Up to the mask
Artist uses walls in downtown LR to document the times.
Half of the subjects’ faces are covered, but there is plenty of personality in the large black and white photographs displayed in Baker’s Alley and in the SoMa district in downtown Little Rock.
The larger than life photographs are part of Ashley Murphy’s The Masked Project, which will culminate in a book this fall. In the meantime, the Downtown Little Rock Partnership created large temporary photo galleries in the alley behind The Rep and on the side of the Rock Town Distillery at 1201 Main St.
“The Masked Project showcases the bond we now all share having gone through this unprecedented experience [a pandemic], and it’s a unique way to document these times,” Gabe Holmstrom, executive director of the partnership, said in a news release.
He also said, “This is a temporary installation that will deteriorate in certain weather, so we encourage people to go see it while it lasts.”
In the photos, masks range from the simple piece of fabric over mouth and nose to elaborate face coverings and head gear. Murphy says in her artist’s statement, “People hunger for
creativity and still want to express themselves during this time, even if it is just for a moment.”
To find her subjects, Murphy
posted a call on social media. “The response was overwhelming. I think people, during the beginning stage, were craving to be a part of something meaningful and creative.”
The portraits include a wide cross-section of the population. “Mostly everyone came to me to be a part of this,” Murphy says, “and seeing the diversity was amazing.” However, she says, “There were a handful of people I contacted that I thought would make the project even more powerful.”
The project wasn’t about promoting whether or not the masks are safe or even to promote wearing them, Murphy says, “but about how we truly are all in this together — the uncertainty, the struggles, the adjustments to this ‘new normal,’ the tears and the hope.”
Murphy is a professional photographer and co-owns M2 Gallery in SoMa with her husband, Mac Murphy. She says the Downtown Little Rock Partnership contacted her about creating the public installation after seeing the first few batches of photos on her social media.
Murphy’s coffee table book with the images will be published in September and is aptly titled “The Masked Project.” The book will have 100 portraits with a look into each person’s time in quarantine. The books can be ordered from etaliapress.com.