John Blythe
This work addresses the theme Real/Unreal in its questioning of the authenticity of the analogue image when presented in a digital form. This both transforms the nature and understanding of the image, yet in this case it represents the ultimate survival of the analogue image. In doing so it reflects on the nature of photography in the current digital climate and its digital future.
This work comes from a larger conceptual artwork currently on exhibition at The Old Fire Station in Oxford. The framed works present 4 original Solargraph images captures over a period of approx. 31 days during January and February 2018 in four locations around Abingdon and Oxford.
The original solargraph images (a form of Lumen Print) capture the path of the sun across the sky for the duration of the continuous exposure, but because of their unfixed and unfixable nature, become effectively destroyed the moment they are exposed to light to view. Therefore, the only method of preservation is to scan them. The frames present each original Solargraph next to the scanned copy (digital pigment prints).