Jean-Pierre Khazem

The use of masks is Khazem’s signature device, used most conspicuously in his work as a commercial and fashion photographer.    With this series of works plastic human faces watching TV look more like a Goya nightmare than a photograph.  Khazems play on surrealism asks questions about the disguises we use for other people and the masks we use for ourselves in solitary or familiar places.

“I used masks because I couldn’t bear the acting of models, the way they always pull the same faces, the pout, the glare, and so on. When people put on the masks, they forget their egos. With the mask, the quality of the human comes out.”