Behold: Beauty is a multimedia project with an 11 minute video and 7 charcoal portraits.
I asked 7 of my friends to reflect on their perceptions of their body and their relationship with those around them. As I learned more about them, I used charcoal to define my own perception of them, drawing them throughout the interview and carving out their essence on paper.
I find myself thinking quite often about what I learned in these interviews. These are my friends, of course, and I have heard snippets of their stories here and there. However, each conversation opened an entirely new perspective of their lives. Behold: Beauty was a project that heightened vulnerability within my subjects. They answered questions with such a profound truth as I stared at each of their features observantly and drew them.
What we already know about people completely influences our the way we perceive them. Being able to learn more about them while I drew them allowed me to capture their essence in a way that felt right. As my senior year of college came to an end, my friends and I had the motto “to be loved is to be known”, and this project is a testament to that belief.
What surprised me is how much more I would learn as I edited the video. It was second level of representation that gave me this weird power to enhance their images with personality. As I listened to their answers over and over again, splicing and moving around clips, they engrained themselves within my mind. I understand them better now, and I hope that I was able to represent them well.
I am a generally curious person, and I like to connect with people by asking a lot of questions. It helps me understand the world, and I plan to continue this practice to strengthen bonds between myself and others. This project may have many future iterations.
