MANUAL - Limited Edition

THE MANUAL PROJECT
– The Personalities of Hands

The eyes may be the windows of the soul - but hands reveal our humanity.

Our hands are the portal to one of our most perceptive senses. Hands are used as a tool and a weapon, they can caress or crush. Hands build weapons yet heal the sick. There are chakrahs in our hands, Jesus had nail holes in his palms, and a sign of worship is to stand with your palms raised. Fortune tellers read palms. Handwriting is analyzed to expose deep secrets. Man’s thumbs differentiate humans from lower species. Hands contain our absolute legal identities in the fingerprints. We control our world with our hands, and our hands are shaped by our world. We reach out with our hands and we sense the physical world with our hands.

I collaborate with my subjects to expose their hands and their personalities. These images of hands reflect the personality and the life of the subject. Lifestyle, work habits and sensitivity are revealed. Without the distraction of faces these images of hands are absolutely honest and deeply perceptive portraits. Each of the portrait’s three elements reveals a different view of the person: the photograph of the hand is the artist’s perception of the subject. The subject reveals their self image through the handwriting, and we collaborate to create a common view in the photogram. By compiling a large group of hand portraits this project reflects the diversity and the commonalities of our humanity.

Using 19th century collodion wet plate photography I photograph their dominant hand, then I work with my subject to make a photogram of their palm print. Combining these two images together with the person’s handwriting, I create one portrait of the subject. The photograms reveal the texture and pressure of the hand on the paper, so the print is truly hand-made. The final project includes 40”x50” pigment inkjet prints, intimate 5.5”x4.25” salt prints, and a monograph for publication.

The series comprises 150 portraits.

The images can be viewed at www.manualproject.com