The Project
The uniform is often a signifier of how we want people to perceive us. What we wear is often just a public persona of a greater personality. In my new ongoing series I use portraiture to connect the persona with the person.
In this series the term “uniform”is explored as a contronym. I photograph my subjects in their uniform, thereby identifying themselves as an individual of an organization or cultural group. The next step is to ask them to list who they are. The list deconstructs the uniform narrative and exposes the common bonds between us, blurring the lines between our public personas and revealing the uniformity of the human experience.
My First Subjects
My first subjects in the project were a two men that came to my house to clean my chimney. Ricardo and Cristhian Hernandez were unlike the chimney sweeps in the movie Mary Poppins, they were not dressed in all black or top hats nor did they do any singing and dancing on our roof, Their uniforms were hoodies and jeans, no different than the way most of us hang out and many of us do our work.
The Clues
Without the obvious dress clues, how do we determine what they are. The wire brushes each of the men hold tell us they are scrubbing something, something big. These brushes are used in the chimney to loosen the dirt and soot. In this case it’s not the dress or the tools the men use that identify what they do, instead it’s the hands that give it away. Some of the soot that is loosen and cleaned out of the chimney ends up in the cracks and lines of their hands revealing the dirty work and hard job they do.
Who Are They?
But these images are only telling us the what, not who. Although Ricardo did not reveal anything else about himself, he seemed friendly and cooperative to sit for my art project. Cristhian divulges a bit more about himself, he writes:
Cristhian Hernandez
Son
Brother
Likes Soccer
Cleans Chimenys
Cleans Dryer Vents
The Reward
The tools and the soot may be signifiers of what they do, but not who they are. Instead of being “the chimney guys”, I got a chance to meet them and find out a little more about them.
I feel rewarded for my effort.