Bill Westheimer ~ New Jersey

MANUAL
By Bill Westheimer
West Orange, New Jersey: 2008. Tideline Press. Edition of 25.

3.625 x 2.5 x 1.25"; 50 pages. Accordion book of a selection from 150 portraits. Archival printing of the images is by the photographer utilizing an Epson 9600 and Hahnemühle Duo paper. Bound by hand at the Tideline Press. Housed in a leather compression fit binding box.

“MANUAL” design is a collaboration between the artist and Leonard Seastone.

Bill Westheimer: “The eyes may be the windows of the soul - but hands reveal our humanity.

”Our hands are one of our most perceptive senses and yet are used as a tool and a weapon, they can caress or crush. Hands build weapons yet heal the sick. There are chakras in our hands, Jesus had nail holes in his palms, and a sign of worship is to stand with your palms raised. Fortune tellers read palms. Handwriting is analyzed to expose deep secrets. Man's thumbs differentiate humans from lower species. Hands contain our absolute legal identities in the fingerprints. We control our world with our hands, and our hands are shaped by our world. We reach out with our hands and we sense the physical world with our hands. ”I collaborate with my subjects to expose their hands and their personalities. These images of hands reflect the personality and the life of the subject. Lifestyle, work habits and sensitivity are revealed. Without the distraction of faces these images of hands are absolutely honest and deeply perceptive portraits. Each of the portrait’s three elements reveals a different view of the person: the photograph of the hand is the artist’s perception of the subject. The subject reveals their self image through the handwriting, and we collaborate to create a common view in the photogram. By compiling a large group of hand portraits this project reflects the diversity and the commonalities of our humanity.

“Using 19th century collodion wet plate photography I photograph their dominant hand, then I work with my subject to make a photogram of their palm print. Combining these two images together with the person’s handwriting, I create one portrait of the subject. The photograms reveal the texture and pressure of the hand on the paper, so the print is truly hand-made.”
$800