Miia Autio

Variation of White

WHAT WE SEE IS NEVER DIRECT REPRESENTATION OF EXTERNAL REALITY, BUT RATHER ALWAYS BORN THROUGH THE SYNERGY OF OUR VISION AND MIND. THE SUBJECTIVITY OF OUR GAZE IS REVEALED WHEN AN IMAGE FIRST PERCEIVED AS REALITY IS REVEALED AS SOMETHING ELSE. THE PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE WORK ARE NEGATIVE IMAGES OF THE ORIGINALS. WITH THE FIRST GLANCE THEY ADHERE TO THE VIEWERS' PRECONCEPTION OF THE SUBJECTS' APPEARANCE, WHICH MAKES THEM DISREGARD THE LOGIC OF THE INVERTED IMAGE. THE TRUTH IS REVEALED ONLY AFTER CLOSER EXAMINATION, BUT THE ORIGINAL IMAGE IS ALSO VIEWABLE THROUGH AN OPTICAL ILLUSION. BY FOCUSING ON THE RED DOT FOR THIRTY SECONDS, AND THEN AVERTING ONE'S GAZE TO A WHITE SURFACE WHILE BLINKING SIMULTANEOUSLY, A REFLECTION OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE CAN BE PRODUCED. THIS ILLUSION, A NEGATIVE AFTER IMAGE, IS CREATED WHEN THE BRAIN IS TOO SLOW TO INTERPRET THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE EYES. BOTH TIME AND CLOSER EXAMINATION, EQUALLY, MIGHT COMPEL US TO TRANSFORM OUR PERSONAL PREJUDICES. THE PHOTOGRAPHS PORTRAY A MINORITY, PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM, WHO SUFFER FROM MYTHS SURROUNDING THEIR APPEARANCE, AND FROM THE DISCRIMINATION BASED ON THEM. THE WORK INCLUDES THE SHORT DOCUMENTARY MISS ALBINO. IT SHOWS YOUNG WOMEN WITH ALBINISM, THEIR DREAMS AND THEIR STRUGGLES FOR ACCEPTANCE AND EQUAL REPRESENTATION WITHIN THE MAJORITY.