An air of family
When Becca and I first put our heads together for Subjective, we were looking at collaborating with three other artists. We thought we would do a series of twenty-five portraits, consisting of five images of each artist—a self-portrait enriched by four other views.
While we were excited about this concept, finding more three more collaborators was a daunting task. Becca and I were getting on so well that it seemed a shame to complicate the partnership. That’s when we hit upon the idea of doing portraits of our families. And, with that, Subjective came to be about how the artist’s relationship with the sitter changes the finished portrait.
Along the way, it has also become a fascinating look at how features combine to create a family resemblance.
part of Bobby Neel Adams’ Family Tree series
This interest in family traits is something that the photographer Bobby Neel Adams certainly understands.
part of Bobby Neel Adams’ Family Tree series
His Family Tree is a series of intimate portraits of his immediate family. He photographs the subjects individually and then prints the images in the same proportions.
part of Bobby Neel Adams’ Family Tree series
Adams physically tears the two pictures, gluing them together to make one portrait which reveals what he calls “the visual DNA passed from generation to generation.”
part of Bobby Neel Adams’ Family Tree series
I wonder how his family sees these images. And I wonder how our loved ones will see our Subjective portraits of them. I’m guessing that they’ll start a support group for each other, since they’re the only ones who can possibly understand what it’s like to be subjected to two portrait painters at once…!
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CATEGORIES: - On portraiture - Featuring artists - Reviews - Subjective -
