Having turned forty years old in February 2018, I approached this landmark year with a sense of optimism and curiosity for what lay ahead. :-)
Inspired by Imogen Cunningham's work 'After Ninety', I decided to document forty people who were also turning forty in 2018. I was keen to capture images that would reflect their ‘individual truths’ of being forty years old in 2018.
Drawing upon several influences, including Carl Jung's 'The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious' - he believed that universal, mythic characters—archetypes—reside within the collective unconscious of people the world over. These universal primordial images and ideas, or archetypes, manifest into a set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.
I too likewise believe that I have been influenced by multiple streams of iconography, imagery, historical stories and fables, characters and ideas, and have formed my own style of conceptual portraiture - namely, Shychetypes. Each individual portrait is conceived from the answers each 'model' relays to forty questions I ask them in an interview. I draw upon my own imagination, their experiences, my fantasies, and notions of archetypes to create their own unique Shychetype.
This collection of forty portraits are a culmination of a year of hard work and unexpected friendships. I hope you enjoy dissecting them as much as I’ve enjoyed conceiving and documenting them.
Shy
Please note, all the images are copyright protected by Shy Burhan and no usage rights are implied or allowed without express permission of the above…
