ARTIST STATEMENT
The Duality Project started as a very simple study of the clothing
people have in their closets. In the beginning, I asked people to
choose two outfits to be photographed in, one comfortable and the
other uncomfortable.
It was important that each item of clothing be something that the
subject owned. The idea stemmed from all of the clothes I hang on
to, purchase and never wear as well as from my mother’s “maybe
it will fit later” philosophy.
As the project progressed it evolved into something much more complex
and it became clear that the project is about something more socially
encompassing than body image.
It has become a study of identity, gender difference, the viewer’s
perception of the model, judgment of self, and each model’s
duality within their respective portrait. I have been photographing
people with a specific set of guidelines; which I encouraged each
individual to interpret in their own way. I then set up my camera
in one stationary spot and ask the model to move to different places
in the frame with each change of wardrobe. Then, I digitally superimpose
the two portraits together. The viewer is then faced with the judgment
of which persona that particular person embraces as reality.
—
Michelle Westmark |
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