The cloner's little helper

The Flickr pools dedicated to photos termed 'multiplicities' or 'clones' are destinations I visit regularly. Why is the appearance of a self-portrayed individual more than once in a single photo is so compelling? Many theories can be read in the viewer comments and probably most of them are part of the story.

But the process of making these images is also to me of interest.

And so is the little black box shown at the left, the Pclix, costing $139.95.

Why?

Because the maker of a clone photo is at one and the same time director and actor.



And in the course of a photography session the role is switched constantly. The director frames the shot, plans the poses. The camera is triggered and then the director becomes actor and takes the first pose. Then before the second pose can be shot the actor is again director, once more obliged to trigger the next prise de vu. And so on and so forth, until the intended number of separate shots have been taken.



Now the little black box which is the Pclix seems to offers clone shooters a definite advantage. It allows for the precise advance programming of time-lapse intervals.

The advantage? No more switching back and forth between the director and actor roles. Once the director has framed the shot and set the timer, say for one shot every minute, then the actor can stay in character and think only of the series of poses he or she has planned. A strategically positioned large clock with a big sweep-second hand can notify the actor of the passing time and allow even the most far-fetched, short-duration poses (a hand-stand, perhaps?) to be assumed just in time for the timed click of the shutter.



As a director (of third-party talent) I know the benefit of letting an actor concentrate entirely on his or her performance. What a huge step forward it was when we started filming digitally, on tapes which could run and run, instead of having to curtail an actor's performance in order to change film magazines every eleven minutes.

And in the Pclix pre-timed clone photography situation the performance becomes almost a choreography, a sequence of movement designed to deliver 'freezes' at specific moments.

Damn it, if I wasn't over retirement age and far from photogenic, I would try it. Let me know if any of you out there put my suggestion to the test.

Pix top to bottom by Noli Novak, Rebekka Gudleifsdottir and Miss Aniela