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Pekka Nikrus
September, 2016
4th Person is series of experimental in-camera multiple exposure portraits. Each image is a combination of three different people, all of whom are related – both to each other in some way, and also to the photographer. The people photographed are Nikrus’s friends, colleagues and family members.
The images are produced through careful utilization of light and shadow – with all three persons present in the same location during one shooting session. The combining of their facial features in fact happens during the shoot. Nikrus’s process has a conscious element of stochastic tinkering to it that aims to emphasize a feeling both of craftsmanship and the human condition.
The purpose of the technique is to reveal a common denominator of those being photographed, without clearly revealing any one person to the viewer. This way each image seems to present a fourth person, someone who doesn't actually exist, yet still expresses something mutual – perhaps an ‘essence’ – of the subjects photographed.