In the work Portrait of a Guilty Man a video camera is repeatedly thrown at the subject’s head until the camera is eventually destroyed. Conceptually the work follows the principles established by the Terminal Vision Project where both camera and subject experience a physicalising of the image taking or recording process. I wanted to suggest and set a tangible price for the camera’s capture. In this work the camera bruises as it records, it deposits as it gathers, it marks the subject and is also marked by the subject. The title offers guilt as a reason why the subject repeatedly accepts the blows from the camera. Whether the imposition of guilt is bestowed by the camera or self imposed by the subject /human performer is deliberately left open.
I also wanted to explore possible connections between the metaphorical impact of the camera striking the subject and the desire of the person to be recorded, referencing situations where the allure of the camera is so strong that it may drive people to perform unusual or detrimental actions to the self in the name of exposure.