Family Portraits in Multiple Layers
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Many Korean families go to photo studios to have family portraits made. More often that not, these photographs show parents and children wearing their best clothes while holding rigid poses and forced smiles.
Family portraits do not always have to be so stiff and formal. Swiss artist Christoph Rihs makes unconventional portraits with multiple layers of images that somehow make the viewers feel the love and affection between family members.
``I have a different attitude to photography than other photographers. My point is not to have a frozen moment in time. I don't want to cling to one short moment. I try to be more in the flow of things. When I photograph people, I tell them to not be distracted by the camera, and just be themselves,'' he told The Korea Times over coffee at Seomi&Tuus Gallery, Cheongdam-dong.
Rihs takes an unusual approach to family portraiture. He is unconcerned with what kind of poses families should strike or what they're wearing. Instead, he pays more attention to drawing out the family's natural qualities.
He encourages them to interact with each other during the photo shoot. Initially, people pose for the camera, but after a while, they get tired and start acting more naturally.
``People can't hide what they are. Even if they have make-up or all dressed up, if they have to play a role over several hours, it's very tough. So people will always act the way they are. I would like to have a photograph where I can have the feeling that's exactly how the people are. They can relate to it, they can say: `yes, that's me,' but in a positive way. My emphasis would be on having fun. It should not be painful to have photographs taken, it should be joyous,'' Rihs said.
Unlike other family portraits that capture only one moment, Rihs layers images that tell a story about the family and their relationships. A husband looking tenderly at his wife, or a sister laughing at her brother's jokes ― these fleeting moments are captured by his camera. The photographs are incredibly detailed and invite viewers to take a closer look.
Rihs is known for photographic work based on digital layering. He organizes layers of images in varying degrees of saturation or transparency to create one whole piece. While the photo shoot takes around two hours, he usually needs around two weeks to come up with the final portrait.
For Rihs, the family portrait project is not just all work. ``I'm also doing this for fun. It's one thing to make money with it, but it has to stay exciting for me. In that sense, I can't put it together easily, I have to reconcile it with me as an artist, make it closer to a painting, not a photograph,'' he said.
The Swiss artist, who has been living in Korea for the last four months, found it curious how family portraits here are always digitally altered to make them look perfect.
``They `Photoshop' it from top to bottom. Nothing is real. It's like plastic, which is fine, if its something that people want. Of course, people want to look perfect, they want to look beautiful. Of course, I can do it too (in my portraits), but I'm not so much interested in that,'' he said.
Rihs was born in 1957 in Beirut, Lebanon, and studied visual arts and architecture at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Dusseldorf. He started making installation art and sculptures in the 1980s and 90s, but photography has always been a significant part of his works.
Currently an artist-in-residence at the Young Eun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwangju, Gyeonggi province, Rihs is preparing a series of photographs of trees for his March 7 exhibition.
Those interested in Rihs's family portrait project can call Seomi&Tuus Gallery (02) 511-7305 or email