Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure The complete series is comprised of 25 staged images of fine art photography. All are single shot and lens based. The 10 images submitted are excerpts from the series. They explore an authoritarian worldview dominated by power and control in which human relational interactions are mostly transactional. The series takes its’ title from Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’ in which themes of sin, hypocrisy, ethics, morality and “quid pro quo” are examined. I drew from my collection of dolls and toys and enlisted a variety of reflective and textured surfaces to stage my images. All were shot in natural light. In terms of my post capture process, I reverse the image as well as manipulate the color and tonal values. I expect the result to have a “hand drawn” quality. The project’s look and method of delivery owe a debt of influence to the work of Ray Harryhausen's early stop-motion animation, the experimentation of Man Ray, as well as the technique of reverse glass painting. When the world grows dark, distressing and uncertain, artists are compelled to get to work and make sense of their place in it. ‘Measure for Measure’ is my attempt to explore and reconcile both the conscious and unconscious fears of what might lie ahead.