Huffington Magazine Issue 55-56 | Page 85

IN THE SERIES “NOT IN YOUR FACE,” we witness a chronicle of American subcultures and vernaculars through an iconic piece of American clothing: the t-shirt. While the t-shirt is the visual focus here, these photographs are about identity, validation and perception. The messages are similar to the very coats of arms warriors painted on their shields letting the enemy know just who they were fighting. Individuals wear t-shirts as a kind of badge of honor that says, “I belong to this group not the other,” and these images create a time capsule, placing the wearer in a moment and place in history. By photographing from the back, I attempt to challenge the time-honored tradition of the portrait being of the face, and test whether body type, dress and demeanor can tell us just as much as a facial expression might. When we see someone on the street with a mes- 14th St., New York PHOTO OR ILLUSTRATION CREDIT TK