Part Three - Putting yourself in the picture: Project Two - Masquerades: Exercise - Self-portraiture

This exercise is about the work of Nikki S. Lee and Trish Morrissey. 

I have seen Lee's work before - I actually find it quite humorous.  I looked at various projects that she's compiled (online) and like the way she has added authenticity to the images by making them look like family snapshots - presumably using a "point and shoot".  Unfortunately, Lee does not appear to have her own sight, so I relied on a gallery site by Leslie Tonkonow.  And as the course notes say about Morrisey, as you scroll through the images, withe Lee you also get the impression of a single character with multiple personas, and in each one she looks as if she naturally belongs there.   
Morrisey, fortunately does have her own site, making it easier therefore to see the images; I looked through the images in the project called "Front".  Knowing the background to these, I also found them humorous at first, but then after a while, I felt unsettled.  Seeing her again and again, looking much more recognisable in each image that Lee's in her work, it got a bit weird.  And, I wondered about swapping clothes and particularly swimwear with someone...yuck...

In both cases though - I found the photography interesting - Lee's work more so as she assumes distinctly different characters in her work than Morrisey.  I'm not really sure what Morrisey is trying to say though - is it a commentary on the depth of family and whether relationships can be substituted?

The exercise asks us to answer some questions, as follows:

• Is there any sense in which Lee's work could be considered voyeuristic or even exploitative?  Is she commenting on her own identity, the group identity of the people she photographs, or both?  I don't think her work is voyeuristic.  To me that suggests that the people you are watching are not aware and that it's secret and perhaps something is happening that is sensational.  In her photos you can see clearly the happy participation of the subjects.  These are staged scenes, not candid, and they represent normal every day situations, not stuff that goes on behind closed doors.  I think she is commenting on her own identity and the group identities.  She is making the point that identity is informed by your surroundings and the company you keep.  We do not exist in isolation and most of us get a sense of belonging and settlement by being with people we share commonality with.
• Would you agree to Morrisey's request if you were enjoying a day on the beach with your family?  If not, why not?  Maybe, but definitely not swapping clothes.  A day on the beach for me would consist of me, husband, dogs, elderly parents, may be sister, brother-in-law, nephews.  Who would she swap with?  Most likely my sister - she's the youngest adult.  I could see it working out, but why would we want to do that?  It's like structured photo-bombing but with the fun taken out of it.  I can see the point she's trying to make, but in our collaboration, what point are we trying to make?  That we can allow a stranger to infiltrate our family and turn us into art? Why does that seem worse than my approach to Street Photography?
• Morrissey uses self-portraiture in more of her work, namely Seven Years and The Failed Realist.  Look at these projects online and make notes in your learning log.  The Failed Realist is very strange and the captions do not help.  The paint looks like child's face-painting gone wrong, which referring to Carol Street's article on the same exercise written up in her blog confirmed my fears, and like Street, I don't know what this series is trying to say.  Seven Years is very much like Front; Morrissey appears to have infiltrated a family scene and swapped places with somebody taking on their role; in this one, I think she has also swapped with men.  But, on further research, I discovered that she had in fact set up these scenes with her sister, to recreate traditional family photographs and also create imaginary ones.  Odd that they are not smiling.  Is this to recreate nostalgia?

I found this exercise interesting, but the work strange.  I would like to see more of Lee's work.  She is addressing a number of issues around ethnicity, stereotyping, social belonging, social inclusion, adaptation, and many other "-isms" and "-tions".  By blending easily into other ethnic groups and social situations, she is proving the point that labeling and compartmentalising of people is just nonsense, and even more so in an age where people of diverse and mixed ethnic backgrounds live in the same location.  Morrissey's work on the other hand, I don't really understand the motivation for.  I realise that she is interrogating the dynamics and roles of family relationships, but I'm not sure I understand the point she is making, or why.  And is this really self-portraiture - she is taking the role of another person - surely now she is the model?

Websites

• Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects available from http://www.tonkonow.com/lee.html [accessed 1 February 2015]
• Masquerades in Carol Street Context and Narrative OCA Blog available from https://carolstreetphotographycn.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/exercise-masquerades/ [accessed 1 February 2015]
• Trish Morrisey available from http://www.trishmorrissey.com/ [accessed 1 February 2015]