Howard and Kevin, March, 2009 by Kevin C. Moore
In recent years, artificial insemination—once something out of the realm of science fiction—has become an increasingly common practice. By now, a generation of so called "test tube babies" have matured into self-aware adults, and among this generation are artists exploring their identity. Contender Kevin C. Moore weaves together many different kinds of photography: scanned documents, studio portraits, images from Google and Facebook, old family photos, and Photoshop manipulation, to tell the story of the search for his own.
Kevin writes,
Since the age of seven, I have known that I only share genes with my mother, not with my father. The other half of my lineage has since been represented by a sperm donor code and a certain amount of secrecy...Following a photographic study of my immediate family, I discovered a half sister. We corresponded and together discovered the identity of our donor.
Kevin's entry represents five different approaches to the subject of his identity, but the projects are best seen in full series, or in the case of Blue Eyes Run in the Family, in book form. This is because every image in his entry has a story behind it. The diptych above, for example, shows a pixelated portrait of Kevin's biological father (left) and Kevin (right). Kevin obtained access to anonymous records about his biological father and then used a high school yearbook and signature to find his name. A search on Google Images revealed a tiny portrait of the man who he discovered is his biological father. Kevin then photographed himself in the same exact style and paired the two images. The image, Howard and Kevin, speaks about Kevin's longing to know his father, the disconnect between the two, and the technologies that have allowed them to exist apart and later find each other.
Donation, November 26, 2009 by Kevin C. Moore
Kevin has also documented his process of becoming a sperm donor himself. In some ways, his identity—and the work he built around it—has come full circle.
The decision to become a sperm donor led Kevin to create other series, such as She Has Her Father's Eyes. In these images, Kevin takes photographs of "unknown" girls and Photoshops his own eyes onto them. "In as little as 18 years from now I could be contacted by a child created from my donated sperm. Perhaps it will be a girl, my first daughter," he writes. These images in particular evoked a strong reaction for me and brought to mind the the legal and ethical gray-area of relationships between donors, parents, and children. While Kevin's work is highly personal, the emotions that it stirs and issues it brings up are increasingly universal.
You can view more work, including the full series mentioned above, at Kevin's website.
Untitled #2, March, 2009 by Kevin C. Moore