Alyssa
We paid a visit to the National Portrait Gallery on Sunday to see the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize and I fell in love with Alyssa by David Knight.
I feel kind of weird about some photography as typically (and understandably) the visual connection between image and viewer is more overt than in painting, sculpture, crap modern dance etc. – it’s sort of like Roy Walker ‘Say what you see!’. And this visual connection instills a sort of sense of knowing, and by knowing we assume understanding. I guess I like my art to be a little less assuming. So, the exhibition really made me think about how weird I find portraiture, as it’s a staged image and one that generally pushes you in to a judgemental role. I’m also pretty sure that it should only be the person in the picture – your focus on just one person. Not one person plus a bunch of ‘things’. I like portraits with dogs and trees and cups of tea but mostly it should just be the person. Rooms are also too distracting – you think about what went on in them, what will go on… When you tangle in other stuff it becomes diluted with subjectivity. Don’t get me wrong, I like to deduce the parts of a person from what they are willing to let me see, but the point about it, for me, is that looking at a portrait tells you more about yourself than the person you’re looking at. The absence creates a dialogue which is harder to determine between the image and the person with their eyes open – it makes you think harder, and longer and probably makes you smarter.
Andy wants to do a portrait of me for his project – he is asking friends and family to think of the scenario in which they feel most themselves, or comfortable and he’ll shoot their portraits in these places. The more I think about the place where I feel most at home, or comfortable, the more I think that place is inside myself – it’s just me being in me, with no cups of tea, or words, or things I outwardly cling to. I keep thinking about old Aristotle banging on that “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”, and I think it makes a lot of sense in this instance. Or maybe I’ll just lie in bed surrounded by books, dressed in my giant babygrow, drinking tea.
Looking forward to doing your portrait. I don’t think we’re going to be buying a print of this anytime soon! Check your email for prices.
Thoughtful and insightful post! So did you find out about the icelandic ‘grows?