Light Work presents The Thing Itself, a selection of self-portrait photographs from our collection highlighting eighteen artists from over nine decades of picture-making. Presented are works by:

The photographs in this show do not have a central theme or shared objective. What they have in common is simply this: for each, the artist made the choice to create a self-portrait. The approach varies: the images are diaristic, performative, psychological, documentary, or narrative. They present us with emotions ranging from humor to grief and diverse notions of identity and history. But they all share the visual language of photography: the language of formalism and materiality, both the materiality of the print and the materiality of the body used as a tool to carry forward the artist’s ideas.

It is fascinating to read into a self-portrait photograph and interpret the author’s reasons for making it—their psychology, creativity, and boldness. While the viewer unfailingly brings her own assumptions, experiences, and interpretations to bear on what is viewed, the self-portrait is a unique experience in that the artist goes out of their way to control the circumstances of how they want to be seen. I called this exhibition The Thing Itself as it conjures up a confrontation between the photograph and the viewer. Intentional or not, it says something about the self (the artist as well as the viewer) without using language, and this is how and why photography succeeds.