20th Century Plastics 1630

Description

Artist Statement:

20th Century Plastics is a series of photographs that document a number of damaged large format transparencies. For nearly three decades I was a commercial food photographer and was commissioned by many editorial and advertising clients to collaborate on projects. I shot these assignments with an 8 x10” or 4 x 5” camera using transparency film, the industry standard at the time. As time passed these relics piled up in my studio and desperately needed a place to be stored. Sadly, a damp garage was not the ideal solution. Over time, forces of nature overpowered these fragile materials and the vibrant dyes once fixed in plastic now freely comingle, leaving behind formless stains. The plastic sleeves once used to protect them take on the traces and imprints of the contents they once held. Upon discovering their tragic fate, I placed them on a light box and re-photographed them using a medium format digital camera, turning the medium back on itself.

Embedded in our expectations of the medium is its ability to halt and preserve time. Clearly this notion is misplaced yet another kind of beauty can emerge from its destruction.