Beyond The Grave: I Used Technology To Make Hybrid Portraits Of Me And My Dad

He died more than fifty years ago in a tragic car accident, leaving behind four small children. I am one of those children. MIXED STATES is a project involving a series of composite portraits made from two different photographs.

My name is Michelle LaRiviere, and for the past ten years I’ve been using photography and digital technology as tools for creative expression. Most of my work explores themes of loss and identity within the context of broken family structures.

The Mixed States Project began earlier this year after my uncle gave me a photo of my father that he’d carried in his wallet for decades. I had never seen my dad’s features in such clear detail, so I scanned it to keep on file. Not long after, I found an old folder containing self-portraits that I had made in my studio. Our resemblance was striking, and ideas began to percolate, so I combined the photo of my dad and one of me to make a double-exposure. The results were stunning. I made more, and ran them through various apps on my iPad. In the end, I had a few dozen versions – each one intriguing and unique in its own right.

Still, I needed to go further – my vision was to achieve an animated portrait with a flip-book effect. I’m self-taught, so it took several weeks of trial and error, and lots of experimenting with different software. Finally, I realized that the only way to go was to learn how to make animated GIFs from scratch, which I was able to accomplish. That was a real triumph for me. Mixed States has been a deeply personal journey, but at the same time, it touches on universal notions of ancestry and genetic ties.

To know more about this project and to see the animated portrait GIF, please follow the link to my website.

More info: michellelariviere.com