JPG Magazine: Stories: Photo Essay: Questions I ask Myself about Photography

Questions I ask Myself about Photography

By blue mitchell

22 February 2008

The words decay, destruction, demolish, all come to mind when I think about the act of burning a slide, it's almost sinful...but it appears that I do it anyway. This concept is by no means my idea, in fact there's already a story here on JPG about the process of burning. I first thought of doing this after seeing the Bill Morrison film "Decasia: The State of Decay" in which he splices old deteriorating film stock together with music. It becomes a surreal visual experience...but that's not what this story is about.

In my first year of college I was studying film and was required to take Photography 101. After a year of learning how to load film on a reel, enlarge prints, to use manual functions on a camera, try and wrap my brain around the Zone System and how to irritate my skin by dipping my hands repeatedly into the developer, I had to come up with a final project. I decided the final needed to be shot on 3200 speed film, enlarged and cropped to present the grainiest possible dialog between photographer and viewer, and rejecting the notion that fine detail made a great photo. Of course I really didn't know what I was doing but the results were favorable and I enjoyed the contrast and atmospheric quality of the final prints. Subsequently, I received an A and switched majors to Photography.

I decided soon after that year that degrading my imagery – by scratching negatives, drawing on prints, or reticulating film in development, etc – would ultimately give me the means to treat my photography more like painting.

Now, I'm even more obsessed with this concept of being able to see the artist hand in photography. In straight shooting I often find myself wanting more, so like other photographers, I try new things to convey the feeling I have when shooting. Sunsets can be quite awe inspiring when you are watching them, and photographing them, but often they lack the other parts of the full experience (i.e. temperature, sounds, humidity, etc). That's when I find myself wanting more. The two-dimensionality of the photographic print does not allow for the representation of the true environment, so I use symbolism as a stand in, or instead I'll use a method of post-processing that will at least present the mood of the experience a little better. Photography, for me, is as much about the process as it is about the final product. When I investigate an appealing painting, I try to get close and see the brush strokes or pallet knife marks – these elements tell as much about the painting as the imagery does. Are the marks long and smooth or short and furious? Are the colors muted or saturated? Is the texture earthy or mechanical? How does it make me feel? What was the intention of the artist – impossible to guess, but I ask the question anyway?

These are the same questions I ask myself about photography – mine or yours –and it is the main motivation to burn these precious transparencies. To turn them into something unpredictable, something that transcends reality, and mostly, a way for me to touch the sky...even if it is with a lighter.