#73 Seductive, with artist Rachael Dunville
Connection, Relationship, Intimacy, & Storytelling
Rachael Dunville, “Sim” (2006) Chromogenic Print
ON HER WALL
“I’ve never met a stranger.”
— Rachael Dunville (quoting her mom)
CAROLYN
CAROLYN and I conspired, long before the immediacy of the selfie-culture, to chronicle our overlapping obsessions—portraiture and her own disarming image.
Since 2003, I've provoked my timeless, exhibitionist friend, exploring her projections of femininity, vanity, motherhood, and maturity.
Objectifying her willing figure, I’ve observed the nuances of her illustrative gesture, her unabashed aging. Decorative garments, or lack thereof, fail to disguise the tenor of her countenance, weaving between terse, lascivious, overwhelmed, or even void.
These fifteen-years have revolutionized the medium of photography and witnessed the rise of digital narcissism in tandem with Carolyn’s vulnerable confessions. I, too, shifted perspectives from behind my various lenses—from curious admirer to privileged spectator, from fellow collaborator to dedicated confidant.
What remains is an ongoing portrait of complicated, transformative self-identity as an Xennial woman.
NOTEWORTHY SINGLE SUBJECT WORKS
Nicholas Nixon “Sisters” (1978 Harwich Port, Mass. and 2010, Truro, Mass.)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/03/magazine/01-brown-sisters-forty-years.html
Harry Callahan, “Eleanor”
Show Me State
SHOW ME STATE is an ongoing, 20+ year portrait of the Missourian allure in which I grew up and to which I belong. With striking impunity, its residents (friends, strangers, and intimates) gaze straight into the camera, and therefore, straight into me. This oscillating event, of looking and being-seen, circulates desire and tension—fundamental to the act of making a portrait.
In an era where reticence and obscurity define our mortal guise, where personal significance is tangled between selfies and self-worth, these individuals evince unflinching presence, eccentricity, curiosity, and vulnerability.
Unveiled in our hushed interface is a state of emotional undress, an intuitive exchange, a subtle seduction between willing participants.
ON THE WALLS of RACHAEL DUNVILLE
Matthew Pillsbury, “HBO’s Rome. Thursday October 13th 2005, 12-12:50am” from the “Screen Lives” series.
Katy Grannan, Claire (Burned) Baker Beach (2006), from The Westerns
Rubin’s Portfolio of Photography | Rubin’s Instagram (@droidmaker)
Suzanne’s Instagram (@sfritzhanson)
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