Friday, November 7, 2008

Kelli Connell (Janna's Pick)



Kelli Connell is a photographer that Greg suggested I look at. She was born in Oklahoma City in 1974. She received a BFA in photography from University of North Texas (1997) and an MFA in photography from Texas Woman’s University (2003). Connell creates scenes using one model who plays two roles, often one feminine and one masculine. She scans two or more negatives and manipulates them together in Photoshop. The scenes she creates in her photos are about intimate moments in relationships and by having a woman play both the traditionally femine and masculine parts, she is questioning gender roles. She states, "Through these images the audience is presented with constructed realities. I am interested in not only what the subject matter says about myself, but also what the viewer's response to these images says about their own identities and constructs."

I found Connell's work very interesting because of the parallels to my work now, putting an image of myself into an old photo to create a sort of narrative. I have also experimented with taking double self-portraits and stitching them together in Photoshop like Connell does with her model/friend. I've a lot of people trying it online, but the doubles are usually like identical twins. I find Connell's more intesting because of the different roles played by the model, so that at first glance you don't realize it's the same person.



Kelli Connell's official site
MoCP's page about Connell
New York Times review

A photographer who often does self-portrait "clones"

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