Untitled from Kholood Eid on Vimeo.
In June, photographer Bryn Corbett set up his camera at Downtown's Practical Art and began his video portrait series, "Staring Down Andy."
Each of the 40 participants had two minutes "to be themselves" in front of Corbett's video camera in a dark room with a black backdrop, and a few lights.
The result is still in progress, but we caught up with the artist at his Phoenix home to take a look at his inspirations and to give him a taste for what it's like in front of the camera.
Read more about the local photographer after the jump and check out the video above -- a compilation of portrait stills (with Corbett as the subject), taken in 60 seconds.
And what Corbett's audience might ultimately see as vulnerability when watching the portraits, Corbett sees as a form of strength.
"The sense of intimacy when you make eye contact with somebody and you can either feel very comfortable with that or you can feel uncomfortable with that--if somebody's looking at you directly and looking into your eyes specifically," says Corbett. "When you realize these people are looking [back] at you and blinking at you and moving their head slightly, it's an interesting thing."
Corbett's inspiration for the video portraits comes from his first love -- sound manipulation. And he's currently working on finding a way to mold the two together.
As for future projects, Corbett is hoping to find a way to have portraits react/imitate a person's facial expressions and moods when a person views the portrait. Corbett says he's not a Harry Potter fan, but he believes he can find a way to accomplish this ambitious goal without the use of magic.
As for future projects, Corbett is hoping to find a way to have portraits react/imitate a person's facial expressions and moods when a person views the portrait. Corbett says he's not a Harry Potter fan, but he believes he can find a way to accomplish this ambitious goal without the use of magic.
