Photographer goes "Skin Deep" with photo exhibition

By: Yumi Araki yaraki@bu.edu

BOSTON, Mass. – Photographer Jonathan Stark met one of his subjects at a Starbucks in Kenmore Square.

“He said that I had dynamic eyes,” recalls the subject, who appears in a portrait that captures her expression from neck up in Stark's collection.

Inspired by moments of vulnerability and candidness, Stark’s “Skin Deep” photography exhibition captures the eye with portraits, nude shots and interblended collages that underscore the quirks of human expression. Stark explained that “the motivation for ‘Skin Deep’ started with a project that [he’s] still working on called the ‘Zipper Project,’ which is trying to get at the moment when we decide to reveal ourselves physically and emotion[ally] to someone.”

Originally, Stark incorporated zippers into his subjects’ photos as a metaphor for the gradual shedding of one’s emotional defensive layers. However, for the “Skin Deep” collection, Stark discarded the idea and pursued a deeper, more natural direction.

“Things like using a zipper or buttons have worked for me, but they tend to be very fashion-y. What I’m trying to get at is at the emotion of that moment when we either say ‘yes’ or want to reveal a part of us, or [when we say] ‘no, I don’t’.”

The shadows in “Resting I” for example; a mid-range photo that frames around a mud-smeared couple’s navel, underscores the intimacy of the couples’ embrace as their hands rest gingerly on each other’s stomach.

In order to preserve what he believes are these “moments of sacred,” Stark chooses his subjects in a way that adheres to his mission of obtaining authenticity and genuineness.

“I don’t use models. I don’t use people that take their clothes off for a living.” Instead, Stark chooses from a range of acquaintances and strangers alike. “Some people are my friends. Others are someone that I meet…in some kind of other context. I’ll also ask people on the street.”

The same subject Stark met at the Kenmore Starbucks subtly cocks her eyebrows as her almond-shaped eyes squint imploringly at the viewer in her portrait, “Porquois”. Her expression calls out to the viewer as if to reveal uncertainty or insecurity.

While she had never been photographed before, the subject said that she wasn’t nervous and that she enjoyed the shoot, despite the challenge of keeping her poses.

“My eyes began to tear up from having the sun shine right at me,” she said. “But it was a really fun experience.” When Stark approached the subject, he made sure that he would shoot her at a level that she would feel comfortable.

“I’ll ask people to go to my website. And if they’re interested, they’ll call me. Once people see that the work seems to be honest, they’re very willing to work with me, to learn, and to explore.”

Working with film is another way Stark helps his subjects engage with the camera.
“The process of shooting film is very important. Staying focused on my subjects without [having to] checking the back of a digital camera and losing contact, is critical.”

Stark admits that it can be difficult to extract both expression and physicality in every photograph.

“At times, [his subjects] come to feel like they can’t explore, and that’s a part of it,” he said. “To get at the emotion as well as the physical-ness is very hard, and to do it in a way that is visually interesting…is a challenge.”

For photographs that lack either the emotion or the physicality, Stark merges images that seem to fill each other’s aesthetic void. “Exploring I” is one such photograph where Stark combines a photograph of overlapping hands with a photograph of a woman’s upper thigh area.

“If you look more into the body, then you don’t necessarily get all the emotion. And if I pull back far enough in the pose, then something is lost. Composite images are…for me, being able to build both the emotion and the physical-ness.”

Stark said that he keeps an open mind when he points his camera. “I’m not trying to get anywhere. I’m trying to see what that [emotion] is.”


Jonathan Stark’s “Skin Deep” exhibition runs from October 10, 2008 until November 7.

See works from Jonathan Stark's "Skin Deep" exhibition online:
http://starkview.com/~starkvie/image/tid/6