The Manual Project
E J Carr Hands
February 25 through March 20, 2011
Frable Gallery
T H E M A N U A L P R O J E C T
the Personalities of Hands
The eyes may be the windows of the soul, but hands reveal our humanity.
With our hands we grasp the world. Hands are used as weapons yet they can also heal the sick. they can caress or crush. There are chakras in our hands and worshipers stand with palms raised. Fortune tellers unveil our futures and reveal our pasts in our palms, while handwriting is analyzed to expose our deepest secrets. Hands hold our absolute legal identities in the fingerprints which make each of us unique. Touch is one of our most perceptive senses. Hands distinguish humans from lower species.
While we control our world with our hands, the hands themselves are also shaped by our worlds. People who work with their hands . doctors, sculptors, magicians . reveal their histories in their hands, whether it.s their softness from being protected in surgical gloves, nicks and burns from working with tools, or flexibility and grace from performing prestidigitation.
I love to make portraits, but I prefer to view my subjects from my own angle. MANUAL is a collection of portraits of people from diverse backgrounds, occupations, ages, and cultures from around the globe. In each hand portrait, I study the person.s dominant hand, checking it for evidence of how they have lived, who they are, and what they may become.
I collaborate with my subjects to expose their hands and their personalities. Without the distraction of faces, these images become honest and deeply perceptive portraits, reflecting the lifestyle, habits, and sensitivity of each subject.
Using 19th century collodion wet-plate techniques, I photographed each person.s dominant hand. The photograph makes a richly detailed image with special tonalities exposed by the medium.s sensitivity to blue wavelengths of light. The 5.5. x 4.25. glass plate negatives are contact printed using 19th century salt print methods on 11' x 8.5. water color paper. The 5.5. x 4.25. glass plate negatives are digitally scanned and enlarged for archival pigmented ink prints.
The series comprises 150 portraits (on view at www.manualproject.com) that reflect the diversity and the commonalities of humanity.
Web Page: www.manualproject.com
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Opening Reception
Fourth Friday
February 25, 7-10 pm
Free and Open to the Public
Closing Artist Talk
Sunday
March 20, 4:00 pm
Free and Open to the Public
Janet Taylor Pickett Hand
John Lewis Hands
Oreste Gialanella Hand
Scott Prince Hands
Susan Gialanella Hand
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