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Published: August 8, 2010
http://www.benaltmanphotographs.com
Guantánamo Basement
The government refuses to release interrogation photographs. So I make my own.
These self-portraits bring torture home. They bear witness - but unreliably. They are embellished records of exhibitionist spectacles I stage alone, underneath my house, in our collective basement. I choreograph scenes in which I am victim, perpetrator, and witness.
As photographs, the pieces show and hide, suggest but do not explain my intentions and emotions. As objects, they include props and materials related to the action. As ideas, they confuse image with actual, and play on words. To frame can mean to provide support, to give tendentious context for a point of view, or to bear false witness. A hanging may decorate a wall or end a life.
'Inverted Narcissus' manipulates the viewer. As one approaches the piece, it is natural to bend or crouch to see the complete reflected image - and discover oneself mimicking the uncomfortable position of the photographed figure.
The prints are made using a variety of techniques, but their integrity is always violated. Mirrors are present in each piece. They reflect the camera, the performance, or the photograph. And sometimes you.
I have a wide range of other photographic work, both dark and light. See www.benaltmanphotographs.com and www.Photobistro.com/benaltman
I live in the Ithaca area. Please contact me if you would like to visit my basement.
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