Faking It? at the Art Center at Highland Park

by Kathryn Born

…I’ll also be brief because (full disclosure) Stephanie Burke wrote the essay and I could swear I’ve heard that name somewhere. But I will cut and paste a line from the handout that talks about images being “real” or “fake”. “In portrait photography, this concept reflects the question of whether an image is truly documentary or in fact reveals a staged moment.”

Aspen Mays

I suspect this one is staged (Aspen Mays).

Helen Maurene Cooper

And in the game “real or fake” I vote “real” on the next one – because I live in the suburbs (Helen Maurene Cooper).

Kurt von Stetten

And this one struck me (Kurt von Stetten).

I agree there is a resurgence in photo-portraiture due to so many ordinary people now needing an equivalent of a “headshot”. It becomes our only way to see what our Internet-only “friends” look like, and puts great pressure on a photo that will be the only indicator of who you are behind the screen.

More cut n’ paste: Curated by Regina Mamou with an essay by Stephanie Burke, this exhibition challenges the notion of portraiture as capturing truth and how the line between fact and fiction is received. Featuring work by Chase Browder, Helen Maurene Cooper, Jill Frank, Seung Jae Kim, Jason Lazarus, Aspen Mays, Lindsay Page, Kurt Von Stetten, Scott Patrick Wiener and Krista Wortendyke.