Thursday, June 12, 2008
Lost in Faux
One of the interesting aspects of technology is that it pushes forward technically but looks back decoratively. As digital cameras have become more robust, with some photographers using the detail now possible to produce high def images by aggregating bracketed exposures for super duper high def, others have tried to aestheticize with faux painterliness. The grunge photos often seen, the old cameras used with bad lenses to imitate atmospheric effects from 19th century paintings, the effort to imitate degraded emulsions for texture, and the tricks a machine can play with light — time lapse.
This photographer takes time-lapse photos into that “painterly” realm — an interesting gimmick — one-eyed liars was a name given to photography in art school years ago. Photography gives the facts but not the truth.
The photo linked to looks like the dark fume that inhabits that sad little island inhabited by confused bipeds in Lost.