Everyone likes a good portrait of themselves, right? Well, not everyone I guess. But what if your portrait was made to look like something out of a horror film?

Tracey Ellis-Guss’ Digital Photography students tried the tape portraits, where the subject of the photo gets their facial features  stretched using invisible tape. A lot of invisible tape. The project was a one-day assignment, and students partnered up to create the ghoulish masterpieces.

The original idea was that of New-Mexico resident Wes Naman, whose idea was to capture the “vibrant and bizarre expressions on the faces of both men and women” using the sticky adhesive. Naman’s idea of the tape portrait came to him after applying the sticky strips to himself to test a lighting setup. I suppose that’s one way to test a lighting rig. 

Natalie Rebetsky was one of a few teachers who volunteered to have her face stretched with the tape. “I was really intimidated by the idea of having gobs of tape stuck to my face (especially because I wear a lot of makeup), but it was actually really fun.  Gina [DeFrancisci] did a good job,” said Rebetsky.

A small gallery of both setup and finished portraits are attached.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Ryan Bond

Lilybeth Rosas applies to tape to Georgia Geisser.