Tara Bogart
follow
American, born 1968
Projects/Portfolios
a modern hair study
Introduction
a modern hair study
In 2011, I visited the photo archives of the National Library of France. While
everything was inspirational, one photograph haunted me for months following
my visit. “Hair Study”, by Felix Nadar depicts just a woman?s back and her hair. I
couldn?t stop thinking about what that same image would look like today.
“a modern hair study” consists of portraits of young women photographed from
behind. By focusing on the back, the viewer is forced to contend with all of the
peripheral things that make each woman unique.
In these intimate portraits I am a voyeur concentrating on a generation that is not
mine. While certain ideals are often relevant to different generations, the ways in
which women adorn and modify themselves often indicate the struggles of a
young adult with their own ideology and individuality.
After photographing these women, I can imagine these struggles are timeless.
Existing today as well as when the original Nadar portrait was taken.
un capillaire modern etude
Introduction
a modern hair study
In 2011, I visited the photo archives of the National Library of France. While
everything was inspirational, one photograph haunted me for months following
my visit. “Hair Study”, by Felix Nadar depicts just a woman?s back and her hair. I
couldn?t stop thinking about what that same image would look like today.
“a modern hair study” consists of portraits of young women photographed from
behind. By focusing on the back, the viewer is forced to contend with all of the
peripheral things that make each woman unique.
In these intimate portraits I am a voyeur concentrating on a generation that is not
mine. While certain ideals are often relevant to different generations, the ways in
which women adorn and modify themselves often indicate the struggles of a
young adult with their own ideology and individuality.
After photographing these women, I can imagine these struggles are timeless.
Existing today as well as when the original Nadar portrait was taken.
Locks
Introduction
Locks
A lock of hair signifies different things for many cultures. It can be a way to possess someone or be about holding on to the memory of a loved one that has died. Throughout history there have been many examples of the significance of the lock of hair, from jewelry made of hair, to clips of hair attached to a photograph. Today, with science and technology, we can identify traits, genes, and HABITS from the DNA of one strand of hair!
In 2010, a group of students gave me locks of their hair sealed in envelopes; symbols of their existence and time spent with me. Honestly, I accepted the envelopes and put them in a drawer for safekeeping, not being really sure what to do with them.
While pursing “ a modern hair study” for the past 2 years, I came across the locks again. Upon further thought, I became compelled to collect more. I sent a private message to the important people in my life asking them to send me a lock of their hair. And they did.
The clean and near scientific approach to presenting the locks, I hope, is detached from sentiment. In an attempt to strip the locks of their presumed meaning, it becomes obvious that we cannot remove the intricate, unique differences of hair to identity; physical evidence of the self!
What is a lock of hair worth?
The Alice Wilds Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, United States
Tara Bogart is an American visual artist living in Paris France. Her work explores identity, culture, and personal histories. Her projects employ portraiture, objects, and landscape, to examine femininity, social impacts, and family. She received a BFA in Communication Design with an Emphasis in Photography and her master’s in Photography and Image-Making from Paris College of Art.
Bogart was a finalist for the 2021 Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, London and has exhibited at Newport Museum of Art, Rhode Island, Hous Projects, New York, Elizabeth Houston Gallery, New York, Aperture, New York, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, The Newspace Photo Center, Portland, OR, INOVA (Institute of Visual Arts), Milwaukee, PHOTO LA, California, The Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee and the Wriston Gallery at Lawrence University, Appleton, WI.
Bogart has been reviewed by L’Oeil de la Photography, New Yorker, CNN Worldwide Photos, Slate Magazine, The Huffington Post, I-D Vice, Zoom Magazine, The British Journal of Photography and The New Republic. She is in private and public collections including The National Library of France in Paris and the J Crew Corporate Collection among others.
How to use our image viewer
Click on any of the thumbnail images to launch the viewer. You can then navigate forward and backward within the portfolio by clicking the left or right side of the enlarged image. Click the add to collection checkbox to automatically add an image to your collection. Image tags or search engine keywords appear below the collections' checkbox and each word or phrase is a link to potentially more image matches.