- Ongoing great exhibition by Anne Laure Guerra & Elroy Salam
A critical Interpretation and Processing
DEPTH OF FEEL
By
Anne-Laure Gueret and Elroy Salam
The artist duo delves into a profound exploration of shared sensitivities
related to personal and social aspects of identity. They navigate through their
differing backgrounds of gender, race, culture, and identity, embarking on a
journey that aims to either unravel answers or simply contemplate their
common vulnerabilities of insecurities, doubts, and fears.
The statement by both artists claiming to experience “Imposter syndrome”
initiates a dialogue on experimenting with ideas surrounding their individual
self-acceptance, confronting themes of intimacy, emotion, and the fragility
of the human experience and aiming to address and overcome self-doubts
through the medium of photography.
Anne-Laure’s exploration of self-doubt regarding her identity as an artist,
particularly as a photographer, manifests as a façade or a feeling of
inadequacy and failure. By assuming different postures and personas, she
questions the construction of identity and the portrayal of herself within the
society. Anne-Laure’s exploration of self-representation delves into the
complexities of identity and the fluidity of self-image.
On the other hand, Elroy questions the validity of his independent artistic
photography practice and grapples with using photography as a coping
mechanism to combat the depression he faced during the Covid-19
lockdown which was his introduction to the photographic medium as an
artistic medium. This struggle serves as a means for him to challenge himself
and delve into uncharted territories to expand the possibilities of
photography as a medium for exploring the complexities of the human
condition.
In their striking pre-planned and choreographed portraits, they sometimes
employ technical skills such as double exposures to poetically mimic the idea
of superimposition of percuiliar characteristics of each other. Other times the
use and inclusions of props such as the veil as a powerful metaphor to
conceal and reveal or to deliberately instigate a conversation of deception
within oneself.
Written by:
Nuna Adisenu-Doe
