Me Error

Leonardo Magrelli’s series of impossible portraits shows what mirrors reflect when we are not in front of them. Magrelli places the viewer directly in front of the glass, so we should see ourselves reflected there. Instead, we are rendered invisible, yet still given the power to gaze into the mirror. This trick- of simultaneously being there and not being there, is both irresistibly fascinating and disquieting at the same time.

It reminds me of an episode on one of my favorite radio shows, This American Life (https://​www​.thisamericanlife​.org/​1​7​8​/​s​u​p​e​r​p​owers). In it, they ask what we would choose if given the option between possessing one of two superpowers- flight or invisibility. It is almost as if Magrelli is giving us the ability to give invisibility a try. In his images we are able to wander through public and private spaces — stores, bedrooms, bathrooms, and studios. There is a voyeuristic intrigue of getting to anonymously investigate these spaces. However, there is also the excitement of being a able to experience something that should be impossible.

Magrelli gives the mirror an interesting power in his images. On one hand, they are passive objects- only able to reflect what comes in front of them. However, in his photographs, the mirrors become enchanted little worlds of their own. Satisfying geometric patterns march in and out of the glass’s frame. Where we would normally see our own face echoed back at us, mysterious orbs of light float and shine instead, and hold us transfixed with their strange beauty.

- Mia D.

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