project : Black Box
description :
This project is motivated by the scientific photography of Harold Edgerton
and Berenice Abbot. I had considered their images to be "scientific",
or "truthful" renditions of nature. I hardly questioned their
construction and understood their aesthetic to be reflective of natural
patterns. I learned, however, that certain images required hundreds of
exposures to fulfill their ideal of nature. Edgerton's photography fits
within the context of the history of photography and science as an extension
of human vision in a Western belief system marked by domination over time
and space.
The scientific lab bench, like the artist's studio, is a highly controlled
theater for the discovery and creation of results. In the process of re-staging
typical Edgerton images i began to introduce the process into the domestic
sphere. Here I could conflate the process of scientific discovery with
domestic mishap.
The images are carefully assembled so that the means of construction are readily visible. But the various props, tape and fishing line are not so prominent as todestroy the tromp d'oeuil that one desires in photographic surfaces.
All images are large format (4x5) color prints.
"Ping Pong Balls II"
"Shooting
Three Balloons"
