Back in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, I stumbled across the Instagram account of Ahna, a local model who posted a photo (of her) wearing a homemade mask— not something to utilize as serious protection from Covid-19, but for fun, exploring her untraditional ideas in a unique way. I immediately reached out to find out if she had more, which she did. It was the perfect time to create a series based around masking (for obvious reasons) and we chose fifteen of them to photograph, each one custom designed and handmade by her. While the intent of the series was to have photos side by side (a duality) after consideration, I believe seeing all the masks individually, as a collection, is a neat and tidy way to showcase them. I’ll then throw in a bit of chaos and deconstruct the simplicity of the original fifteen photographs with a different way of seeing them.
I did, at one time, have these posted on Instagram— however, the platform didn’t take to well to them and I didn’t have them public for long. I was being flagged for each upload and ultimately ended up removing the entire series. If you’ve been following my account for a number of years, you may remember them. However, I never released all the photos of the alternate side to this series, and I have dozens of other parallel photographs well. When I deleted these fifteen from Instagram, I decided to just stop there.
Now, delving into them years later, I see them more as a time capsule— a perspective into a chaotic year when I first chose to work in a series format and was dealing with personal issues as well. Those first series,’ including this one, were an escape— a relief from the year we will all remember for the rest of our lives, but also an escape from my every day life at home. It was a tumultuous period, all around, and my photography provided me an effective outlet to submerge myself into something that provided relief— a welcomed sanctuary.
I look back on these photos now and see so much more than the pandemic. I see myself (hiding) behind the mask in each one of them from what I knew needed to happen, personally, but was scared to allow it to. These masks were a way of presenting myself and my insecurities to the world without having to face it all head on, face forward. We all have our own masks, our own insecurities we want to hide from everyone, including those who are closest to us. These, slightly jarring, masks represent that that cover we all hide behind out of fear of being seen— being judged— being cast aside. Even while our body is on full display, even while our skin is shown to all the world, having the mask to cover our face hides our identity even further. You may see my body, but you cannot see me. For it is my face that so outwardly represents who I truly am.
And so I present you “Masked,” a full photographic series from 2020. As noted above, I’ll provide fifteen corresponding photographs in my next Substack so please, if you’re interested, be on the lookout for that soon.
As always, I would love to know what you think. Please do not hesitate to leave a comment or simply respond to this email if you’re viewing it as a newsletter.