“What one word defines you?” If you had to express the complex essence of your identity in just one word, what would it be? In order to create the art work in this collection, we asked this question to over one hundred people.
For years as a couple, we have both said that we suffer from and trouble: we are constantly adding new things to our lives. One day, when we were pondering what kind of photographic series William might try next, I suggested that he do some unusual self-portraits. He joked, “What do you want me to do? Take a picture of myself in a T-shirt that says ‘and?’” We threw our heads back in laughter that soon gave way to serious conversation about the creative possibilities of this innovative idea.
Portraits are compelling because faces are storytellers. Researchers have discovered that a whole section of the human brain is dedicated to recognizing facial gestures—giving us the remarkable ability to discern at least seven thousand different expressions. For this reason, we intuitively seek human connection in others’ faces, even if that face is but a photograph or painting. A portrait can allow viewers to feel that they know the subject; that they intimately understand the stranger in the picture.
These portraits, we decided, would include none of the accouterments which people ordinarily use to declare their status or uniqueness. These photographic portraits would be stripped down to the essential face and upper body in a white T-shirt against a black background, thus, democratizing the exhibit. Then, we would introduce a unique element: each subject would wear one word, inviting the audience to better understand his or her character. Our reasons for limiting the selection to one word were to emphasize the elegance of brevity and to aid in the overall visually simplicity of the portraits. Viewers’ aesthetic experience would subtly guide their sense of the word’s meaning—and this meaning would, in turn, affect their impressions of the person portrayed: each would make the other come alive.
Living Word is the title we gave to this exhibit. On a literal level, it suggests how much vitality words give to our lives. Each person, by wearing his or her word, brings it to life. As theologians, we also wanted the title to imply a relationship to the Word of God. As broken people looking for answers, we seek direction from our Creator—we long for God to speak a word of hope to us. It is the Bible, most often, which is considered to be the Word of God because it contains the writings of inspired writers who have faithfully documented God’s messages to us. Nevertheless, the primary Word of God—the most evident way that Christians believe God has spoken the Word of Love to humanity—is through Jesus Christ himself. God did not simply send the scriptures to us; the God of the universe “became flesh and dwelt among us,” as John’s gospel proclaims. Jesus is the very living, breathing embodiment of God’s Word.
And yet, there is an even more expansive understanding of the Word of God and this comes from the first chapter of Genesis. Here God’s words: “Let there be...” result in the phenomena of creation. From this we can conclude that creation itself is the Word of God. Each and every aspect of this marvelous earth and her creatures is the Word of God. Therefore, we can say that we are each a Living Word from God.
What we are at birth is the gift from which we begin and from there unfurl our various identities. We live and breathe a message to the world through our every action. In calling this project Living Word, we are nudging people to think carefully about their very purpose in the world. What word do you live? What do you embody? As a miraculous Living Word of God, how do you bless the world by your existence?
Our participants wrestled with choices as they selected their words. They picked various parts of speech: adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions and even a preposition, which is how we chose to organize this book. Some knew instantly what their word would be. Others wrote to reserve their spot in the show but could not come up with a word for several weeks, or would declare their choice and then write back a few days later with a different word. Still others sent a list of possible words and asked us to choose. We resisted the temptation to do so, explaining, “That’s the whole point: you get to pick your own word—you define yourself in this exercise. It is meant to empower you.”
Once the words were chosen, I painted them on the T-shirts. William shot many of the portraits in the atrium of Luther College’s Center for the Arts where students could observe us at work. One the most enjoyable aspects of this process was the conversations we had with each participant during their photo shoot. Rather than having people pose, we fired off questions: “How did you choose your word? Why do you embody this word? Would others define you this way?” Though many of our subjects were strangers, they opened up to share their deeper truths. As the conversation progressed, we could see their countenance change. Talking about their words caused people to embody them. In those flashes of honesty and vulnerability, William captured many striking images, which often made the final selection difficult.
We still marvel at how many participants selected positive words to define themselves. We wondered if we had coincidentally happened upon a whole group of exceptionally happy people. As we thought about it, however, we realized it makes perfect sense. Offering people the license to define themselves, rather than allowing others to define them, spurred them to think of themselves in the best light and to dream. Some of their words spoke of lofty ideals such as love, hope and truth. These people admitted they couldn’t possibly embody these words to their fullest extent, but they strive to live by them. Allowing people to define themselves, we learned, lifts peoples’ sights beyond what they are to what they hope to be.
Now we invite you, our viewers, to “read” these portraits—to come to know these people and their words. It is our hope that they will cause you to consider your own identity—inviting you into richer, more intentional self-expression, that you too, may celebrate yourself as a Living Word.
