Artist Statement
Portraits don't necessarily have to be between just the subject and the camera. Other surfaces and barriers can create a new approach in creating interesting photographs and Lauren Pritchard aims to create a body of work that reflects these ideas.
The key to this type of work is complete control of the environment in which the photographs take place. Command of lighting and directing context is vital to keeping the work focused on the subject's relationship with the camera both through the medium of the still image and video.
There is a strong affinity for precision in Pritchard's process. Studio and artificial lighting are utilised in certain situations to produce optimum lighting for the environment when natural lighting is not ideal. Minimalising the input for the outside space, as an influence of the representation within the photograph, is prioritized by the photographer when creating a series of portraiture.
This collection assembles a series of sets, which were designed to identify with the relationship of the subject and the lens. The key aspects of the relationship rely on the transformation of self within the photograph and the collision that can occur between the subject and camera when both sides put up barriers to representation.