Taking myself out of the picture (TMOOP), 2019 - Until Death

Taking myself out of the picture (TMOOP) is a series of digitally altered images I create from my official work portrait as a senior photo retoucher. Both playful and macabre, I look for a moment that begins to meld figuration with abstraction.

I personally retouched the original image for my job’s website, which is an oddly metaphysical experience to zoom in on my face and stamp out ‘imperfections’. In a dark turn, it became the last professional photograph of me before getting skin cancer on my face.

I wanted to truly own this ‘last image’ and have obtained copyright from the photographer. I will be making multiple bodies of work from the portrait that investigate ideas of ownership, identity and value in relation to blockchain technology.