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Artist Statement:
In 1988, Tokyo-based
photographer Tim Porter gained
access through
special permission to a very
privileged space: the Sirirai
Hospital in
Bangkok, Thailand. For one
week only, he had the
opportunity to
photograph surreal specimens
of humanity – conjoined twins.
Preserved
in formaldehyde and kept in
the collection of the Congdon
Anatomical
Museum, Porter carefully shot
his subjects through their
glass
cocoons, eliminating all
traces of location, time and
place.
At first glance, the viewer is
presented with series of
portraits of
children. At closer
inspection, the figures become
grotesque, horrific
and sad. More is quickly
revealed, only to take you to
a place you
wouldn’t normally go… What was
once briefly a portrait of two
children
in a warm embrace becomes a
jarring image of conjoined
twins, either
still at birth or not carried
to term. Signifiers such as
the texture
of the skin, the development
of the skeletal structure, the
shapes of
the limbs, eyes or heads all
snap us into the reality of
the subject
matter before us. The more
“normal” figures are the more
abstract – we
tend to humanize these easily
identifiable figures of
children. But it
is the disfigured bodies,
those conjoined in devastating
ways, ...
Further Information
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Artist Reviews:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Canadian Museum of
Contemporary Photography,
Ottawa, Canada
The Polaroid International
Collection, Cambridge, U.S.A.
Teutloff Photo + Video
Collection, Bielefeld, Germany
Canada Council Art Bank,
Ottawa, Canada...
Further Information
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Exhibitions for Tim Porter:
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Solo Exhibitions:
2009 Tim Porter: Still Lives, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
2001 Paradise: The Gardens of Tokyo, International House of Japan
1998 Language, The Polaroid Gallery, Tokyo
1980 Night Waves, Canon Gallery, Tokyo Nagoya, Hiroshima, Osaka
1978 DMZ, Nikon Gallery, Tokyo
1977 A Certain Slant t of Light, Photographers Gallery, Saskatoon
1977 Tim Porter: Recent Work, Secession Gallery, Victoria
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2008 Preview - Fotografie, Galerie Brennecke, Berlin
2008 Asia � Tales from the Far East, Lumas Soho, New York
2008 Asien � Erz�hlungen aus Fernost, Lumas, Berlin
2008 Asie et Contes d'Extr�me Orient, Lumas, Paris
2008 [Beau�ti�fied Ta�boo], SuperDeluxe, Tokyo
2005 The Sixties, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa
2002 The World of Polaroid Photography, The Polaroid Gallery, Tokyo
2000 Show 2000, The Canadian Embassy Gallery, Tokyo
1987 Diverse Secrecies: The Garden Photographed, Presentation House, Vancouver
1980 Paradise, The National Film Board of Canada Gallery, Ottawa
1980 Cibachrome, The National Film Board of Canada Gallery, Ottawa
1978 'Untitled', The National Film Board of Canada Gallery, Ottawa
1977 Fourteen Vancouver Artist/Photographers, Nova Gallery, Vancouver
1972 Photographers 7 Photographes, Optica, Montreal
1972 Seven Photographers, The National Film Board of Canada Gallery, Ottawa
1970 B.C. Almanac(h) - C.B., The National Film Board of Canada Gallery, Ottawa
1969 Image 6, The National Film Board of Canada Gallery, Ottawa
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