Kamika, near Route 9, Poughkeepsie, NY

Your Mirror: Portraits from the ICP Collection
Section: Self-presentation
When Katy Grannan was still studying photography at the Yale School of Art, she placed an ad in several local newspapers: “Art Models. Artist/Photographer (female) seeks people for portraits. No experience necessary. Leave msg.” The resulting photographs would produce several bodies of works, including Sugar Camp Road (2002–3).
Grannan first spoke to potential subjects—primarily girls and young women—and then photographed them at their homes or outdoors. Although the subjects could choose
how to dress themselves, or whether to be naked, Grannan would control everything else, including the location and the props that were being used. The portraits convey the vulnerability of the young subjects, who make a touching effort to seduce the viewer.
They chose to be photographed and seek a feeling of independence to transport them from their daily routines.