2024 MAY 11
an “unearthly” Portrait
An Artist’s Portrait - Cori nakamura lin
Who: Cori Nakamura Lin
Where: Chicago, Illinois
When: May 11, 2024“Unearthly” was the prompt Cori gave me when we set out to create an artist headshot. She wanted a portrait that centered her work and artistry and not so much her face and smile. Exploring beyond the natural world, her work is profoundly connected cultural identity and community care. As a digital-based artist myself, I wanted to honor her artistry in three ways.
In the first photograph, I used a vintage lens to capture an environmental portrait. Today, camera lenses are manufactured for consistency. Fifty years ago, glass on lenses were treated in a variety of coatings, and there would be small differences between each lens, and each lens has a unique character. The lens I used, Canon FD 55mm F1.2, has a timeless quality that I wanted to use to create this environmental portrait. An environmental portrait doesn't necessarily mean it's of the environment, it just means that the scene will be part of the portrait to add additional context. An environmental portrait works because Cori's studio is an extension of her artistry. This one is the most practical in the set.
The second is a time lapse animation that explores process. We often see art as a final work, but Cori's work explores liminal spaces in the natural world. What if we demonstrated liminal time as an extension of that investigation? What transformations do the tools and materials undergo? Since video is one of my specialties, I imagined this animation works for website applications (link in bio to see it in action). This widescreen version of her self-portrait shows all the desk tools and trinkets that hint at a more comprehensive story of the art process. This one's the most experimental of the set.
The third is a portrait of an artist in progress, from the perspective of the art itself. Here, I used a 360 camera, again to show the relationship between the studio and the artist. I think this one's the most "unearthly" of the set.
I am so honored Cori approached me to collaborate on this pieces. I'm really proud of these photos because they're created collectively and challenged me to think beyond a traditional headshot.
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