Madelyn McKenzie, Harvard University
Photograph on medium format film; 6 x 6 in.
From the artist:
My artistic practice is centered around developing and understanding my identity beyond the labels I cherish: daughter, big sister, friend, woman. Working primarily in portraiture and occasionally dabbling in still life, I use my camera as a magnet for the small pieces of myself in the world—architecture, fruit, clothing, and people all speak to a certain layer of my being. I draw inspiration from Classical mythology, engaging with women’s lack of autonomy and the use of symbolism in Greek myth.
Furthermore, my recent obsession with self-portraiture lets me explore what it means to be a woman on both sides of the camera, ultimately analyzing the intersection of my self and the self for others.
Referencing early twentieth-century lesbian photography, the use of the mirror reflects, literally, a perceived vanity and a realized unhealthy obsession with the self. A cross between a portrait and a self-portrait, all eyes point towards me, including my own. The deliberate engagement with the camera by my model and the disengagement by me push the limits of the traditional self-portrait experience for models and viewers, furthering an analysis of what it means to exist from inside and outside yourself.