Erving Goffman, considered one of the founding fathers of American Sociology, wrote that people create a construct that masks who they really are from others in the world: they "manage" the impression of what the world "sees.” In this series I generate this concept on film by pulling the viewer into a relationship with my subject. The lack of emotion on the animalistic face introduces a sense distance, just as people sometimes use avoidance to distance ourselves from others. The ghost in the images is the actuality of who they are inside, who they were in the past, personal dreams and forgotten memories. Sometimes these lingering thoughts progress and make their way out to the surface when we least desire them to do so. One can almost "see" the person behind the mask but not truly know who it is until the mask is lifted, much as we will "reveal" ourselves once trust is established. People are social creatures, as are wolves, and desire to connect with others, it is my hope that one day we can all “drop the masks” and live with each other despite our differences.
