Faces #6 1998

Vibeke Tandberg made this photograph, called Faces #6, at an unknown date. The subject looks like a conventional portrait, but it is in fact a fabrication; a readymade appropriated from existing photographs of men, altered to appear as a single individual. This raises questions around gender, identity, and the ways that photography can manipulate our perceptions of reality. Tandberg emerged as an artist in Norway in the 1990s, a time when social norms were being questioned and redefined. Her work often explores the complexities of gender and sexuality within a rapidly changing social landscape. This photograph, with its construction of an ambiguous figure, could be seen as a commentary on the fluidity of identity and the constructed nature of gender roles. The image encourages us to question the social and institutional forces that shape our understanding of selfhood. To fully appreciate Tandberg's work, we might look at the history of portraiture and the evolving representation of gender and identity in art.