Karl Schulze

Eye contact is an important form of nonverbal communication across cultures. The way we use our eyes to show respect can vary greatly between different cultural spaces.

Growing up, I struggled with keeping eye contact, and I still do. With this project, I wanted to explore this feeling by guiding the viewer’s gaze. I modified a technical camera to make it compatible with my digital camera and used it to create self-portraits. By blurring certain parts of my body, I control what the viewer can clearly see and guide their eyes through the image.

In this way, I take back control of the viewer’s gaze and question who gets to look, and who gets to be looked at.