EYE CANDY

How Photographer Matthew Morrocco Turned His Mirror Portraits Into Fine Art

by Michael Beckert and Steph Eckardt

3_Matthew Morrocco_Mirror Portraits.jpg
Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

One by one, over the past year, the New York-based photographer Matthew Morrocco invited a group of his closest artist friends over to his bedroom in Brooklyn, set up his tripod, handed them a mirror, and proceeded to take their portrait. The resulting set of images, Mirror Portraits, achieved what Morrocco had in mind from the outset: actually uniting him with his social network—which includes fellow photographers like Paul Mpagi Sepuya and Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., and familiar faces like Emma Sulkowicz, the performance artist and former Columbia University student behind “Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)”—IRL, while still acknowledging the perception-heavy nature of their online relationship by capturing them from angle after reflected angle. On a deeper level, though, the series also showcases what Ryan McGinley, for example, also proved earlier this summer: that what might have previously have been dismissed as “mirror selfies” can be made into fine art photography. Ahead of the release of his book Complicit, which intimately explores his relationships with older queer men, next month, get to know Morrocco and co. up close, here.

1Portrait of Theresa Chromati (2017). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

2Portrait of Ramsay Kolber (2018). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

3Portrait of Abdu Ali (2017). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

4Portrait of Adam Eli (2018). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

5Portrait of Sara Cwynar (2018). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

6Portrait of Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. (2017). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

7Portrait of Emma Sulkowicz (2017). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

8Portrait of Hiba Schahbaz (2018). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

9Portrait of Evan Moffit (2018). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

10Portrait of Louis Fratino (2018). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco

11Portrait of Rindon Johnson (2017). Photograph by Matthew Morrocco.

Photograph by Matthew Morrocco, courtesy of @matthew_morocco