Portraits: Found and Taken

The human face is all things. It is a map, a history, a story, and a surface. It is the ultimate text to be read, interpreted and believed. All photos are texts, and in the end they are all about the same thing: the passage of time. They are stones that break the surface of a river. Impermanent though they are, they seem to stand firm by comparison to the flowing water. The art of the photographer and the art of the writer are the same. Both are solitary adventures in which we work to assemble, edit, and deliver our fictions to the world.

Tim McLaughlin has a long-standing interest in photography and its relationship to character. He has been working to expand the ground of formalized portraiture: exploring ideas of what make a likeness and what makes a portrait. He ives in Roberts Creek, BC, Canada. Over twenty-five years he has been active in experimental radio, hypertext fiction, graphic design, writing and documentary film production.