For this design challenge, we were tasked with taking portraits of ourselves and another person close to us. The goal was to "explore the nuances of who you are and how you may be visually represented". For my other subject, I chose my boyfriend Nick, which allowed my not only bring out elements in each of us, but also in what we bring out in each other.
NICK
I really love when Nick laughs and smiles. I think his smile is really genuine and makes me smile, but I noticed that he smiles differently in portraits. It’s a little bit of a photo tick, but he doesn’t smile with his eyes at all. He only really smiles like this in portraits though, settings that are stiff and unnatural, like school picture day or the DMV. I wanted to help him bring out his real smile in his photos by helping him relax behind the camera. Taking photos of him really made me laugh - whenever he’d smile unnaturally, I’d start laughing and then he would laugh and I could manage to catch a real smile, and a real moment.
ME
I have a photo tick also - I can never seem to smile right in photos, my smile is always crooked and one of my eyes squints way more than the other. I’ve always felt self conscious in photographs because of it, and so my photos I actually like of myself are never at a straight-on face angle. I’m not sure if this experiment has helped me actually fix my tick, but being around Nick and working with these pictures has helped me accept more of myself, and care a little bit less about the details. I’m trying to focus on how I felt in these photos, and convey that moment rather than make sure my smile is completely straight.
SOME STILLS
and glitches
CONTACT SHEETS
