Jester
Fall 2023
When the world is the photographer’s stage, the jester of life appears in front
of the lens. The everyday becomes absurd, abstracted, and performed for
the amusement of our viewers. On the streets, the average person takes on
the role of jester — perhaps a fool — but more accurately, the storytellers
of our fantastical world inside a single frame. Playfulness comes face to face
with unsettling gestures of bodies existing within stark realities. Performance
can become a way to cope with the injustices and grief we experience. Is that
grin more of a grimace? Are those hands tossed up in joy or in protest? Other
storytellers reconfigure the body through costume, shredding the self in favor
of playing pretend. Returning to a child-like perspective, artists remove the
restraints of self-consciousness and shift into the whimsical nature of the
jester. Above all, the romanticism of performance frees us from the monotony
of the ordinary. We can be, even for a moment, our own jesters.
– Katie Noble
Front Cover: Isaac Wheatley @ikeview
Back Cover: Kayla Gilly @kk.gilly
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