Projects
- Concealer“Concealer” is a series exploring the impact that the media and subsequent celebrity culture has on the individual woman today. In a society that is exposed to images on an almost hourly basis, we are constantly comparing and judging ourselves against a fake ideal. We are encouraged to observe women that devote their lives to pursuing an image, a mirage of surface beauty. Women that have the professional help of a huge behind the scenes team also devoted to this one emblem of unattainable beauty. No amount of exercise, product or surgery is going to trump a digitally altered image. With “Concealer” I attempt to address the issues surrounding photographic truth in the media sector. I decided to turn things around and give “ordinary” women an opportunity to have a flawless portrait. I first photographed women in the studio in the style of a Covergirl shoot. I proceeded to print the digitally altered portraits at face value and re-photographed the women in a normal social setting in their daily routine. By creating juxtaposition between reality and the mask of the media I explore the notion of the celebrity and the impossible aspirations we are encouraged to spend a fortune pursuing. These ethereal flawless faces conceal the person and true beauty beneath.
- PerceptionPerception is a series exploring the impact of the double, the super ego and influence of celebrity on contemporary society. According to Freud, the super ego is the conscience and the last faction of the personality to develop. This driving force works in accordance to the rules of society and also strives for an acceptance. The super ego creates a double when internalizing the wishes the ego cannot meet or suppressing the negative traits that are unacceptable to society. We also produce a double of ourselves in the primitive development of our personalities as an assurance of immortality. Reminders of this duplicate self in mature phases of our lives marks a return of the repressed and produces feelings of unease. It is this sensation of the uncanny that I am interested in exploring in the work. I started applying these theories to contemporary society and the presence of the ego today. We are bombarded with imagery of celebrities and there are entire occupations devised surrounding the idea of fame. I became interested in people that felt that they physically resembled someone else and believed that they could convey the celebrities double. To produce a visual response to Freudian theory that exposed contemporary egos, I posted an advert on the Internet and in local newspapers asking for individuals who thought they bore a resemblance to a celebrity, or worked professionally as a lookalike. I proceeded to photograph my subjects in a traditional studio set up. I had no part in posing or directing my subjects, it was important conceptually that they represented themselves representing someone else. I wanted to evoke a sensation of the uncanny and maintain an ethereal quality to the images that is associated with the implication of the double. The photographs are intended for gallery display at a larger than life size and reflective so the spectator catches their own reflection in the piece. My hope is that in doing so, they assess their own image and consider whom they look like. The mirror itself has been a central core to the project from vanity and narcissism to the mirror stage of development where we first recognize the double of ourselves. The work becomes an advert in itself, asking for individuals who think they bare a physical resemblance to someone else to come forward and thereby appealing to the ego of the collective.
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Work history
MA Student
- Full Time
Communications Representative UK
- Freelance
Responsibilities include: planning alumni events in London, publicising and marketing, updating the social media accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter), liaising with the alumni officer in Canada, maintaining a list of members, designing logo and marketing material.
Skills
- Visual Arts
- Art Photography
- Digital Imaging
- Picture Editing
- Retouching
- Fine Art
- Exhibition
- Creative
- Excel
- Indesign
- Office
- Photoshop
- Powerpoint
- Word
- Lightroom
Awards
Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award