Dutch version

This blog may possibly contain images that can shock you!

Take off your mask is a work of jjhemp in which he wants to address various social themes.
JJHemp tries by means of photo editing and advertising techniques to expose the influence of publicity and media, while he is looking for a social norm.

There is a lot to arrange before a photo shoot can start...

Although I have a predilection for the moving image, still image after still image that causes a movement. Is what appeals to me in cinema or photography.
I myself have never followed a photography education. But several times I already had an image in my head that I could only realize through photography or film.
And so 'Take off your mask' also suddenly came into my imagination, an image that I had not seen anywhere else except in my imagination.
My favorite photographer is Jan Saudek
Where this photo is one of my favorites of his work.

sours

This is how the search for a photographer started ...

I was not looking for just a photographer, I was looking for a photographer who could fully appreciate the artwork Take off your mask. Because this project also includes nude models, it is essential that the photographer is 100% professional. And it is very important that the models feel 100% at ease, so that no taboos or annoyances could arise. Otherwise, the models would not be able to expose themselves completely. Not only physically but also with their thoughts. To fully empathize with the artwork Take off your mask
It was also very important to me that the photographer could imagine the image in my imagination.
After a long search I came across Reinout Rinus De Vos and there was an immediate personal click. And when I was explaining my image / idea, he immediately understood me and was also willing to help me to materialize the image from my imagination.

Reinout Rinus De Vos

What I told him back then
Where the gas masks and nakedness symbolize the taboos. Is the man the symbol for the media. And the models serve as a symbol for the viewer of the media.
With the work **Take off you **, photos printed on banners of 2 meters on 2 meters, to see how the viewer responds to the advertising / artwork Take off your mask.

The search for a location ...

Now that I had found a photographer, I had to look for a location to allow the photo shoot to take place, because this too is not self-evident. A large room with a wood stove and some furniture. A place where we can work undisturbed for a few hours. But fortunately I also had a solution for this problem quickly. And the search for a location has cost just one phone call. So I was able to use the facilities of Tuin van heden. An organization where I was very active at the time. An organization that mainly focused on offering their space to all kinds of creative souls. From musicians to poets, but also artists of all kinds, were welcome.

Tuin van heden

Now I had my photographer and a location and I could finally start the search for models. To be able to realize the image Take off your mask from my thought

The search for models and gas masks?

Also the search for nude models is not self-evident, because there are many women who do not take it for granted to expose themselves. Or have a friend who does not take this for granted.
I asked to pose some of my friends and eventually I discovered that I had found quicker models than gas masks.
All this is only possible if you as an artist and as a person respect women and know that it is only about the artwork and not for any other reason. Also the presence of the female theater maker / costume designer Karolien Nuyttens was on the photo shoot set, which ensured that the models felt completely at ease during the photo shoot.

And so after a few visits to a few friends, I had the models that I needed.

sours

Not everyone has a gas mask in the attic.
That's how I ended up with a friend from West Flanders, who was a Protestant clergyman at the time. Because there were a lot of gas attacks in West Flanders during World War 2, it turned out to be obvious that gas masks were still in the attic with several friends from West Flanders.

The warm colors of Rembrandt

To bring back the warm colors of Rembrandt in the image 'Take off your mask' I have used several techniques to obtain this. For example, professional lighting for photography was not only used. I also wanted to reflect the warm tones of the wood-burning stove on the models. So that the red / yellow tones would fill the composition with a warm light. I also used some light and color filters afterwards in Photoshop

NSFW or not?

One of the themes I want to raise with the artwork 'Take off your mask' is the question "is naked always necessary?" Because often the body is seen as an object and this only to sell a products. But also with the artwork 'Take off your mask' I want to point out that 'nudity' on social media platform like 'Facebook' has become more and more a taboo. Remember the fuss because 'Facebook' deleted photos of a breastfeeding mother.
Personally, I see the human body as a temple, which everyone should respect. And especially we should not be ashamed of our personal temple.
Also 'taboos' only arise due to cultural and social circumstances and the spirit of the times. Advertising also has a big influence on the norms and values.
And of course there is a difference between 'pornography' and a painting of a 'nude models'
So personally I think that the artwork 'Take off your mask' can also be shared on the work floor.

If I use the #NSFW tag for my drawings of nude models, they often end up in 'pornography'.

My love for gas masks

Books and gas masks each have something dead but also something alive.
A book is a dead tree, but can also stimulate your imagination.
A gas mask has a dead look, but you will be happy if you have one if it turns out to be necessary.
At the same time, the gas mask in the work 'Take off your mask' symbolizes the mask we often set up in our daily lives.

The title 'Take off your mask'

With the title 'Take off your mask' I want to stimulate the social debate. Because of the fact that several people wear a masks. Differently than they actually are.
Not only online are people different from what they really are, this statement also applies to 'real life'.
Of course you can ask yourself whether we can or should be ourselves everywhere. And whether in some circumstances we have to adjust ourselves to the circumstance.

Is the media always objective ...

Personally, I look at every form of image that is used in media and advertising, with a very critical eye. For example, there is some doubt for me in the broadcast of the first 'moon landing'. Not the fact that we have or have not been to the moon. But rather how Stanley Kubrick used film techniques to imitate reality as good as possible.

The works 'Take off your mask'

You may be shocked by these images!

Original work by @jjhemp

Original work by @jjhemp

Original work by @jjhemp

These works can always be viewed at the Jazzcafé Damberd, korenmarkt Ghent / Belgium And so I do think this pots don't need the tag #NSFW !