Eleventh International Conference on The Image

Abstract

Wearing a mask modifies the image of the human body. A partially-masked head directs focus to the facial façade where the covering device disturbs the dynamic interplay of eyes, nose and mouth. A viewer looking upon a once-familiar face now gazes upon a new face—a visage transformed. The gaze returned to the viewer is an altered gaze. When the viewer of the masked person is also masked, there is an interchange of familiar but rehabilitated gazes. A novel form of visual communication results as each person’s face is made strange. Today the frequent reception of and interaction with masked images activates a range of reactions and attitudes, from fear to fascination. Within the current global pandemic context, the discourse on masks is central to ‘social trust’ issues. (This is particularly evident in the United States where ‘mask-reluctance’ and mask aggression are widespread.) Often unknowingly, quotidian maskers attract attention as they shift from commonplace individuals to casual image-makers. In some instances the masked head intrigues to such a degree that it invites representation; the individual becomes photo-worthy. Masking alters the optics. Do these photographs-in-waiting—masqueraders—demonstrate a loss of face? Are they examples suppressing human-ness? Reading the gaze of the masked body is a skill which references anthropology, non-verbal communication and theatrical performance. Partial sensory deprivation, unfamiliar to many, affects speech, ocular expression, and gestural liberty. Can one then, as a Harvard scholar recently queried, perceive a smile on the face of a masked interlocutor?