42 superpositions. A brief history of me

The theme of Self-portrait in photography existed long before the invention of the smartphone and social networks. It repeatedly appeared in photographs, any photographer, at least once, took a self-portrait. What is a self-portrait? Is this an opportunity to see yourself from the outside, to look into yourself? Or maybe it’s a form of voyeurism, but you’re spying on yourself? Everyone determines the motive that pushes them to shoot a self-portrait and the message embedded in the image themselves. It is important that this action is meaningful, and behind such a photo there was always something more than just a desire to capture yourself.

A modern selfie is a new, independent phenomenon, having a different nature, different from a self-portrait. The endless number of self-images that a modern person makes is frightening. And this image cannot be called a keepsake photo. This has developed into a kind of perverse form of self-admiration and self-worship. The image is direct, devoid of modesty, characterized, to some extent, by vulgarity. This is a new type of being for a modern person, who has renounced God, rejected the concepts generated by the collective consciousness, and focused external and internal vision on himself. Having created an ideal idea of himself and elevated himself to the rank of the absolute, he engaged in endless replication of the “ideal Self”, filling all available space with it.

And what we call reality, well, or that significant part of reality that exists on the web and has become a significant part of our lives today, has turned into a phantasmagoria, sweet, sticky molasses, from which teeth are already aching, and which is so hard to dig out.

My series is a form of protest and disagreement with the phenomenon of self–transformation into an idol. I’m not perfect, I don’t want to be perfect, everything that’s perfect in this world is dead by definition. This world is not made for the perfect. In fact, with my works I tell the story of myself, which has developed over 42 years of my existence. But this is not an everyday sterilized story in selfies, which can be observed on the networks, it is a squeeze and an objective view of my life, expressed through metaphors and images. And these are the feelings that had to be experienced: pain, shame, desire, etc. This work is an attempt to talk honestly about oneself and human nature in general. The sooner we stop self-deception and take a sober look at ourselves, the more likely we are to become a better person for real.