This is an exploration of digital imaging using the essential elements of the medium: light, shadow, and mathematics (specifically, formal logic). As with a traditional photogram, light is projected onto a target plane, in this case a scanner, to create a collection of source images. I run these images through varous algorithms I've made to produce a random assortment of one thousand images at a time, which I then curate into a collection of ten.
These are constructed entirely in the darkroom without a camera negative, using only light from a color enlarger, and black paper & my hands to mask the photosensitive paper. I selectively develop and and wash the print as I work. Each photogram is exposed between twenty and three hundred times, taking up to three hours to finish the exposures. The photogram is then hand-developed, dried, re-exposed to light, and then mechanically developed. The end result is a unique color reversal image.
I start with a traditional photograph, which I scan and reduce to 40 bits square (4 pixels per inch). I chose the square format based on the original images I used, which were shot on Polaroid 600 and 2 1/4” medium format film. I then use archival pigment ink (meant for digital photographs) to hand-print the images—one bit, one color at a time with a cotton swab (a stock tool of traditional photographers). The resulting object is an amalgam of digital photography and painting.
This series of images was created by interfering in the development process of sheet film. The partial interaction of developer and film emulsion reveals the structure of the film itself and creates images unique to the medium.