Hilarious Passport Photos by Max Siedentopf

It’s hard to imagine anything zany or fun about getting your passport photo taken. Frankly, it’s more of a criminal mugshot experience than an encounter with the absurd. But that all changes when you take an artist like Max Siedentopf and get him to think about what could possibly be going on below the neck while you sit un-smiling, staring dead ahead at the camera.

To start with, the London based photographer asked himself, is it even possible to explore self-expression within such limited photographic confines?

“Passport Photos, looks at one of the most mundane and unexciting types of photography,” said Siedentopf. “Heavily restricted and regulated, the official passport photo requirements include that the subject needs to face the camera straight on, needs a clear background without shadow, no glare on glasses and most importantly; no smile.”

Not unlike the newsreader dressed in a suit jacket, shirt and tie while their lower half, below the desk, is decked out in speedos and thongs, Passport Photos series explores the different ideas possible when you let your mind run riot.

A bearded man with a deadpan face, stares at the camera. The next photograph pans out to show a full body shot. Here we see he has two vacuum cleaners sucking on each nipple. How he manages to appear so serene is anyone’s guess.

A young blonde woman looks passively at the camera, obeying all the rules of eyes to the front, no smiling, the perfect emotionless passport photograph. Below the neck, it’s something quite different. She’s doing the splits, precariously balanced between two chairs.

“The series tries to challenge these official rules by testing all the things you could be doing while you are taking your official document photo,” explains Siedentopf.

For a photographic process that is so regulated, it’s a breath of fresh air to see where Siedentopf’s imagination has taken him. While one is required to look straight ahead, eyes up and no smiling, it doesn’t mean you can’t be tapped to a wall with gaffa tape while it’s happening.

See other portrait projects on Yellowtrace here.