CLAMP is pleased to present “Look at me like you love me,” an exhibition of photographs from Jess T. Dugan’s 2022 monograph of the same title, published by MACK. 

“Look at me like you love me” includes self-portraits, portraits of individuals and couples, and still lifes that collectively form a poetic representation of contemporary life through Dugan’s eyes.

In the images Dugan aims to explore how relationships and intimacy shape one’s identity. The individuals depicted in Dugan’s images vary in class, race, age, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Some are depicted alone, others with their loved ones, always seen by the photographer with a direct and honest perspective. By capturing individuals in a matter-of-fact way, Dugan creates space for the sitter’s complex internal life, leaving viewers with enough unsaid to encourage contemplation.

Dugan’s inclusion of self-portraits within an already highly personal collection of imagery, serves an explicitly auto-biographical purpose, documenting the artist’s emotional and physical state in various settings at different moments in time.

In addition to portraits and self-portraits, Dugan captures still lifes, which help to set the mood of the project, and punctuate the portraiture with moments of stillness and reflection.