BA Photography Graduation Show 2009
London College of Communication
Opening 4th June 6pm-8pm, Atrium, Well Galleries
and throughout the photography department
Show open from 5th-13th June 10am-4pm Monday to Saturday
Nearest tube: Elephant and Castle (Northern and Bakerloo lines)
University of the Arts London, SE1 6SB
Gregory Barker
You, Me and Him: Portraits under hypnosis
"OK now really allowing you imagination to come through picture how Geoff looks, how you see him, truly believe that you are Geoff, now really be Geoff."
Within the context of the photographic portrait, a performance takes place. It is the intention of the piece to manipulate this performance in order to illustrate something more intrinsic to the character of a sitter than a mere surface. To that end, three subjects, who share a relationship spanning over two decades were placed under Hypnosis, a state in which a sitter becomes hyper-responsive, through which an immediacy between thought and action is realised, ridding the resulting performance of any contrived or rehearsed modes of self presentation that may otherwise occur. The subjects, once placed into this state were asked to perform in a way that they felt depicted their ‘subjectivity’ or self-view, and then to portray one another. In presenting the resulting portraits in a series of three triptychs a more legible portrait of each sitter emerges.
