Andreas Poupoutsis
Andreas is a Cyprus born photographer based in New York, Andreas
has a consecutive theme throughout his work looking at identity and how often
many people apply ‘masks’ to their personalities to make them fit culturally
cultivated norms.
The images Andreas creates are very abstract due to the techniques
and props used in production, for his most popular collection ‘Hidden
Identities’ he has placed his models with a sheet of material covering their
head, the material is thick enough for none of the models features to be
recognisable however the material is thin enough to show facial features this
creating a sculpted face shape for the models.
The abstract portraits are affiliated with art movements such as surrealism
and he often talks of his inspiration from the cubism movement.
We see clear links between Andreas portraits and surrealism, the
images themselves fit into the illogical and irrational connotations that surrealism
is built upon. The unreadable facial expressions that we see on all models
throughout the collection really relate to surrealism due to it linking to a
dream-like state.
Often dreams contain people however normally faces aren’t clear or
are unrecognisable to the dreamer but through disjunctive
cognition we recognise identity even if the appearance does not match the
identity.
This clear
relation to a dream-like notion demonstrates Andreas link between his work and to
the art movement surrealism.
Andreas inspiration and influence for the collection ‘Hidden
Identities’ was the figurative masks that are worn in day to day environments
hiding real identities and true personalities, Andreas even remarks ‘Who are we
behind the masks that personify ourselves’ as a key quote paired with the
collection, this demonstrating his mental process whilst creating the pieces.
The tight material placed over the models in the collection gives
many different meanings dependant on the audience, personally I see the models
being conformed in society norms and squeezed in categories. The images have an
ominous tone due to the created shadows and lighting used in photographing the
models, shadows have been heightened to really accentuate the face shape created
by the thick fabric pulled over the models and this further creating an almost
skull-like figure for all models shot.
All images in the collection are taking as portraiture shots, models
feature in all 6 of the images in the collection however every image is very
varied in composition, lighting and leading lines. The focal point in all
images are of the models themselves, this is clear due to the lighting leading
the viewers eyeline to the models face and the blank and clean backgrounds
behind the models.
One of the biggest contrasts we see between the collection is the composition
of the images, the model frequently varies from being shot from either a close
up to a medium long shot. The varying composition of the model allows every
image to have a different ambience dependant on the model’s facial features and
expression.
One of the most striking images to me as a viewer is the image
taken from a medium longshot, we see the model’s body mostly as a silhouette and
the focal point of the image is the facial expression of the model, this being
denoted by the lighting of the image once again drawing the audience into the
centre of the image.
In this image we not only see the material covering the models
face however it is acting almost like a vacuum as its being pulled out of the
frame. The mise-en-scene in the image creates the most powerful connotations to
me as a viewer due to the idea of the model being pulled around by this
bounding material like a lead, this also creating connotations of the model
being an animal not having their own independence.
Other features of the image that create a chilling tone is the
facial expression of the model, through the fabric we can see the eye sockets
this being eerie due to the model clearly looking at the camera however her
eyes not being visible.
We see a solemn expression created by straight lips demonstrating
that the model is not smiling, this again being sinister due to the viewer not
being able to fully read the models facial expression and only shadows on the model’s
face being readable.
By having the material being pulled out of the frame this creates
really powerful leading lines, instantly the audience is drawn to this structure
in the image and this once again reinforces the idea of the centre of the image
being the focal point due to the lines leading towards it.
The mood overall throughout the artwork is very ominous and dark,
as explored earlier we understand this due to the audience feeling uneasy due to
the hidden body language and expressions that are unreadable due to the material
covering the models.
The monochrome edit of the images also ensures this emotion is
consecutively felt throughout, the monochrome edit itself not only allows
shadows and lighting to be more contrasting and eye-catching but also up- keeping
this theme of forbidden.
Andreas’ work relates very
heavily to my topic of identity and how its represented, Andreas has created
his pieces with identity also in mind and I can definitely sense this theme in
his collections, I can clearly see his attempts at trying to demonstrate the
difficulty of portraying your truest self regardless of the attention that
might attract. This message I find uplifting and encouraging even through ominous
tones of the images themselves.
To use Andreas’ work as inspiration I am planning to use a
material to morph and distort models faces and I want to attempt to recreate
the uneasy feeling of not being able to read facial expressions or body language
of the models, for this I will experiment with different materials such as
tights, scarves and cotton sheets.
I want to delve in deeper and look at some interesting points such
as disjunctive cognition and maybe
look at creating pieces looking at this phenomenon linking heavily to surrealism.
To contrast
Andreas’ work slightly I would like to look at drawing on the material pieces
that will cover the models, if a face was to be drawn on the material this
would reinforce the connotations of being forced into categories and Andreas mask
theory.
