To scan my stuffed animal, I set up four LED lights around a platform in the microstudio. I placed some stickers down on the platform to give PhotoScan external reference points.

I was afraid that this lighting would create too many shadows, but between the diffusion and the cross-ways lighting, it actually worked a charm. PhotoScan took a long time processing the 99 photos I gave it to work with. Next time, I may not take quite so many.

When we met to discuss the Yale Face Database, Sean recalled a meeting he had with a physiognomist: someone who judges character or predicts the future based on a person’s facial characteristics. Jenny didn’t even know such a field existed.

At this point, we had been planning on exploring the connection between the face database and emotion charts that are used to teach children with autism how to interpret facial expressions (see below). We’d been struck by how similar the expressions of emotions were across the participants, and we wondered how applicable the set was to real life. Some of the expressions seem more like caricatures than real expressions of emotion. Did the experimenters give these non-actors actual prompts, such as the idea of a loved one dying, or did they simply yell out, “Sad!”?

An emotion chart of the sort used to teach children with autism.

But when Sean shared his story of meeting the physiognomist, Jenny immediately changed tack. Jenny has an affinity for first-person documentaries à la Agnès Varda and Ross McElwee. Sean has an affinity for the spiritual: since June, he has been a Dalai Lama fellow. Given two performers (Sean and Jenny) and a live audience, it seemed appropriate to aim for an interactive theater experience.

These are the elements of our anticipated performance:

1+ magnifying glass(es).

1 overhead lamp and 1 chair beneath it.

A slideshow showing the “normal” or “neutral” photos from the Yale Face Database.

Sean and Jenny in the front of the room. The background will be constructed to resemble the office of a physiognomist.

The performance will start with Jenny asking Sean to recall the meeting he had with a physiognomist. The audience will be seated close to the performers. After introducing the story, Sean and Jenny will begin employing props: a magnifying glass like the one the physiognomist used when examining faces; the chair under the lamp like the one that illuminated Sean during his meeting. At the end, the audience will be able to examine/analyze Sean with these tools in the same way that Physiognomists do with their clients.

At a point that feels natural, we will invite the viewers to pick up magnifying glasses or sit under the light. This will give them the opportunity to inspect faces or to be inspected. We hope that people will take this opportunity, as it is rare thing to examine a face close-up.