I was asked to photography a Psychologist – the need for the shots was for his speaking engagement at an art’s institution. We of course did fairly straight forward portraits in addition to the picture in picture concept.

I asked the client if we could try a shot at the end of the session. He agreed to hold a sheet of paper in front of his face. I then took a photo of the back of his head and digitally inserted the back image. I am very pleased with how the final image turned out and love how the background tones really match up.

I’m sure this is not the first time this idea has been done, although I have not seen it – it must have been done in advertising for something. The concept has certainly been done in fine art – Rene Margritte came to mind with his surrealist paintings. I think something interesting happens to your mind when viewing the image for the first time – mine flicks back and forth from back to front.

I really like the idea of self as the mirror, or taking a good look at yourself – perfect for a psychologist I thought.