Artist Statement
My work has evolved from photographing other people to self-portraiture. It is through photographing myself that I both perform for the lens and allow the lens to perform a dissection of myself.
My traditional self-portraiture is reactionary. The process of making self-portraits allows me to put myself under a microscope. I often enter these images with a recent life event I am exploring. The locations are selected deliberately and the gestures are a segment of a larger story. I intentionally leave enough clues behind for the viewer, permitting them to interpret my story or to create their own.
Through pinhole photography, I create an environment where I control the movement and allow the lens to manipulate what I have presented. The results are intimate portraits that lie between daydreaming and subconscious thought. The final images are printed small to further emphasize their delicacy.
Utilizing mixed media, I put a microscope over the parts of myself I feel are most vulnerable and subject to criticism. An image in a jar becomes compartmentalized; forever containing pieces of myself that I dislike. These objects become easy to display or easy to hide, but most importantly they are forever encapsulated. It is these objects that can be handled but that are also fragile.
Each process is vital in making up my whole. Much like human interactions, sometimes we only show parts of ourselves and at other times we allow the viewer to see everything. There are things we love about ourselves and things we despise, but most importantly each part is relevant to the whole. This is my work and this is to be human.
-Pam Pritzker