Studio views of one of many new collages from the last few weeks (collage seems to be the best term for this, but it sure doesn’t look like what I picture as a collage). The working title of the collection of works is “Unfixed Machine.” I documented all the collages, 15 in total, and quickly returned them to their light-proof container since continued exposure to light will alter their appearance.
In the first image, “Meditation Shop,” the same retail shop window in Alnwick, England has been captured four years apart, printed locally in MN by Walmart Photo, and affixed to expired, fogged Kodak gelatin silver paper I acquired from the darkroom of a deceased, longtime hobbyist photographer in Saint Cloud. Time could be “the” perennial subject of photography no matter the subject depicted in an image, and I’ve long struggled with how to communicate/remind us of this without plainly stating it. This statement obviously helps, but how to hint at it otherwise? Four years of time exists between the two machine prints while the gelatin silver paper is decades older and will continue to absorb light and change forever, more or less. This collage will not look like this after today. The machine prints will stay relatively the same, but their surroundings, by comparison, will undergo dramatic change. I really love working with fogged gelatin silver paper; it’s both alive and dead. Alive because it’s organic and light sensitive and dead because it can’t be used for its intended purpose in the darkroom. Overall dimension is 16” x 20”.
The following images are two pictures of the same oak log photographed from opposite angles and collaged on 14” x 11” paper.
Lastly, a collage of a rogue maple tree growing through my fence whose leaves are turning. Overall dimension is 14” x 11”.
