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Tension in Relationships
The media is rife with photographs of couples— images
that deal with celebrity, or conquest, or lust. On the other
hand, most traditional portraits aim to gloss over any
unflattering aspects of the subjects' faces or lives. In 'Tensions
in Relationships' I wanted to do something different: look
at the truth of friction that is an everyday part of all real
couples' interactions.
These photographs are the result of an
exploration of underlying stresses, big and small, that come
up between people who love one another. For example:
I will always be messy; my wife will always be neat. We may
be able to modify our actions a bit, but we will never change
who we are. The question becomes: how will we weather this
and a million other disparities together?
Each image in 'Tensions' is the result of collaboration with
ordinary people.. Before shooting, we discussed various issues,
real and imagined, then planned visual strategies to convey
those ideas. Photographs were taken in the participants'
homes, which allowed
pets, artwork and other personal objects to become props in
the images. Dramatic lighting and staging contribute
to showing these small, persistent problems as bigger than
life. In this way 'Tensions" sets out to be a lie that
tells the truth.
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