Since the last blog, I have been working on the book draft taking on the feedback given at the peer mentoring and the mentoring sessions with Magali Avezou (Archipelago).
The comments and discussions we had at the peer mentoring session before summer helped me clarifying the aspects I was finding difficult in working with a found set of glass negatives which carry both the history of photography and people and places in the image. As the sense of obligation and responsibility towards this material and the unknown photographer made me feel that I needed some sort of permission to make my own interpretation to the images.
Once I had realized this it became clear that the focus should be on scratches, dust, fingerprints from the past, moulds and the unexpected effects caused by the out of date photographic paper. Based on this I started working on enlargements of different areas on the prints using the photocopier at the local library.
In the enlargements the marks carry equal importance as to the original images on the slides. The more enlarged and cropped, rephotographed and reprinted the original images became fragmented and abstract.
Having previously made some works using the photocopier, I have also rediscovered the beauty of the materiality of the intense surface the toner creates. Personally this became a journey, going in and out of through the surface of glass negatives, it turning into a channel to travel in and out of past and present and to the actual landscape and an imaginary landscape created by fragments of marks, images and the medium I am using.
The 9wk bookbinding course at Bookworks led by Ina Baumeister began at the end of September. In this small class we’ve learned five different types of binding and how to construct the box case with detailed tips and instructions as we went along. This has been such a satisfying process. It has been a wonderful way to keep a balance with the sometimes not so straight forward creative process. Being so used to self learning the skills, this occasion of been taught by an expert has been such a treat.
At the moment I am working towards the last mentoring session with Archipelago in December. I may have found a solution and a possible format for how the images should come together in the book from yet another constructive dialogue we had at this month’s peer mentoring session. It still needs a lot of work and time has been passing so fast but to have a rough dummy for the last mentorship session with archipelago and the book draft ready by the end of funding period is a good incentive.
