Diagrams

Artists

André Alves, Filipe dos Santos Barrocas, Maria João Soares, Isabel Correia

Date

from March 20th 2010 to March 21st 2010

Description

Project “Diagramas” [Diagrams] is the result of the theoretical development of the initiation to photography laboratory, perpetual motion, time in the image, which is the scene of photography research and training at the Photographic Arts Centre of the Instituto Superior Técnico’s Students Association, all based on the theme of movement.

The interest in the study of the human body, and its place in Science and in the Arts, as means to “understand race and culture” and to appreciate “body in motion”, goes back to the 19th century, and photography has played an important role in this discussion (as shown by the works of Eadweard Muybridge, Etienne-Jules Marey, Albert Londe, Paul Richer and even Duchenne).

Intending to broaden the way the human body is recorded and represented, as well as its implied movement when motionless, we set out from its archetype and photographed the body standing naked, back turned to the camera, against a standard background. This process, which is supported by scientific studies conducted in the past, consists of different bodies recorded individually against the same background with the same frame and at the exact same distance from the camera, creating a set of homogenous images.

By overcoming the obvious and usual barrier which is the human body stereotype, its unique characteristics may emerge enabling singularity to be reached within a plural image, i.e., the possibility of understanding unity in the midst of diversity. The aim of this study is to record and map the different human body types, the volumetric differences, the symmetries and asymmetries, the unbalances and their resulting reactions to the force of gravity, whether they manifest in a single body, in the relation between various bodies or yet in the body as a whole that is shaped and outlined by the different heights and lengths of the various bodies – the complete body that we are and that we incorporate, a body that is also made of continuous and interconnecting movement.

It is about recording the inbuilt movement present in the human body at a microscopic level, a movement that in a quiet and silent way is able to tell the story of each individual.  Which areas move the most, which have more or less tension, which are best characterised or best used, what are their stories and memories, who is this body, who is this person?

Are we used to see ourselves in this way?

Is it possible to observe the other without intruding?

Nowadays society continues to rely on the camera lens to understand its surroundings in such a way that this vision determines the way we see ourselves as individuals, it defines us, and it establishes a pattern we should endeavour to fit in, in order to belong. By setting a neutral record away from the many interpretations and images of the body offered in society, we aim to show the body as it really is. We record the individual beyond identity; we see the body beyond any emotional connection or purely analytical or scientific perspective – a record that allows for clarity and precision, also giving room to singularity and bigger depth; a movement made of different bodies that make a difference in the space they occupy; a space created by the stories and the achievements of a life time.

By placing the different full-length images of the naked body together against a standard panel of tiles that allows for dimension, we create a new possibility of looking at them. Something that is so close to us and so common, and yet so strange and surprising. How do we place ourselves in front of the image? Do we perceive the other, the distant, or the individual, ourselves? Do we find it banal, as seen through the mediatisation of the body itself, or do we attend to detail or to the connection?

Text | from the authors
Translation | Paula Tavares dos Santos

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