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Inside the Psyche -

Freud
believed the psyche consists of three parts. The id strives to express our
primitive impulses. The superego upholds the rules and morals of society. The
ego tries to mediate between the two.

Inside the Psyche proved to be the perfect opportunity for an image
involving clones. Because the id, ego, and superego are all parts of an
individual’s personality structure, it made perfect sense to have the
same person (me) portray each one. Attempting to recreate Freud’s concept
of how they interact with each other, I struck a tense and angry pose for the
id, an upright and preachy posture for the superego, and then placed the ego in
between the two as it attempts to assuage both of them.

Several symbolic elements were added to
enhance the meaning of the image. The id wears black and clutches a red pillow
to represent how its primitive sexual and aggressive energies reside with the
realm of the unconscious. A white shirt captures the superego’s quest for
what is good and pure according to the conventions of society. Wearing a gray
shirt as well as eyeglasses, the ego attempts a rationale compromise between
the two. To create some visual continuity, to capture the fact that id, ego,
and superego all belong to the same intrapsychic
fabric, and to avoid excessive wardrobe changes, I had all three wear the same
pair of jeans. Although I didn’t plan this aspect of the shot, I like how
the ego seems to sink into the couch, as if exhausted by its efforts as a
peacemaker.

The three parts of the couch and the
pattern of three's in the background details create a tiny measure of visual
rhythm while reinforcing the idea of the tripartite structure of the psyche.

Clone shots are most interesting when the
clones interact, as opposed to simply being alongside each other in the image.
Because they are facing off, the strongest psychological line in this image is
between the id and superego, which is consistent with the idea that they often
clash due to their opposing objectives. With the id’s eyes squinting
angrily while the superego’s eyes flutter with self-righteous
pretentiousness, I was able to conceal any possible mismatch in their eye
contact, which would have been a clue giving away the fact that the image was
created by cutting and pasting.  Overlapping the ego’s hands with
the bodies of the id and superego also adds some realism to the image, as opposed
to images where the clones are pasted into separated areas.

Inconsistent shadows result in clone
images that look unrealistic. Here diffuse light from a window on the right and
a lamp on the left created an unproblematic, even illumination. Those light
sources may not be obvious given the fact that I added some vignetting
to create a “closed in” feeling, symbolic of the intrapsychic world. The black frame with an inner glow
enhanced that effect, as if we are looking down into this scene.

Here are
some other examples: