Simultaneity

Looking down at this project from 30,000 feet I can see now, this project came out of the 2020 Covid Pandemic. Out of reflection, isolation and embracing the darkness we all felt during that year. With direct stylistic inspiration from Picasso and the cubist movement I tried doing the opposite of what I have done since I started taking portraits. Instead of trying to create a perfect beautiful and flattering portrait I wanted to create something real.

As I created more photos in this series it occurred to me that maybe I liked them because, like cubism, these are portraits that show the subject from a multitude of angles. Not only that but they can be dark and imperfect. Our good side, our flattering angle, our photoshopped photo may be commonplace now, but that also means we’re hiding the opposite of that. Something closer to the real self. Life is, as we are, yin and yang. The contrast and complexity of a person is truth.

So often we only see the dreamy idyllic side of everyone’s lives. But we are complicated. Life is complicated. And oftentimes we are not glamorous or happy or as pretty as woot social media. A kind of dark and ugly, but multidimensional beauty that we all possess.

The saying, don’t compare your behind-the-scenes to someone’s highlight reel holds true and continues to grow as our avatar lives grow on social media.

I’ve spent years capturing portraits that try to make you look your best so thanks for bearing with me as I shake things up and make you look a little rough, raw and real. Hopefully something a bit closer to our true and natural self. Portraits that show the multiplicity that makes up who we are as individuals and the multifaceted people we truly are.

Simultaneity.