stilled lives

‘Stilled Lives’ are a series of self-portraits that reference artworks from western history. The pinhole photographs need extended exposure, which requires the sitter to perform stasis for this primitive technology. (on average 3-6 minutes) Remaining still for prolonged periods is reminiscent of the life model’s role, becoming petrified in the temporal drift. Walter Benjamin believed that in early examples of photography, something akin to an ‘aura’ was captured through the long exposures necessary to record the image: “The procedure itself taught the models to live inside rather than outside the moment. During the long duration of these shots they grew as it were into the picture”.1 The work addresses the cultural legacies of gendered roles in referencing the way the western art has historically equated gender with posture. 1. Walter Benjamin - A Short History of Photography.