Each image is a photographed projection of small still-life created inside my darkroom enlarger. I use a 3D modeling pen and clear plastic filament to create ambiguous subject matter, seemingly skeletal or relic-like, and I pair it with other constructed or found materials to create a sense of atmosphere. This construction is used as my negative.
Having previously created a series of tintype images by placing objects inside my enlarger from which I printed directly rather than using a traditional negative, I found that the enlarger’s intrinsic shallow depth of field intriguing. Using this sculptural negative, the transmission of light through a translucent three-dimensional object transforms the subject in unexpected ways and creates an altered sense of space. Instead of making direct prints, I choose to photograph the projections so that I can alter the point of view and minimize the depth of field even more. The results are images of objects that feel familiar but that can not be placed in a specific context.
To a viewer, these images seem both familiar and ambiguous. I am drawn to the idea of implied history, where images feel like distant memories but hold no truth. I have been exploring this concept for some time, but over the past year I have started to use contemporary materials, such as a 3D modeling pen, to help create images that reference fossils and skeletal remains.
