– Traces & Benches –
“All photographs are traces in that they are caused by their object” (Campany, Art and Photography, 2003, p 25.)
This series was created with this statement in mind – that these photographs are traces of traces.
Roland Barthes in his book Camera Lucida (1980) presented portraits where the photographer could be sensed the least, which in turn presented the subjects as objects themselves. Joseph Kosuth presented an earlier book called One and Three Chairs (1965) where he explored objects and their representations by having a chair, a photo of the chair and its dictionary definition.
Comparing these two books (which looked at people as objects and also objects as objects) got me thinking about the traces associated with the objects.
There are traces associated with all objects but park benches are complex in that they have multiple traces surrounding them. Such as how they are an object that has been intentionally left in a location and how there are physical 'marks' people have left behind on them.
The intention of these photos and the way they are presented is to get the viewer to question what makes a trace; does it need to be visible? Can it simply be knowledge that someone was there? Or perhaps not even knowledge but a sense of presence? Objects on creation instantly have traces associated with them, visible or not. What creates these traces is how the object occupies a persons life, even if it is only for a fleeting moment, then remains behind to occupy another longer after that person is gone.
This series was created with this statement in mind – that these photographs are traces of traces.
Roland Barthes in his book Camera Lucida (1980) presented portraits where the photographer could be sensed the least, which in turn presented the subjects as objects themselves. Joseph Kosuth presented an earlier book called One and Three Chairs (1965) where he explored objects and their representations by having a chair, a photo of the chair and its dictionary definition.
Comparing these two books (which looked at people as objects and also objects as objects) got me thinking about the traces associated with the objects.
There are traces associated with all objects but park benches are complex in that they have multiple traces surrounding them. Such as how they are an object that has been intentionally left in a location and how there are physical 'marks' people have left behind on them.
The intention of these photos and the way they are presented is to get the viewer to question what makes a trace; does it need to be visible? Can it simply be knowledge that someone was there? Or perhaps not even knowledge but a sense of presence? Objects on creation instantly have traces associated with them, visible or not. What creates these traces is how the object occupies a persons life, even if it is only for a fleeting moment, then remains behind to occupy another longer after that person is gone.
– Experimentation –
