Not Myself

LFI: How did this project come about?
Benjamin McMahon: I take portraits for various magazines, institutes and galleries. I was photographing a lot of actors and artists and started to become frustrated with the time limit constraints. Half an hour if I was lucky, five minutes if not. One person early on gave me ten seconds. I also questioned if I was able to produce something memorable and different in that time. I thought if I gave control to the sitter, perhaps they would achieve something I wasn't able to reach in such a short shoot.

How does it work technically?
After the commissioned work, I would explain that there was another project I was working on, and I'd asked them if they'd like to take part if they had some extra time. I told them I wanted them to take a self-portrait in a mirror. I hoped they would take a self-portrait rather than a selfie. To my amazement only a few people ever said no. Generally, I would scope out some spots and mirrors, and then together we would find a place that we felt worked in the mirror. As everything was shot on Leica M cameras, I did need to set the camera for them and then dive in to adjust the focus as we went along. Other than that, I left the sitter to decide how he or she wanted to look. If they wanted to be serious or if they felt happy, if they had a better side: the point was that it was up to them to choose how they were represented.

How do you distinguish between a self-portrait and a selfie?
The difference for me is that a selfie is something throwaway, something silly you do for a laugh between friends. There's a rich history in art of people producing self portraits as a means of expression and communication. I hoped that for my project the subjects would treat their portraits more like a lasting document; something that people might spend time looking at, and that might communicate something of themselves – rather than just grinning or pouting and clicking the shutter. Some were taken quickly; but I always came back to saying: “Think more Frida Kahlo than Kim Kardashian.”

Since when have you been photographing with Leica cameras? Please share your experience!
I bought an M-E with the entirety of a pay check for the first ad shoot I did, and have upgraded to an M10 since. I think that was around 2012 or so. Before that I was shooting most editorial work on a 5x4 camera. I found that turning up with an Leica around my neck had a disarming effect on most people. Not having large cameras, lights and other people with me, was a really wonderful way to make the shoot a bit more intimate and conversational. There have been a few shoots where having the Leica round my neck and being able to react quickly when something happened, resulted in some of my favourite photographs.