Sophie and Jay Paris, daughter and father photographers, have four times — in seven-year intervals — offered villagers and visitors in North Bennington the opportunity to make their own photographic portraits.
On busy Saturdays in September 2000, September 2007, August 2014 and August 2021, the pair strolled the village with their camera. Each subject posed as she or he wished, and chose the moment for making the image. Sophie and Jay rigged a digital camera with an old-fashioned photographer’s bulb and tube. The subject squeezed the rubber bulb and viola the pixels were fixed (with sly help from Sophie and Jay).
Some of the photographs were made on rooftops, some in parks, some inside. The subjects include the governor, a beloved centenarian, groups of children, and villagers at work, at rest, at play.
Each photographer/subject was invited to a gallery opening in the village the following day. Sophie and Jay then worked through the night to print, hang and mount a show. The photographers/subjects streamed to the gallery the next day to see the fruits of their work.
Groups of photos from each of the four years are shown below.
2021 Self Portraits
To see 2021 captions, click on an image and choose “i” on the navigation button at the bottom of the page.
2014 Self Portraits
2007 Self Portraits
2000 Self Portraits