Jim Naughten : Re-enactors

JIM NAUGHTEN : RE-ENACTORS    

                                       

U.S. Master Sargent

  Evacuee with Mickey Mouse Gas Mask (2008) 

                       

Norland Panzer Grenadier (2008)

Evacuee Girl in Blue Coat (2008)

Red Cross Nurse (2008)

Civilian with Black Fox Fur (2008)

Soviet Cossack (2008)

Corporal, German Navy (2008

                          

Young Solider (2008)

Red Cross Panzer Grenadier Medic

The idea about people who reenact famous periods in time intrigue me .Maybe it  explains my fascination with costume dramas. Anderson Scott Civil War images with their irony and tweaking of expectation is one way to deal with the power of recreating the moment.Then there is Jim Naughten's portraits " In this body of    work, Naughten has photographed some of the thousands of people, who step out of their daily lives to transform into historical characters from the First and  Second World Wars and re-enact battles and drills. "                                    

These images stand in direct contrast to the work of Mr Scott who behind the scene images creates a wry smile . Naughten's 2008-2010 images Inspired by Richard Avedon’s In The American West, has stripped away the context of the participants, heightening the sense of artifice and, through photographic technique, sublimated his subjects.These prints that include tanks and battle scenes—chromatically echo photographs of the past, yet are undoubtedly contemporary. 

At the moment I am fascinated about the idea of cataloging types of faces and people.Do the eyes reveal the soul or is it a small undetectable gesture that give these assorted characters their humanity.