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In 2011, on a trip to South Africa for an exhibition, Gary Schneider began a series of handprint portraits of South African artists. Having grown up in South Africa, which he left in 1977 at the age of twenty-three, Schneider realised that this would not be an overview of South African art but rather a way to reconnect with a country that still has an enormous influence on his work.
Deborah Martin Kao discusses Schneider’s re-presentation of nineteenth-century studio portraits, his handprint photograms, and his fragmented face portraits—all of which reveal as much about the language of photography as they do about the subjects being depicted. She shows how Schneider portrays the collaboration between artist and subject, seen in his use of a light pen to sculpt or trace his subjects over long exposures, and in his prints that display traces of movement in time. Kao also discusses Schneider’s work with scientists to create negatives from which he makes strikingly beautiful images of blood, DNA, and strands of hair, and how these represent a fascinating evolution in traditional thinking about the nature of photographic portraiture.
In this previously unpublished body of work, Gary Schneider presents a haunting series of nudes and faces that emerge and seem to float above a receding black ground. Each image is rendered through a long exposure and by exploring the surfaces of the skin with a small handheld light. Due to the prolonged time required and the inevitable movements and consequent distortions that occur in the process, the results both reveal and obscure the intimate physical details and personality of the individual who poses.
The book is a ground breaking exploration of the infinite possibilities that define who we are and celebrates the art and science of fine printing. Printed on a rich uncoated paper at The Stinehour Press the book captures all the subtleties, grace and texture of Schneider’s original prints. Genetic self-portrait also includes insightful and informative essays by Lori Pauli, Ann Thomas and Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles.
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