Biz [us]: Looking Productively To the Representation of the Self in Photographic Portraiture

Abstract

Portraiture, says Richard Brilliant, is one of the earliest attempts to encounter the other and the self. It is like a window opening to our self through the other. That is why observing - looking at - portraits is so attractive, so challenging. Fascinated by this opening and being an admirer of photographic portraiture, I came across a photographic work that inspired me to reflect on the uncanny moment between the poser and the camera/photographer. The following paper is the result of this reflection, which not only analyses the moment of the pose in photography but also questions the representation of the self in photographic portraiture while introducing the work of two contemporary Turkish photographers. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.