Alison

these photos are taken from the photographer Jack Radcliffe's Behance online portfolio titled Alison, where he showcases a series of photos from Alison as a baby, to Alison as a full grown woman--and every stage in between.

Jack Radcliffe's daughter, Alison, is a stunning specimen and subject of a unique photographic series that follows her travails through the many stages of her life. These photos are simply beautiful. Each picture pulling us closer and deeper into the mystery that is Alison. They provide only a glimpse into private moments in her life that embody the person that she is at that very moment. What we don't see in these pictures, and what interests me even more, is the many changes Jack himself must have gone through as he bore witness to his daughter's evolution in time, space, body and complexity. I can't help but wonder what he must have been thinking or feeling as he took each photo; how the nature of his relationship to Alison--as father, photographer, artist, observer, documentarist--changed, with each click of the shutter; whether the impact of each image would not have been so visceral if it were another person taking Alison's pictures.

The elements of time, history, intimacy, love, plays such a pivotal role in elevating the aesthetic quality or impact of the series, rather than the composition of each image as stand alone pieces. It is indeed the combination of substance and composition that makes it such compelling work. The images being stitched together as one body; this is narrative at its best. It is a story about the ever-changing nature of relationships to places, people, things--to ourselves and to those we love. This story speaks to us from within ourselves. Either we knew of an Alison, we are Alison, we are Jack, or we are both of them--two beings entangled at the sutures of being.

When we experience art that seems to hold up a mirror to our lives, our insides stir and yearn for places we've never been to--both physically and emotionally. I don't know who Alison is but I do feel like I know her on some level, or at least I would like to get to know her--because she's both real and unreal. She inhabits this liminal space that makes her a vessel for our own longings but also a real person with real longings of her own.

This last image in the series ends it perfectly, in my opinion. It is Alison taking Polaroids of herself. This is the last we see of her--as someone who perhaps is reflecting on her own images as pieces to a puzzle that may never be fulfilled, as visual commodities. I doubt this is the last shot Jack will take of Alison; so we know that her story goes on--we just don't see it. Instead, we're left with images of Alison within an image of Alison taking pictures of herself. It's as if she's now become fully aware of the power of her own image, and her ability to remove herself from her own image, yet still remaining the object of our gaze.