Blythe Bohnen
American, 1940-2022
Self-Portrait, Pivotal Motion from Chin, Large
INV-1195
Blythe Bohnen
American, 1940-20221974
Self-Portrait, Pivotal Motion from Chin, Large
Blythe Bohnen American, 1940-2022 →gelatin silver (developing-out-paper) prphotographic process
Date
1974
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 38 × 47.9 cm (15 × 18 7/8 in.); Paper: 40.5 × 50.4 cm (16 × 19 7/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Herbert and Paula Molner
This work is part of a series of tightly controlled experiments in self-portraiture in which Blythe Bohnen embraced mechanical limitations in photography to create a shadowy, kinetic depiction of herself. Bohnen recorded repetitive head movements in a single image using multi-second shutter exposures. Here she shakes her head from side to side, distorting her face beyond recognition. Bohnen wrote, “I am interested in the forms that result from the kinesthetic reaction to a given situation. Similar motions in different media are translated into a variety of forms.” In this work, movement and photography join together to create a new form: an image that both is and isn’t a self-portrait.
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