about
Who OWNS an image?
Why do we pass so much value of ownership to the artist or photographer 'taking' the image? How come that the person/object 'captured' in the image either has no rights or pays handsomely to re-gain partial ownership of the created likeness? Why do we think that more value was created by chosing the decisive moment than by exposing oneself to the operator of a photographic machine?
Do you like your image?
In our common experience we often reject clear likenesses of ourselves. Why do we 'unlike' a recognisable representation of ourselves? In my experience the impulse to 'unlike' is very stong and immediate. Even pre-meditated intentions to "definetly like it" often fall apart once the print is viewed. We have been conditioned to only accept a likeness of our mental self-image or of a supranatural ambition from our evident form. Why do we engage in makeovers?
Unlikeness
I seek to engage the public to investigate these questions through UNLIKENESS, a project about liked and unliked portraits. UNLIKENESS is a collaborative photography project about choice and ownership, taking and giving, power and value.
From a simple agreement prior to recording the photograph: YOU like it – YOU keep it; YOU don’t – I do emerge portraits with destinies predicated by the relationship between photographer, sitter and self-image.
UNLIKENESS is a project invented, owned and performed by Marcus Kern marcus@unlikeness.org