Willamette University
Alexandra Opie

Alexandra Opie

Responding to Early Portrait Photography

I am interested in the perception of time in a photograph and in creating photographs that appear to be simultaneously contemporary and antique.  In my recent photographic work, I have developed a technique for rapidly reproducing the effects of age on silver gelatin photographs.  In this next phase of research, I will examine the visual cues of 19th century portrait photography.  I will study portrait typologies in general as well as representations of sex, class, locale (rural versus urban), and possibly race as they are represented in the portraits.  I will examine portraits made for personal consumption and those made for identification purposes.  I will then respond to those approaches and create a new body of photographic portrait work.  In particular, I will examine and restage the styles of background, lighting approach and personal presentation of the sitters.  I anticipate encountering many interesting conceptual and creative problems in this project.