These images are from a series of hand-sewn photographs based on elemen¬tary school class pictures from the 1970s. The faces of the students are obscured with cross-stitch embroidery made to reference the digital pixel structure of the image.
I’m interested in this time period as it is the last generation to have a childhood unclouded by digital imaging, camera phones and D-SLRS, when class photos were a more formal event. In this way, the image becomes a more conscious vehicle for im-pression management indicating an inspirational aim of the subjects (or their parents who most likely selected the clothing for the photograph).
By obscuring what would typically be the most important parts of the image, otherwise over-looked details are brought into focus such as body language and other embodiments of social convention.
