it, they are angled away but looking faced forward. The image on the right has short hair slicked to the side, faced onward, wearing a dark bomber jacket and a patterned t-shirt underneath.
Likeness, 2016, installation view. Photography by Mark Pokorny.
ID: There are three large framed black and white images on a white wall, each image has a light brown framing, and a thick white border around the photo. The image on the left, there is a person with long dark hair wearing a patterned black and white t-shirt, looking down. The second photo has a a person with short, black spiked hair wearing a black t-shirt with a black necklace with a stone on it, with their arms crossed and a serious looking expression. The third photo is slightly cut off on the right, and is a close up of a persons face, they have short buzz-cut hair, they are slightly smiling and wearing a white t-shirt.