Physical Photoshop

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Recently I’ve been experimenting with what my studio mate Ryan has coined ‘physical photoshop’. Above is the first in a series of actions that mimic digital manipulation but are resolutely material in execution. I used the beautifully faceted surface of an old plastic Modernist doorbell as a starting point to make a ‘Pixel Mask’. The mask mimics the way identity-revealing detail is abstracted in news reports. I made a mould and filled it with slightly cooled, pigmented wax to create the sense of fleshy substance being pressed into geometric shapes. However, in choosing to photograph the mask and wearer using a digital camera, in a portrait pose, the entire action is ‘repixellated'.