The 60 Year Project

The 60 Year Project consists of 60 images representing 60 moments over 60 years. These images selected from my family or personal archive for each year of my life undergo a series of processes that strip away the details leaving the essence of the moment. 60 years ago, I lay in a crib while my mother watched over me. I don’t remember this moment, but a photograph tells me it happened. Our lives are a multitude of moments experienced, remembered, and forgotten. What is gained and what is lost? Time passes but do we notice. For this series, I began by selecting a single photograph for each year of my life from my family and personal photos. I then created a black and white digital drawing of each photograph using Adobe Illustrator. The figures and their context were drawn as silhouettes, removing any non-essential details. The digital drawings were then printed using a wet collodion process to create tintypes. Invented in 1853, tintypes yield a low tonal range and often produces unexpected artifacts. I scanned the tintypes and then digitally printed the final images on metal. Each step of my process is crucial both conceptually and aesthetically. In the drawing process, I retrace the lines of the image revisiting a moment that has happened and passed. Printing the images as tintypes speaks to the element of time and memory, something that once was and is no longer. The scanning and printing of the images on metal allows me to present the work in a larger format.