Rut Mackel analysis

Context
Rut Mackel is a photographer who in the collection "The ugly truth" distorts the features of the face. I chose to analyse this artist because of the way that she distorts the features of the face which is what I'm looking at, it shows the face in an un natural way but makes the person looking at it face the truth.

Meaning
To help me understand this work I looked at his other pieces in this collection and a few articles online which looked at this collection. Our "face is the symbol of personal identity"and having it distorted can often make the on looker wince at the thought of our faces being so distorted this way. It can change the perceptions that we make of others, it can show the ugly side of beauty.

Aesthetic
To create these Mackel used people on the street to press their face up against a piece of glass so the face was distorted. Although glass has been used on most of them you can really see it so it sort of looks like the image has been distorted in photoshop, which is probably a good thing as the distortions should look the the persons face shape other wise it wouldn't have the same effect.

Personal response
This piece has inspired me to create my own distortions by pressing face up against the scanner to create a squished effect. I really liked the pieces when I saw them as it is much different from the collages I have previously been making. I think this really links to the theme of covert and obscure as it is revealing the the ugly side within us which is generally hidden. This work reminds me of the artist Nes Wamen and his series of facial disfigurements using scotch tape as it is the same type of thing except you can see how the face has been disfigured.

I went on to create my interpretations by pressing faces up against the scanner just like Rut Mackel to reveal the ugly side of beauty. I think that having such a close up image of the face clearly shows the imperfections and marks on the face. I think the way the scanner has just put black around the faces is a really good effect as again it just focuses on the bit that you want instead of having the whole body and a background like Rut Mackel.