Complicating the subject - portraiture

An intriguing workshop that drew me to think beyond the standards of pre-conceived notions of portraiture. Notions that I have long carried into my work and approach to image-making were challenged but also freed. Attempting to move towards a more speculative form of representation was done in both building scenes and sourcing already existing material of my portrait subject partner. 

Chaos, character and performance were key motifs to the work. The collecting of images was done in a way to maintain this spirit by chaotically creating while the subject may not have been expecting. The montage of images, also represents this mayhem but is balanced (or wrestling with) stillness, through the use of long static shots at high frame rates. This provides an element of calm- reflecting the emotions of the subject and where they currently find themselves in a larger context of being.

The burden of representation weighed heavy during the process, something I have not previously experienced in such a way, when spontaneously photographing strangers on the street in a more traditional way.  The result is the short film below of Lau, accompanied by a a short biography. In an ideal world, this film may be broken up into individual sequences, with varying display formats and sizes scattered through an extravagant hallway which leads you and your eye into different spots, eventually finding yourself in a theatre where Lau and I do some sort of performance together (this is still to be worked out). 

Biography:

Lau, née Laurens Zautsen is a visual artist, performing artist, filmmaker and much more in addition to being a beautiful human being.

Reigning from the southern Dutch province of Limburg, Lau went on to attain a Bachelor's degree in Audiovisual Media from the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. Their graduation film Phoenix (2019) won the Film Fund Wildcard award at the Dutch Film Festival. Lau has since continued to develop their practice through a variety of diverse roles within the cultural and creative industries. This includes content creation for the major Dutch broadcaster BNNVARA; writing and performing poetry with Poetry Circle Nowhere; and assisting in creative content production with JongPIT an organization that empowers young people dealing with chronic illness of disability, mental and/or physical.

Lau is currently a Master student at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, Lens-Based Media program. Their work explores colourful worlds, peoples and emotions. This often comes with a touch of theatrics and a dash of humour but remains rooted insocial realism. In addition to beginning pre-production on their newest project My Private Bokito, Lau has taken the world by (rainbow) storm with the song and dancegroup 'Kut 3'.

Words fail to quantify the extent of extravagant creative chaos that emanates from Lau’s mind, body and soul- but there is no doubt you too will soon witness this energy on a stage or screen near you.