To See Your Face
For the exhibition "Talking Pictures: Camera-Phone Conversations Between Artists" (June 27 – Dec 17, 2017), The Met commissioned a group of artists to conduct visual dialogues on their mobile phones. Initially, twelve artists were invited to participate in the project. Each invited another artist to be his or her conversation partner. Over the course of five months, from November 2016 to April 2017, the pairs sent photographs and brief videos back and forth in a game of pictorial ping-pong. They were asked not to type messages or captions, and to refrain from sharing the images on social media, but the content and frequency of communication was otherwise determined entirely by the artists.
The twelve unabridged conversations were displayed in a variety of formats: on monitors and touch screens, as projected images, in printed books, and as prints pinned to the wall. The installation was conceived as an experiment and springboard for further discussion. At the conclusion of the exhibition, the artists’ dialogues were acquired for The Met permanent collection.
Shortly before they began exchanging images, Sharma contacted Rozovsky to let her know that she was pregnant and due to give birth in early April. To her surprise, Rozovsky confessed that she was also pregnant and due a few weeks earlier. The resulting dialogue beautifully chronicles the changes the artists experienced—both inside and out—during their last two trimesters, ending with images of their newborns.
The twelve unabridged conversations were displayed in a variety of formats: on monitors and touch screens, as projected images, in printed books, and as prints pinned to the wall. The installation was conceived as an experiment and springboard for further discussion. At the conclusion of the exhibition, the artists’ dialogues were acquired for The Met permanent collection.
Shortly before they began exchanging images, Sharma contacted Rozovsky to let her know that she was pregnant and due to give birth in early April. To her surprise, Rozovsky confessed that she was also pregnant and due a few weeks earlier. The resulting dialogue beautifully chronicles the changes the artists experienced—both inside and out—during their last two trimesters, ending with images of their newborns.
Artwork Details
- Title: To See Your Face
- Artist: Manjari Sharma (Indian, born Mumbai, 1979)
- Artist: Irina Rozovsky (Russian, born Moscow, 1981)
- Date: 2016–17
- Medium: Digital image files; inkjet prints
- Dimensions: Sheet: 13 in. × 18 3/4 in. (33 × 47.6 cm)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, Vital Projects Fund Inc. Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2018
- Object Number: 2018.569a–rrrr
- Rights and Reproduction: © Manjari Sharma in collaboration with Irina Rozovsky for Talking Pictures, 2017, a commission by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Katy Grannan
2008
Wolfgang Tillmans
2009
Anastasia Samoylova
2020
Anastasia Samoylova
2021
Anastasia Samoylova
2020
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.