Mirror System

2023. HD video, stereo sound. 5 mins 35 secs

Developing her interest in the complex relations between women and cameras, as explored in recent videos such as The Vision Machine (2020) and Appearance (2023), Young’s video Mirror System (2023) consists of a montage of excerpts from video tutorials, demos, and promotions for cameras and lenses. Young cut all footage of the protagonist-photographers (a systematically male figure in this type of production) to instead feature their female models. In slowing the footage, Young allows us to look more closely as the women - many amateur models - act as ‘themselves’ on camera. The work considers the models’ subjectivity and their “capture” by the camera, evoking instead a feminized gaze. A specially-composed musical soundtrack merges a pop-tinged commercialism with an unnerving sense of science fiction atmospherics.

This work debuted in Carey Young’s solo exhibition at Dazibao, Montreal as part of Momenta Biennial de l’Image 2023.