Self Portrait in Cola
Samuel Scoufos
- Sitter: Samuel Scoufos
- Medium: Photograph
- Dimensions: 100cm x 80cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
About the artwork
This self portrait pushes the boundaries of photographic portraiture and draws attention to the processes of image making and how the construction of identity and likeness is often a manipulated process.
“Everyone has a version of what they look like, and this technique flips that on its head. I let the process dictate the image. It’s different every time, and it changes how I see myself.”
The process involves photographing his own reflection in liquid.
“I’ve been experimenting with using various liquids as a means of creating spontaneous gestures within my work. This purposeful, distorted self-portrait is a challenge to myself on what a photograph can be.
“The refracted and reflected light playing off the peaks and troughs of the moving liquid project a familiar image of reflection. Yet during this suspension of movement, the liquid reveals a distorted & often grotesque image of self. The way in which the image appears is also reminiscent of agitating a developer tray and revealing a black and white darkroom print.”
This is one of a series of self portraits, and Sam Scoufos is now experimenting with using this technique for portraits of other people.
About the artist
Sam Scoufos is a photographer whose fine art practice focuses on controlling the unpredictable. He prefers working within the confines of set parameters that he designs, like light, composition and tone, and then allowing elements outside his control to guide the direction of the images. His work involves very little post production, he prefers to use practical, in-camera techniques. He studied sociology in the US before moving to Brisbane in 2004, and working seriously as a photographer . His work has been shortlisted in many Prizes, and was recently selected for American Photography AP40.
