Dough Portraits

This visually stunning, hilarious and outlandish book of photography presents Danish performance and conceptual artist Søren Dahlgaard's ongoing series of 'Dough Portraits', in which he creates absurdist portraits of people with their heads encased in dough. Invited by art galleries, museums, biennales and institutions from all over the world since 2008 to undertake commissions, he has photographed more than 2,000 sitters of all ages and backgrounds in diverse settings in countries as far afield as Canada, Denmark, Brazil, the Maldives, Kosovo, South Korea and Australia. Collaboration, process and performance are as much elements of the work as the finished image itself, with each participant 'co-creating' their own portrait, first by kneading the dough, then by placing it on their head or having it put in place by others, and then by carefully selecting a pose - all before of an audience of amused or bemused onlookers. As a result, while their faces might be covered, their individual personalities shine