Searching for Magic in Dog Town: a Photographic Journey
(submitted to Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art & Design)
VISUAL ARTS AT AUT Graduating exhibitions — AD15 Festival 12 - 14 November 2015
Henry Talbot, one of the great pioneers of photography, described his new discovery as ‘a little bit of magic realized’. In these days of Instagram and ubiquitous selfies, it is tempting to conclude that such magic was lost long ago, and that the ability to photograph is now an unremarkable facet of everyday life.
This project is an attempt to rekindle some of Talbot’s sense of magic and enchantment. The photographs are made in and around a minor suburban waterway, the Mangaone Stream in Palmerston North, an unsung remnant of a significant ancient wetland.
The cameras that created them are lens free, using zone plates to focus light on film. They lack any precision means of adjustment. They are not programmed for perfection by large corporations, but are subject to serendipity and the vagaries of movement and weather. They have their own worldview and do not necessarily see the world as I see it. The resulting photographs are a collaboration between a human and the participating consciousness of others. They are made from the alchemical transmutation of pockets of time by the action of light on silver.
The photographic plates are hand poured silver gelatin emulsion on glass. This too is an imperfect process. All prints are flawed. All are unique.
This project is an attempt to rekindle some of Talbot’s sense of magic and enchantment. The photographs are made in and around a minor suburban waterway, the Mangaone Stream in Palmerston North, an unsung remnant of a significant ancient wetland.
The cameras that created them are lens free, using zone plates to focus light on film. They lack any precision means of adjustment. They are not programmed for perfection by large corporations, but are subject to serendipity and the vagaries of movement and weather. They have their own worldview and do not necessarily see the world as I see it. The resulting photographs are a collaboration between a human and the participating consciousness of others. They are made from the alchemical transmutation of pockets of time by the action of light on silver.
The photographic plates are hand poured silver gelatin emulsion on glass. This too is an imperfect process. All prints are flawed. All are unique.
