Scott Nathan built a world-class career as a photographer, creating beautiful images that have graced the covers of major magazines and billboards. But when a French journalist asked “Is it true that the camera never lies?” Nathan realized that his answer was decidedly “No.” As a commercial photographer who focuses on transforming people into irresistible objects of desire, he was well aware of the camera’s power to flatter and deceive.
He set out to create the obverse of commercial photography, elevating the primal magnetism of eye contact and creating a space free from distraction. Nathan invites his subjects to sit alone with the camera for ten minutes while a Miles Davis record plays softly--their only instruction: “Don’t take your eyes off the center of the lens.” Each woman is empowered to share who she really is—no masks, no hair stylist, no makeup, no retouching and no objectification.
New Work Breaks Photography’s Cycle of Objectification With Ultra-high Definition Intimacy
HOLLYWOOD, CA - Frieze LA will feature the West Coast debut of CONFESSIONAL, a new collection of moving portraiture from artist Scott Nathan. Shot on RED Digital Cinema cameras, CONFESSIONAL features more than 100 diverse women—from 11 to 90 years old. Musicians, mothers, journalists, CEOs, athletes, directors, adult performers, and actresses each sit alone under austere lighting, staring into the lens for one uninterrupted and wordless ten-minute take.
CONFESSIONAL strips away the false notion of beauty in the digital age with ultra-high definition intimacy. Nathan invites us to join him on his artistic quest to deconstruct commercial photography and share an intensely personal moment with his subjects, set to Miles Davis’ 1958 “Ascenseur pour l'échafaud”, a forlorn improvisational piece he found in his parents vinyl collection as child.
On display February 16 & 17 at RED Studios in Hollywood, CONFESSIONAL gives audiences the opportunity to make eye contact with a new kind of portraiture. The exhibit will feature ten NEC 4k large format panels, each displaying an hour of unique content. Towering black and white images of powerful women, including some better-known faces, like supermodel Rachel Hunter and Tiffany Trump, lock audiences in an intense visual embrace.
