Photosemasia (2006-2008)
“Meaning in Light” : This project was designed to engage viewers with a consideration of how our photo-historical past is translated and perceived in the light of new digital technologies. Our ever-increasing cultural need for immediate feedback and the fastest digital solution, may place dramatic alterations on how we perceive meaning in photographic images, new and old. Through this exploration of "new" digital technologies that emulate lost or archaic photographic processes, Photosemasia creates a window into the past that may otherwise cease to exist in our collective memories.
BreathPrints Series I & II (5" x 7" Mirror, Film, Microcontroller Circuit with Sensor)
2006-2010
Inspired by an early invention of Sir John Herschel, who developed an imaging technique whereby an image would remain dormant on the paper until the viewer breathed on it. The captured moment would only be visible for a few fleeting seconds until the breath's moisture dissipated.
Similarly, the BreathPrints are only revealed with the viewer's breath, but otherwise appear as a small framed mirror, reminiscent of an early Daguerreotype.
WHYY PBS in Philadelphia, did a short piece on Bambi Gallery where this work last showed in 2011. :50 to 1:50 does an excellent job of explaining how the viewer can interact with these pieces.
Digital Tintypes (10" x 8" toner prints on metal)
2008
The historical photographic process of making tintypes created beautiful objects with their own character and texture, that changed over time. Age, and wear change the image (and perhaps its meaning), in way that translates poorly to contemporary digital images.
The process designed for this series, uses the weaknesses of digital toner printing to exploit similar age and texture. The results transport digital data back to the physical world.
TimeFrames - Digital Magic Lantern Slides
2007
This series was created as a purely digital emulation of the long extinct Magic Lantern Slide format of the late 1800's.This older photographic technology made use of a slow chemical process, which in contrast to contemporary CCD-based digital cameras could take minutes to capture an image. Each TimeFrame shows a compression of up to several minutes, alluding to an aesthetic anomoly rarely seen in contemporary light.
Diminished Landscapes (Hand transfered toy digital-camera images)
2007
This series created a relationship between aesthetic and content as a direct commentary on our relationship with technology. Each image is of an Central Pennsylvania Amish or Mennonite farm, as it is encroached by nearby Philadelphia suburbs.
Each image is captured digitally, and transferred several times, decreasing its presence in the face of the printing technology. This mirrors the diminishing of these idyllic farms created by those avoiding the onslaught of technology.