Autoportraits 1992-1996
Sirkhane DARKROOM

A selection of images from the Rory Carnegie's ongoing Autoportrait project. The images made between 1992 and 1994 explore authorship, power and the perception of power.

I started the Autoportrait series in 1982, when I was studying History ( I was looking specifically at Brazilian Fascism and Chinese Communism) at University. The work was intended to investigate power, the perception of power and where authority lay in the making of a portrait photograph. Was it the photographer or the sitter?

And then when the work is seen, who is the author? Is it the viewer who brings a multiplicity of interpretations and meanings?

Initially I was working with a 35mm camera and B/W film. These pictures were made with a medium format camera and colour negative film, between 1992 and 1996. The method that I work, in essence, has not changed since those early days. I ask people if they would like to take a photo of themselves, by triggering a remote shutter device and that they can choose how they wish to look, when to press  the shutter and what background. I focus and get the exposure correct and then tend to stand away from the camera.

This exhibition is Complemented by images from Sirkhane DARKROOM selection of photographs created and printed by participants at the Sirkhane Darkroom. Sirkhane DARKROOM is a not for profit organisation in southern Turkey, working close to the border with Syria, that brings joy and creativity to children and young people affected by conflict and disaster. 

"In Sirkhane DARKROOM, we are trying to provide children with a healthy childhood and use photography as the language children use to express themselves."

Serbest Salih, Darkroom Director