Self-Portrait, Pivotal Motion from Chin, Large

Description

This work is part of a series of tightly controlled experiments in self-portraiture in which Blythe Bohnen embraced mechanical limitations in photography to create a shadowy, kinetic depiction of herself. Bohnen recorded repetitive head movements in a single image using multi-second shutter exposures. Here she shakes her head from side to side, distorting her face beyond recognition. Bohnen wrote, “I am interested in the forms that result from the kinesthetic reaction to a given situation. Similar motions in different media are translated into a variety of forms.” In this work, movement and photography join together to create a new form: an image that both is and isn’t a self-portrait.

Self-Portrait, Pivotal Motion from Chin, Large

Blythe Bohnen

1974

Accession Number

119519

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 38 × 47.9 cm (15 × 18 7/8 in.); Paper: 40.5 × 50.4 cm (16 × 19 7/8 in.)

Classification

gelatin silver (developing-out-paper) pr

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Herbert and Paula Molner