Referent 2005-2008
I am interested in the family snapshot as a physical and metaphorical thing, a piece of paper that transcends all other pieces of paper—a reliquary of memory, hope, and utopian dreams. Specifically, it is the discarded family snapshot, a photograph that has been tossed aside because it does not meet expectations or cultural demands for legibility that intrigues me. In our desire to understand our failed attempt at making a record we often overlook the resultant poetry. We miss what lies beyond our intended subject—the clarity and scale of the subject, the age and deterioration of the paper, etc., which depending on degree and the passing of time, will cause the photograph to be deemed acceptable or unacceptable—or another way to think of it is, our initial mistakes and the mistakes of time.
I look to redefine and reinvent the performative space of the family snapshot and draw attention to its greater mysteries by interacting with the image and the physical piece of paper on which the image is printed. I do this through a method of mark making that interjects my personal flaws into both the paper and the image. I look at the content and then work into the photograph stressing the physicality of the medium. I scratch, bend, and mark the original photograph, and then rephotograph a small section of the manipulated imagearea stressing the breakdown of the physical surface and my interaction. I continue to alter the image in digital form manipulating color, density, and format. In short, the found photograph allows me an opportunity to play with the interaction of drawing and photography, reality and remembrance, original intent and the realization that time is taking its toll.