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Artist in Residence Jennifer Trausch
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How would you describe your photography?
My photography is an interpretation of relationships between people
and the world, which surrounds them. I focus on the physical connection
the body experiences in life, whether it’s a personal connection;
or an interpretation of another’s experience. I evoke this
relationship not only in the images I create, but also in my portraits
and environment images.
Tell us about your close-ups of the body.
| These photographs are
fantasy, a vision that may only exist in the way I create them.
I create a point of view you don’t normally see. My body
photographs are depiction’s of how the body itself would
“see” if it were experiencing a sensation from inside
itself looking out.
How did you decide to use the inside-out viewpoint?
This series began after working with the 20x24 Polaroid camera,
focusing on taking photos of the skin’s surface. It was
the next logical step for me in working with the body. I wanted
to realize in a photograph the physical sensations the body
feels and how this translates to the “inside looking
out” view. In the photograph “Pinch” I wanted
to illustrate not only the experience of being pinched, but
more importantly; how it looks to be pinched from the inside
looking out through the skin.
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You must have tested many ideas to get the look you have created.
What were the mechanics in creating the images with this viewpoint?
I was looking for material that closely resembled skin, able to
hold details such as wrinkles, pores, hair. It needed to be transparent
enough to be photographed with images occurring on the other side.
I tested resins, glues, molds, and various types of latex. Using
my own body as a mold, I would paint myself with the latex, and
then peel it off in pieces no larger than 6 to 10 inches. Once these
skins were made, I gave them “life” using various lighting
techniques.
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Let’s go back for a moment to the
20x24 Polaroid’s. Tell me what inspired you to create
the close-ups of the body.
The body has always fascinated me, working as an
assistant at the Polaroid studio provided me opportunities
to utilize the 20x24 format; so the body was the obvious choice.
Viewing close-up images of the body with this large format,
you are forced to confront relationships to your body. I believe
these close-ups possess the ability to overwhelm you in their
beauty and grotesqueness at the same time.
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We are also looking at several images that are very different
from the body images we have talked about. They are more direct
images of people and the environment in a documentary style.
I have always done this type of photography, and am currently
working this way. Documentary style work balances my need
to fabricate elaborate studio setups to photograph the body.The
realness of documentary type images continue to pull me back
to this way of working.
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So what is next for you?
In my artist-in-residency I am working on a project with
snow globes combining in-studio construction and documentary
style of shooting. I am attempting to place real life people
and events inside snow globes through double and triple exposure.
The image shown is one of my works in progress.
View
her gallery->
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