Likeness

For this project I planned to use the 4x5 view camera along with other techniques to create pseudo-daguerreotype portraits. Many times during my research of the carnival culture I would frequently come across portraits of the famous performers that made them seem more real and human. These people, who were usually just shown in artist’s renderings on posters, were now visible in the flesh. It was proof that at one point they truly existed.

But at the same time, these portraits flattened the characters and could only tell you so much about who the subjects really were. There was always something else that the viewer desired to know about them that could never be answered by a simple likeness. My portraits are meant to appear as images taken of the performers by a traveling photographer, which show how the performer looks but still provide an element of mystery; a curiosity and a disconnectedness.

Likenesses of Laura






Likenesses of Courtney