Title page: Emily — Retreat Center Director I’m becoming a sheep farmer. Right now I’m a total fraud: once you meet sheep farmers you see how much there is to learn. |
It began with an email I received from Leonard saying he was interested in the idea of dual personalities, or people’s view of themselves versus how they are seen by the world. In his previous photographic series, Shekhina and The Full Body Project, he had very definite ideas of what he wanted to bring to the table as he posed and molded his subjects. But what if Leonard allowed the subjects to direct their own images? To show the side of themselves that no one knew, or perhaps the half of themselves they were searching for. “I’m particularly looking for people to surprise me and possibly themselves,” he wrote. “To reveal a secret self. I’d like to ask them, ‘Who do think you are?’” Leonard’s instructions were minimal. “The ‘self we keep hidden from others and ‘the self we would really like to be’ might be one and the same,” he suggested. “I leave it to the subjects to decide what they want to show to the camera. I hope the title is open enough to encourage broad interpretation.” — Richard Michelson, R. Michelson Galleries, Northampton, Massachusetts |
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