Allan IV

More About This Series

For the past several months I’ve retreated into the studio with some of my favorite models and with some new ones, to enjoy the interaction and collaboration that can come out of making portraits. Portraits have a special place in the human imagination. Before the advent of photography, we painted portraits on animal hides, walls, and later on paper. History reports the first photographic portrait, a daguerreotype, was made in 1839. It was, of course, a self-portrait. A selfie!

As photography matured, it became an important event for the family. They put on their best attire for a trip to a photographer’s studio, and later to the local Sears or JC Penney store, to have a portrait made. In 1997, the year the mobile phone camera was invented, the number of portraits taken measured in the thousands. Last year we took approximately 1.72 trillion photos, including of course, many portraits. With this series, I’ve added a few more.

Noire et Noire

This recent exploration was inspired by and began with a photograph I’ve had in my studio for a long time. It’s a picture by the artist Man Ray called Noire et Blanche. The artist created it in 1926. It’s a portrait of the French model Kiki de Montparnasse, with her head resting on a table, eyes closed, holding an African mask. I enjoy the image for its style and simplicity. I’ve always been disturbed, however, by the porcelain skinned model juxtaposed with black mask since it illustrates a style of art called Primitivism, that was popular at the time, but is now - troublesome.

I decided to re-imagine Man Ray’s portrait with an image I call Noire et Noire. My portrait is in color; a nod to advancements in the technology of photography. I would not have been able to make the portrait without the help of my friend, the artist and scholar, Jessica Oler. I met with Jessica, described my idea and tentatively asked if she might be interested in posing for the portrait. She understood my intention, and readily agreed.

Allan with Mask

I keep a lot of treasures around my studio for inspiration, and looking around one day I realized I had another mask in addition to the one I used for Noire et Noire. This one was made by the Baoule’ people of the Ivory Coast. The wonderful model, Allan Patterson, helped manifest the scene exactly as I imagined it.

My Close Up!

My friend, the artist and former model Michelle Tompkins, helped me execute this idea. Michelle has the wit and style to pull off this image poking a bit of fun at glamour imagery. When I told Michelle I wanted her to blow Bazooka gum bubbles, she understood the brief. And the pink polka dot blouse was all Michelle’s idea!