Shadows, Reflections and all Sort of Thing #55, 2010
C-print, Diasec
125 x 100 cm
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
In his series entitled Shadows, reflections, and all that Sort of Thing,
from 1991 to 2004, Puranen takes photographs of historical portrait
paintings from unusual angles. As in his previous work, the starting
point for the project was his interest in museums and archives. But
instead of making a connection between the portrayed and a specific
landscape, Puranen leaves the paintings in place on the museum walls and
photographs them under unusual conditions. The resulting photographic
portraits defy the accepted standards of a well-made photo. The daylight
is reflected on the surface of the painting, overexposing certain parts
of the image, obliterating others in darkness. The series questions the
relationships between the portrait, the portrayed, and the photograph
of the portrait, and how the employed mediums influence our perception
of them as an "image".