Paul Maye - Fictional Portraits by Paul Maye

FICTIONAL PORTRAITS PAUL MAYE

cog ni tive dis so nance Noun Psychology

The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs.

‘Composite portraits are absolute quackery! What next, composite landscapes?’ The Photographic News, London, 1888

Fictional Portraits v1 : 2002 - 2003 The Fictional Portraits project was first undertaken, with the support of The Arts Council and Photo-Me Ireland Ltd., while on residency at Arthouse in Dublin in 2002. The aim of the initial version of the project was to create a series of passport-style photographs of fictional individuals using digital compositing techniques - cloning various facial elements from a selection of donated passport photos to create a series of convincing new images of people who don’t exist. By subverting the evidentiary role of a passport photograph the work creates a conflict between two forms of information, visual and literal - between what we see and what we know. But despite awareness of the concept behind the work and the artifice of these images, we have a remarkable tendency to lean towards the visual in terms of belief.

This version of the project was kindly supported by:

Above: Approximate Self Portrait, 2003. Archival LED Prints on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper. Following Pages: Fictional Portraits Nos. 1 - 50 2002 - 2003. Archival LED Prints on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper. Each: 4.1 x 5.3 cm

Fictional Portraits v2 : Galway Culture Night 2010 High resolution digital portraits replaced the passport photos for the more recent versions of this project - allowing the final work to move beyond the scale limitations of the initial series.

final portraits had to be convincing. An awareness of the concept behind these images is crucial. Without it the initial

Culture Night is an annual event held across Ireland offering the public free access to a variety of cultural venues for one night. As a member of Artspace Studios in Galway I hired a local photographer to take portraits of the public who visited my studio that night. 58 people sat for their portrait and these images formed the basis for the series which were exhibited for the 2011 Galway Arts Festival. Again, the resulting composited photographic images are â&#x20AC;&#x2122;fictionalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in that the person being portrayed does not exist outside of his/her *representation. Given that a considerable amount of our brain capacity is given over to facial recognition and interpretation, the

series could easily be discounted as a collection of passport photographs. This awareness, coupled with almost unshakable belief in the imagery, creates a conflict between two forms of information - visual and literal, between

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This version of the project was kindly supported by:

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what we see and what we know. How do we relate to convincing images of people with the knowledge that they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist? Do we suspend our disbelief and interpret the image as we would any other photographic portrait? And if so, do we allow the visual information to take precedence over the literal?

Lost Member of Elbow : variations / work in progress 2011

*representation in the traditional sense comes into question with these works - if the person portrayed does not exist outside of their [re]presentation does the image and the subject become one and the same?

Fictional Portraits 2011 v3 Absolut Festival Gallery Galway Arts Festival 2011 Commissioned by Absolut Vodka for the 2011 Galway Arts Festival, the Fictional Portraits project grew even larger with 503 people participating over 10 days. These high resolution photographs form the basis of the current series of fictional portraits. We perceive the human face unlike the way we perceive anything else and the information we process is incredibly complex. In everyday life we continually re-scan the face as we constantly update, adjust and confirm the visual information we process. With a typical portrait photograph we re-scan this static image of the face in a similar way but with less frequency. Typically when we do so it is simply to confirm the sense we have of the particular person portrayed. However with these fictional portraits we can never completely settle on one reading as the information we perceive, mainly

through combinations of the eyes, mouth and facial musculature are from different sources, Visually it might appear to be one person but cognitively something is not quite right - our brain is trying to decode facial signals from a variety of sources but these signals donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite match. Part of the current work explores these mixed signals further, resulting in a series of images that appear to portray an individual whose facial expression cannot easily be decoded through a single reading.

10 Days 3 Photographers 1 Technician 503 People 5,282 Photos 67.71 GB Information

This version of the project was kindly supported by:

‘There’s more audience participation with Paul Maye’s Fictional Portraits. Initially plausible-looking portrait snaps become, on closer inspection, a bit unsettling. Visitors are invited to sit for a photograph, but elements of their image will be incorporated in a composite image of a fictional though disturbingly real-looking person.’ Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times - Friday, July 22, 2011

Above: Installation shot with wedding couple Julie Sowers and Grant Leugers [ they took part in the project on their wedding day ] Photo: Peter Harkin

No Longer Dieter Composite of 9 individuals

2011