The idea arrived during a commercial shoot, of all places — a CEO who only stopped performing for the camera when I turned away to change a battery. The frame I stole over my shoulder in that half-second was better than the previous two hours of work. I wanted to build a whole project out of that half-second.
The rules of Faces of Silence were strict: one hour, one chair, no music, no conversation, no direction. Twelve volunteers, recruited with the full warning of how strange it would feel. Most told me afterwards that the first twenty minutes were among the most uncomfortable of their year.
And then, in every single sitting, the surrender came. Somewhere past the half-hour mark the social face simply ran out of fuel. Shoulders dropped, breathing slowed, eyes stopped asking the camera for approval. Every portrait in the final series comes from that second half-hour.
I think about this project on every commission now. You cannot always give a subject an hour of silence — but you can stop filling every quiet moment with reassurance, and let the stillness do its work. The best portrait of the session is usually hiding just past the point where small talk runs out.
Elena Marlowe
Fine Art & Editorial Photographer
