Death of Narcissus
2019
Giclée Print from 35mm Negatives
24” x 40 5/16” | edition of 5
Death of Narcissus is a homage to Hippolyte Bayard’s Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man, one of Johnny's favorite early photographs (and one of the world’s first selfies!).
Hippolyte Bayard is a pioneer and inventor of photography in who lived in 19th century France. But he was was overlooked by the French Academy of Sciences in favor of his rival Louis Daguerre, who was both a better salesman and better connected. In response, Bayard sent the Academy members copies of Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man in protest. This might sounds tame by today’s standards, but it’s actually a big fuck you to the academy. You see, Daguerre’s process could only produce a single copy of an image. If you wanted two copies, you’d have to photograph the same photo twice. But Bayard’s process was able to produce multiple copies.
Johnny used Bayard’s image as the inspiration for the themes and composition of Death of Narcissus, while adding a personal twist on it. Johnny titled this piece with the reference to Narcissus, to tie it in with his other reflection based self-portraits in the World of One. Also because in some versions of the myth, Narcissus dies by suicide.
