DAY 248

PHOTOGRAPHIC CURIOSITIES

Composite Portraits

CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE

As a teenager, the closest I ever came to fathering a child was in a video arcade during a church youth group outing. The arcade had a booth with a camera that would photograph two people and digitally create a composite image; I entered with a less-than-enthusiastic partner and, five dollars later, had a photograph of our theoretical offspring.

We were not the first or last couple to experiment with this technology. Many have toyed with digital composites as a commitment-free glimpse of their possible future child. Of course, mixing two photographs is easier said than done: when two people’s features are artlessly cobbled together, the end result is usually androgynous at best.

Even when meticulous finesse is exercised, however, there is always something lacking in a digital composite. This fact has been highlighted by Eva Lauterlein in her series, “Chimères.” The Swiss photographer shoots a single model from various angles, eventually melding the shots together into a single image. Although based on a single person, there is still something “slightly off” about the composite photo. Rather than appearing subhuman, Lauterlein’s digital Chimères appear almost posthuman, like precursors of some futuristic dystopia. All of the soul and personality have been filtered out of the faces.

Lauterlein’s work highlights what many of us have known intuitively for some time—no matter what advances technology may make, there is simply no substitute for a real human face. —DJS