ARCHDRC 334 - Photography Elective with Simon Devitt
In the final year of our Bachelor's degree we were blessed with the opportunity to choose an elective to take as one of our media papers. Photography was always something that interested me so I decided to give it a go. With my sister's old camera and a dream I went for it.
We weren't required to have an architectural focus here, so I concentrated on the architecture of the body. Titled 'cynosure' (noun; a person or thing the is the centre of attention or admiration), the final work takes interest in plastic and its interaction with the body. I believe this is where my interest in masking and manipulating the human figure, plastic and translucency, and sexuality, among other things present in my post-graduate work, began (See: THESIS and sHoNkY pRoJeCtOr).
Presented as a 210 x 210mm booklet, the images were printed in black-and-white on tracing paper, bound within a sheet of thin plexiglass by bulldog clips. The imagery is interlaced with lyrics from SOPHIE's 'Faceshopping', a song that meant a great deal to me at the time; still does, really. The song discusses her journey as a transperson, including lyrics referencing artificial beginnings, plastic surgery, and the transgression of social norms.
(imagery tbc)