My friend Mike Miller is one of the most talented people I know.  

We first met in 2014 when I interviewed him for a video I was shooting for a client. He was such a natural in front of the camera that a year later I asked him to audition for my short narrative film Dark As Night, which was part one of a trilogy I was producing. He was perfect for the part of Ryder, one of the main characters. In fact, his performance was so convincing, I cast him as the lead in part two: A Free Man. Unfortunately, the pandemic cancelled the final film. 

Recently Mike shared some striking photographs with me. His series of masked self-portraits are as powerful as they are otherworldly. Mike not only has the eye of an artist, but the courage to explore his own nature as the central theme of his work. 

When I asked Mike what the masks meant to him, he told me he has been fascinated by masks since childhood. “I’ve always covered my face a lot even when I was younger,” he said. “Maybe I think it will hide the other side of me. Or maybe it’s a way to let people know I have another side without letting it out.”

Mike Miller’s most recent images chart new territory for the photographer. With the exception of Him shown above, the masked figures are depicted in dark interiors penetrated by splinters of light from the rising sun like Castoff below.

At first glance, MIller’s masked figures may appear threatening—well, maybe at second and third glances, too—but there is also a profound sense of isolation reminiscent of Mary Shelley’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster as an unwilling outcast— belonging neither to the living nor the dead, condemned to remain alone and misunderstood in the world.

The masked figure in First Light below leans tentatively against the windowsill. He appears overcome by the streaming sunlight, his right arm hidden under his left, his hand clenched in a fist, as if he were in pain.

Miller composes his pictures like a set designer. Location and time of day are important.

Even the masked figures are simply props in the final photograph like Quasimodo Redux below. The masked figure looks menacingly down from the banister as the sun bursts into the space washing everything in white light.

Mike Miller is on a journey of self-discovery. These new images may evoke our worst nightmares, but they speak volumes about the human condition in the twenty-first century.

Mike’s first one person exhibit ran from March 10 - May 16 2023. For more information see Exhibitions

Stephen Newton is a writer and filmmaker. For more, visit stephenanewton.com