Double Exposure Self Portraits
Featured in The List 2015
Photography is often about revealing objects or an environment. A photograph is an exact depiction of what is in front of the lens. However, double exposures are about constructing an image. They are unique in their physical appearance in that the image is not what the lens sees. They can be subtle to the point of seeming realistic. They can be chaotic, confusing, surreal, and even thought provoking. The double exposure effect requires the viewer to spend time analyzing the entire image. Even after seeing it multiple times, the viewer may pick up on something they missed before.
This process started out as a technical inquiry. I wanted to know more about double exposures as a whole theme. This led me to research a variety of photographers that work in both the film and digital worlds. My research led me to ask questions such as why do artists create these images? As well as what is the relationship among the multiple subjects? Ultimately, I combined the techniques of Christoffer Relander and Florian Imgrund, with the concepts of Jerry Uelsmann.
Relander and Imgrund both create double exposures inside the camera. Relander creates his double exposures with a DSLR, while Imgrund creates his with film. Although there are many ways to create a double exposure, I was very adamant about creating a single negative to showcase my final image (as opposed to sandwiching negatives or composite darkroom prints). I chose to utilize film as I knew it would be a challenge for me. Although creating a double exposure inside of a DSLR is fascinating, it seemed too easy. I also chose film, because it is my passion. The darkroom is where I consider myself to be the best artist, not in front of a computer screen.
I set out to create a double exposure of a self portrait with an emotional connection until I read an interview with Jerry Uelsmann. In the interview, he speaks about being an explorer of his world. He does not set out to take specific images for his composite photographs. He states “If you can get to a point where you respond emotionally, not intellectually, with your camera, there’s a whole world to encounter” (Berman & Maher, 2007). Intellectually, I was trying to get the perfect composition and the perfect double exposure. I was over thinking the whole concept. This allowed me to stop forcing the process and let me go back to my style of just being an explorer and enjoying the medium of film.
During an exploration and a failed photo shoot, I noticed that the tops of trees looked a lot like veins in a human body. At that exact moment, I had a breakthrough and I knew that the trees would be my secondary image to overlap my self portraits. There was a physical connection that I could make between the silhouette of my head and these simple things we see on a daily basis. A few days later, I returned in the rain and overcast skies and photographed the negatives for this series.
I purposefully make my images small because it requires the viewer to be physically closer to my artwork. It forces you to spend a little more time with the photograph to see all of the intricate details. I also chose to leave my work untitled as it allows the viewer to create their own concept with the combination of the two images. Prior to this series, I have always titled everything that I have done. In the same interview with Uelsmann, he states that the subjects in his work “causes the consciousness of the viewer to come up with their own way of connecting with that image. It’s the audience that completes the cycle” (Berman & Maher, 2007). I want my audience to interpret these photographs in their own way rather then using a title to come up with a theme.
These images are the most challenging images that I have ever created. It forced me to learn a completely new style of photography. I was forced to speed up my creative process and I made many mistakes from it. From mistakes came breakthroughs that ultimately shaped my final photographs. One of which was a pile of failed double exposure negatives that were left on a light table. Looking down at them, I realized that I could alter the physical world in my double exposures and change which direction my camera was facing while shooting. This allowed me to shoot images sideways and upside down, which ultimately helped create my final images.
