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Transportraits, a series of 20 x 24 inch portraits of transgendered men, is an exploration of identity and representation. Photographed against oil-painted backdrops that I create using the landscape painting instructions from Bob Ross', The Joy of Painting, each subject is photographed to evoke a 'classic' portrait, recalling both renaissance portraiture and popular photography. I am interested in addressing the implications of a photographic portrait and the parallels of representation in photography as a medium, and in the gendering of a person. Photography is a subjective medium often mistaken as objective; misunderstood as portraying truth, evidence. Photographers are thought of as capturing a replica of the original subject, as well as its essence. I would like to confront this idea by drawing a comparison between photographic portraiture and the perception of gender as an unchanging truth. A gender on a body, an image on paper, oil on canvas. Representing a male, representing a portrait, representing a painting. |
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