Reflet, in the words of Ansel Adams, is defined as "the light reflected from the subject to the spectator or the lens" (Natural Light Photography, Adams, Ansel. New York Graphic Society, Boston, 1952. p. vii). Bodri's most recent series, produced on Toronto Island, playfully engages the photographic tropes of "portrait" and "landscape" in dialogue using the reflet of both the mirror and the individual. Complicating reflexivity, REFLET incites viewers to explore more intricate dynamics of the Gaze and the reversal thereof. The mirror's purpose is put into question and perhaps completely subverted: defying the reflexive loop, the artist never fully reveals the Self, be it her own of that of the subject. Instead of holding the mirror to the photographer, the subject refuses to reciprocate the gaze and, as such, refuses her own altérité.
Instead of capturing the subject gazing upon themselves as would the photographer-as-voyeur, the the latter perceives only what the former's mirror reflects: nature and it's infinite possibilities. Re-directed, the mirror serves as a shield; submerged, it becomes a portal. When two individuals cannot reciprocally define each other via the gaze, what remains of subjectivity? REFLET effectively re-purposes the mirror, fetish object so ubiquitously conflated with vanity, as a tool of empowerment.
The artist would like to thank CUE Art Projects (http://cueartprojects.ca) for their support.