I found a picture of my brother Mike, which reminded me of the photograph of myself that I have been working with for the past week or so. In the low resolution photograph of me there was no detail in the region of my eyes, and yet as a whole it conveys complex emotion.
Here is the picture of my brother Mike from about the same time. It was taken from an 8mm movie my father must have taken. Mike, autistic, low functioning and nonverbal, was at home during that time.
Although the tilt of Mike’s head is opposite to mine, we seem to wear similar expressions. The more distant, less detailed photo of Mike is fitting, as he himself was unreachable and a mystery to me and the rest of my family.
Below is my rendering of this frame of my Dad’s 8mm movie.