Smear Portraiture

We're pleased to announce the publication of our new 'zine, titled 'Smear Portraiture', produced in collaboration with Animated Review.

Martin has continued his photographic series, ‘The Television Set’, with this collection of cartoon characters captured in a state of motion blur. He has photographed iconic Looney Tunes characters in their mutated transitions, creating disfigured snapshots of what should be familiar faces.

Unlike live-action, motion blur has to be created artificially for animation. Smears, blur lines, multiples and other creative gimmicks are all utilised to create the illusion of rapid movement. Often rendering the characters momentarily unrecognisable, for the split second these frames are on the screen, these stills are abstract works of art in their own right.

However these are not simply screen-grabs. To intensify their weirdness these images are captured straight from the television screen adding to the distortion. The TV's refresh rate, the angle of the camera to the screen, and reflections caught upon the glass all contribute to the uniqueness of these photographs. The series of images plays with the concept of re-photography and capturing a still from a moving image, a still which did not exist until that moment, bringing into question the origin and authorship of these images.

- Limited edition hand-made beak booklet
- Hand numbered reprint edition of 50
- 8 print pages plus fold out poster image
- Published by Animated Review & Henry Press
- Price £3.00