A visual snapshot of museum visitors has been created from dozens of new portraits taken at the National Media Museum as part of its In Your Face experience.
In Your Face (until 30 October, 2016, free entry) explores the most photographed, examined, and expressive part of the human body with more than 20 activities, displays and experiments, as more faces than ever before—of all shapes, sizes and colours—are seen around the world each day.
Richard Stanley, who photographs under the name The Portrait Sideshow, set up in the museum’s In Your Face galleries every Thursday and Sunday over the summer, taking portrait shots of groups, families and individuals who visited. He has photographed hundreds of visitors, encompassing a vast range of ages, backgrounds and nationalities, including Australians, New Zealanders and Saudis.
Rather than taking a simple ‘head and shoulders’, Richard aimed to capture the personality or ‘soul’ of his subject, fitting in with the theme of the exhibition which explores how faces contain far more information than people might realise.
Senior Exhibition Manager John O’Shea said:
“We asked Richard to be part of In Your Face as one of the many interactive elements of our exhibition. Richard has created a wonderful series of portraits reflecting what a diverse range of visitors we have.”
Richard Stanley said:
“It is a fascinating project. As well as attempting to capture people’s personalities in a photograph, it gives a very interesting insight into the many different people who come along to the National Media Museum.
“Some brought in an object that is special to them, and we asked others to come along dressed in their ‘Sunday Best’. But it is their faces, and how they express the interaction, which tells the real story.”
Examples can be viewed in the In Your Face galleries and on the museum’s Flickr page, and The Portrait Sideshow will be back at the National Media Museum on Thursday, 29th September, taking photographs at the next Lates evening opening for adults.
In Your Face looks at people’s fascination with faces and portraits, and gives visitors the chance to experience a range of exhibits exploring the theme—they can see what their own faces look like when heading a ball in the Hit It! installation by artist Leo Schatzl, find out about the latest facial recognition technology being deployed by police, and enjoy plenty of opportunities for selfies.
ENDS
