According to Jung, every person has a male and female inside of them, not necessarily
in equal parts, but some remnant of each resides inside. Casado explains, "What these
photographs do, I hope, is release both, so you can feel emotion from both your male
and female components." Oddly enough, sometimes a mask gives you a freedom to let
those undiscovered selves emerge.
Casado makes his own masks, designing them for the individual models. In the private
world of his photo shoots, the model's body is completely exposed and the face hidden,
a reversal of the norms of everyday life. The rich, detailed text of the face can no longer
be read, but the body is an open book. The effect on both the model and photographer
is profound. New freedoms are found. " Once I put a mask on the models, they are
liberated to move inside their bodies. With time they come out of the closet, so to speak,
and are wide open. It became like therapy. We are both wringing wet when we are
done because we are emotionally drained. It's not about sex. If you really work hard at
being a person, one of the things you've got to work hard at is trying to understand
yourself, and being honest, and that is so hard. It is so hard. And one of the ways that
you can do that is to find yourself in a situation where you
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