Overview
â??Somewhere in the archives of crudest instinct is recorded the truth that it is better to be endangered and free than captive and comfortable.â?
Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction
What does the human face look like when its features are unrestricted in the shapes they can make? My aim in this project has been to rearrange the perceived notion of what the human face should look like; to instead show it in all of its weird, embarrassing, audacious, honest, beautiful, freakish, whimsical, cross-eyed, painful, complex, emotional glory.
When our societies prescribe to us a certain set of acceptable forms of presentation, behavior, and emotion, these norms inevitably give rise to a fear of losing control and make our subconscious mind a dangerous place. There is no venue quite like the human face when it comes to self-expression, so much so that our faces often give away our emotions while the rest of our appearance remains under control.
These faces were photographed in motion as the subjects contorted their features into rapidly changing, spur-of-the-moment expressions. In capturing this I chose to take the threat of self-exposure and reinterpret it as a possibility for honest and outlandish self-expression, as if I was hitting the metaphorical pause button while watching the film of the subconscious mind.