One street back

Generally, photography is seen as two dimensional. I am interested in exploring the possibilities of the photograph as a three-dimensional object. Using an inkjet printer and collage techniques I am able to craft works that explore photography within three dimensions. The series of images that I have chosen for Head On are all products of this experimentation and development. The same printing and collage techniques were used to explore aspects involved within the two-dimensional realm. Through the dissection and reconstruction of the photographic image, my project has enabled me to better understand what contributes to a photograph that captures me aesthetically and emotionally. Whether I am basing the experimental image on colour, light and shadow or composition each new work gives me something new to ponder and explore. Finally, the poem works use aspects involved within the printing process for photography, choosing to swap out the camera lens for the scanning bed to capture the images. All of these works were completed within my bedroom during one of the world’s longest lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia.

Limited to a 5km radius and a minimal income during the lockdown, I was very restricted within my creative possibilities. When venturing outside for our allowed exercise time each day, I was often stuck seeing the same streets over and over. Due to this, each photo walk instead became an opportunity to explore my local suburbs and forced me to see them in ways that I hadn’t previously. Back alleys and empty streets started to influence my style and I started looking shooting scenes that represented this gritty, urban, and dirty world that I was finding myself within. Within my limited budget, I started to experiment with my inkjet home printer as a way of bringing my photos into a more tangible form. This process allowed for subject matter that I had found mundane and boring to be something fresh and stimulating. Throughout this three-dimensional process I was also able to understand the photos from a more technical perspective.

I believe photography, in relation to other art forms such as painting, sculpture or music, is still within its infancy. My continuing project is one that uses photography in both a traditional sense but also explores new and exciting possibilities within the artform. I hope to contribute to pushing photography further and allow it to grow in new and exciting directions.