Fine Line
For my Fine Line project, I focused on the range of emotions people experience during a day and how they are expressed. I visited Body World, Gunther von Hagen’s anatomical exhibition - human bodies are dissected, plastinated and presented for the public to study human physiology. The facial exhibits show we have 43 facial muscles to control and form our expressions as notions of beauty, character, health and feelings. The face has the ability to express emotions and convey thoughts without speech.
Stallabrass’s essay “What’s in a Face?” comments upon how the gaze from the subject into the lens makes an intimate connection. I used this idea for a uniformed series; composing one person per photo, placed centrally, face on, gazing into the lens. I asked my subjects to supress their emotions to give a deadpan shot, then I proceeded by asking them how they felt. The aim of this series is to encourage honest conversation, rather than the impossible task of reading inner thoughts.