RAIN - A series of photographic portraits

The research sphere is portraiture and its embodiment of emotion.The series of photographs explores our relation with water and, specifically that most elemental manifestation of water, rain. The body is transformed by rain both in terms of its physical state but also in the way that we present ourselves when wet to public scrutiny. Rain can be a pleasure or a nuisance. It can refresh but also damage. Using artificial rain this practice based research set out to see how people react and how they present themselves for portraiture when transformed by rain. The experiences were considerably varied and the portraits differ from each other across the poles of ‘braving it out’ to apparent delight to an inability not to register discomfiture. It was important to exhibit them in a watery setting if possible so that some form of inflection with water, however subtle, could take place. The Pump Rooms in Bath proved to be an ideal setting.The photographs were first shown in a group exhibition ‘Taking to Water’ which featured five other artists, Barry Anderson, Roni Horn, Fadrian Pigott and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Rain photographs featured in Portfolio magazine and in ‘Vitamin PH: New Perspectives in Photography', published by Phaidon in 2006, the latter showcasing the work of 122 artists. The brief of ‘Vitamin PH’ was to extend beyond the parameters of ‘straight’ photography to encompass sculptural, painterly and filmic elements and the photographic medium in an expanded sense.‘Rain’ was reviewed in The Independent http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20041206/ai_n12814653 ‘It was also reviewed in Photoworks magazine. ‘Rain’ also featured in a monogram on the researcher published by Steidl/Photoworks.