Mary Louise BrooksI looked at the test shot and saw how I was transformed into somebody else. I took instructions to bring the protagonist she thought up, with her layered back story, her uniqueness, to life. But when I looked at the photo I was not just her created character but a combination of myself and the person Laura conceived...
Even on set, with its specialty lighting and exotic, old timey quality, and in costume, I still saw myself in the photo...through it all. I wonder if it takes a special person to convey the subtle duality of both the intended character and the posed model in a piece, or if IT, that thing, is inborn into the photo, or drawing, or film reel...can a model ever completely transform into an invented character or will she somehow find a peephole to shine through?
I have modeled in costume for a few artists, one in particular on a semi-regular basis, and I sit thinking, what do they see when looking at me as their created characters? Do I transform?
As I embark on a new project drawing my girlfriends as different characters, I hope that through the medium I can convey that magic that happens when you can see that line between fact and fiction. Because on that line sometimes lies truths about the model and the artist that were previously unbeknownst to them both....
xo ac
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