I meet the coolest and most interesting individuals

Sojourner is a wonderfully fascinating individual who has, and continues to lead, a beautifully rich life. Experiencing it with a passion for learning, observing and feeling.

We share the same interest in meeting new individuals and creating positive and creative collaborations. Our portrait session was nothing short of amazing. Among the many portraits we created, I also had the opportunity to add to my growing series which is, Untitled (The Dress).

It's an exploration of interaction and identity with this one dress and what it represents. Here is one of our collaborations from Sunday morning's photo session.

© William Zuback

Sojourner

Sundays portrait session, Sojourner. What a beautiful, strong, and free spirit she is.

© William Zuback

Untitled (the dance)

© William Zuback 2014

The Identity Project, Dismantlement & Rebirth

The idea of the Identity Project has been in my mind for well over six years. The work I finally created is much different than what I sketched so many years ago. Like any good story it must have a great beginning, middle, and end. This is the end for this stage of the project and it's ending is at a place and time that feels right.

A recent book I read called Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon has a powerful line, "Dismantlement equals freedom". That is where I'm at with this series. I created my first set of images for the Identity Project series in April and now four months later it is complete and ready to be dismantled. Another powerful passage that resonated as I was near completion of this project was this, "Suz smiled. "Don't you get it?" she asked. "It's the ultimate act of creativity. Destruction is transformation. In order to be reborn, you have to die."  Well, the series is just beginning a new life as I move from creation to exhibition. A rebirth for sure. During this process I've also found a couple additional series that can be pulled from the larger umbrella of the Identity Project. One of these additional series was what helped me get selected for the CoPA Scholarship which will allow me to create a book along with the exhibition, scheduled next year for the Identity Project.

So as the lights come down from the Identity Project I feel a sense of freedom as I begin some additional creative journeys. One liberating transformation of this symbolic destruction will be my exploration into painting. Something I haven't done since high school. I've been encouraged by some art friends that I can do it. We will see, but I'm sure the journey will be exciting none the less.

So as I leave the Identity Project behind until it's exhibition and accompanying book later next year, I will leave you with some interesting facts from this visual journey:

1. 14 men volunteered to be a part of the Identity Project
2. The median age of the male participants was 56.
3. 19 females volunteered to be a part of the Identity Project.
4. The median age of the female participants was 38.
5. Out of the 33 individuals who participated in this series, 21 volunteered unsolicited and 12 volunteered when asked to be a part of the project.
6. I took 1,750 digital captures in the creation of the images needed for the Identity Project.
7. Some AMAZING honest stories came out of this series from it's participants.
8. I grew as a person and an artist from my chance to work with so many beautiful human beings.
9. The "Suspicious Behavior" series was a by product of The Identity Project.
10. A series of encaustic nudes is another series that is a result of The Identity Project.

Artist: Maurizio Anzeri

I came across the work of Maurizio Anzeri like I do with many of the artists I discover and later admire, searching the internet. As a photographer who does a fair amount of portraiture I was drawn to his enhanced  art creations from portraits he collects from many sources including flea markets. My fascination with masks of ones identity weather it be a real mask or behavioral drew me into his layered portrait work. Anzeri takes found, often vintage, photographs and creates his embroidered patterns by sewing directly onto the anonymous portrait. He begins the process by first sketching out his pattern idea's on tracing paper placed on top of the photograph.

“Photographs from the 40s and 50s have a totally different quality from photos we’re used to today. We don’t recognize them as photographs now, they really look like watercolours or drawings. The images I use are anonymous, I find them everywhere; I’m really into flea markets and car boot sales, when you enter you have no idea what you’re going to encounter. In everything I see there is something I am interested in, but I try to look at them as plain canvas. Art history is very important to me, it’s all been done before but it’s never been done by you: if you don’t look into the past there is no chance to go into the future. The surrealist movement is important to my work, but I don’t become obsessed by it, it’s not dictating rules. I understand history in a formal respect, and think of past artists like traveling companions – making work is like going for a walk with them. At the end of the day it’s about humanity.” (excerpt from the artist's profile on Saatchi Gallery website)

When I view portraits I'm always trying to discover something about the individual(s) in the photograph. What is the photograph revealing that can help me make those judgements/discoveries? What Anzeri does with his portraits adds another dimension to this puzzle which I find very exciting. His work makes me wish you could find out more about the persons he chooses to render with his embroidery to see how close or far he comes to their real persona with his creative embellishments. Has his interpretation mimicked their persona or has he made them sexier or moodier, more introverted or extroverted? As fun as it would be to know, I think it's even more fun to imagine for yourself who that person may have been. Anzeri's work doesn't answer any questions but creates even more.