Seb JJ Peters
'PROXY'
a collection of abstract portraits, unfettered by proximity, meditating on distance & distortion.
IXCHEL are excited to share ‘Proxy’; the latest photography series from Seb JJ Peters. Almost an extension of his catalogue of ingenious tricks, ‘Proxy’ takes the remote photoshoot into the realm of fine art, cleverly using household items smeared over a perspex screen to manipulate his images in real time. As ever, Seb is continually pushing the boundaries of his discipline, creating a series of interesting and human portraits, as well as a unique and wide-ranging set of aesthetics at a time where nationally, and globally we are restricted in unprecedented ways. This series is the perfect example of Seb’s creative approach; he sees a limit, and ever-so nonchalantly turns those limits into his own creative tools.
Seb is an internationally published portrait, music and fine art photographer currently based between London, Bristol and Cambridge. His images have been used by top brands, record labels, on magazine covers, in photo essays and other curious places. With a special gift for capturing the inward expanse of any moment, Seb’s work is known for the dreamlike, immersive quality he extracts from whatever he’s shooting,
Working exclusively with Leica & Fujifilm equipment, Seb’s instinctive practice utilises analogue controls, environmental light, vintage lenses and dynamic settings. He has photographed many of today’s musical pioneers including Yazz Ahmed, Joe Armon Jones, Michael Kiwanuka, Sampa the Great and Ezra Collective, and has worked with world-leading brands like lingerie designers Edge O’ Beyond and Fleur of England.
'Proxy' has already received support from Leica Cameras and their official channels.
the collection (1/4)
"Proxy is a project that I’ve been working on in spite of, and in fact in direct response to the grand unpleasantness that has been unfolding this year. To speak poetically of Proxy, it’s a project meditating on distance and distortion, both physical and emotional, and an exploration of the unique qualities and opportunities of a less than ideal creative environment. But, to speak plainly about it: I missed taking portraits of people, had a potentially stupid idea relating to a plant mister, and had friends who I was able to convince to try my silly idea."
I had seen a lot of the FaceTime photo shoot trend and thought it wasn’t very interesting - it was just a pale imitation of taking portraits of someone in person, but it made me think about how I could do something remotely."
the collection (2/4)
I wanted to embrace the uniqueness of the medium, like, what were the strengths of shooting this way that would be harder to replicate in person?"
the visual fidelity of the person on the screen wasn’t ideal, so I started playing around with ways of obscuring it, or improving it, or something - lots of failed attempts before I pulled out the Perspex/glass/whatever it is layer from the front of a picture frame, taped it to my shelf and used a plant mister to spray it, then photographed that. It sort of spiralled from there."
