Entangled
since 2014
Entangled delves into the intertwined histories of botany and photography to reflect on some of the fundamental processes that create life on our planet. The series depicts plant seedlings which I am raising specifically for this project since 2014. Showing the very beginning of plant life my photographs focus on the miraculous moment when the seed’s dormant energy turns into a new growth spurt, an existential moment when life is incredibly forceful and exposed at the same time.
For this work I translate digitally captured and manipulated files into salt prints. Salt printing constitutes on of the oldest photographic processes that was presented in 1839 by Henry Fox Talbot (a keen botanist himself). He called his process ‘photogenic drawing' and it was perceived as a hybrid of art and science placed between nature and culture. Merging the past and present of photography I have created a hybrid workflow. I use a digital capture my images and manipulate my files in Photoshop to arrive at a digitally printed contact negative. Up to this point, the work on my computer is predictable and repeatable, the digital parameters allow for complete control. All this changes when I move into salt printing. Now I am working analogue and I use one of the oldest, most fickle, and frustrating printing processes in photography. Chance, as much as I try to eliminate it, begins to play a role. Now I am working with organic matter, every time I make a print, the analogue parameters slightly change.
The use of historical photographic processes has turned my studio into an alchemist’s laboratory, and I use common ingredients such as salt, vinegar, tea, and bee’s wax. Related processes run through my work, from gardening to printing and framing. Plants and photography both rely on photochemical reactions; organic matter is my subject matter and my medium. I use tannins to tone my prints and stain my frames; bee’s wax makes paper negatives translucent and finishes my hand made frames.
Blurring the line between systematic documentation and artistic interpretation Entangled not only illustrates photography’s oscillation between science and art, but also hints at our own ambiguous relationship with the non-human world, which is rational and emotional at the same time. It is this complex relationship we have to come to terms with, for our sake and for the sake of so many others who are born into this world with us.
For this work I translate digitally captured and manipulated files into salt prints. Salt printing constitutes on of the oldest photographic processes that was presented in 1839 by Henry Fox Talbot (a keen botanist himself). He called his process ‘photogenic drawing' and it was perceived as a hybrid of art and science placed between nature and culture. Merging the past and present of photography I have created a hybrid workflow. I use a digital capture my images and manipulate my files in Photoshop to arrive at a digitally printed contact negative. Up to this point, the work on my computer is predictable and repeatable, the digital parameters allow for complete control. All this changes when I move into salt printing. Now I am working analogue and I use one of the oldest, most fickle, and frustrating printing processes in photography. Chance, as much as I try to eliminate it, begins to play a role. Now I am working with organic matter, every time I make a print, the analogue parameters slightly change.
The use of historical photographic processes has turned my studio into an alchemist’s laboratory, and I use common ingredients such as salt, vinegar, tea, and bee’s wax. Related processes run through my work, from gardening to printing and framing. Plants and photography both rely on photochemical reactions; organic matter is my subject matter and my medium. I use tannins to tone my prints and stain my frames; bee’s wax makes paper negatives translucent and finishes my hand made frames.
Blurring the line between systematic documentation and artistic interpretation Entangled not only illustrates photography’s oscillation between science and art, but also hints at our own ambiguous relationship with the non-human world, which is rational and emotional at the same time. It is this complex relationship we have to come to terms with, for our sake and for the sake of so many others who are born into this world with us.