This series was made in 1986 while I was studying at the Royal College of Art in London. This work has been exhibited widely and is part of the Photography Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

To make these images, I photographed myself 20 times to make the expressions I needed. These photographs were then trimmed to make flat masks. The performers then wore the masks in situ. 

These are single exposure, pre-Photoshop images. The masks look 3D but are, in fact, flat. For more information on the masks, see here.

William Hogarth first told this tale about Tom Rakewell, in 1733, in a set of engravings. In Hogarth’s story, the Rake is a morally bankrupt individual who squanders his father’s inheritance on women, gambling, and drinking. He marries badly and ends up mad and destitute in Bedlam.

My Rake enters life with every intention of doing "the right thing". He follows a steady course through life making all the right choices. Sadly, he too ends up trapped in the modern madhouse - the living room.