My focus on the photographic medium is not specifically concerned with capturing a “concrete” reality. I often use photography to explores the relationship between what is visible and non-visible.

 

When I began to work on the Dare alla Luce series, I initially responded to a collection of vintage photographs, retrieved from a variety of sources. Through hand-manipulated interventions, I perforate the photographs and subsequently re-photograph them to instigate an oscillation between what is present and absent. Through my processes I address the fragile quality of the photographic object but also, the fragility of our lives and our history.

 

By employing the tools of photography, I “re-use” light, allowing it to shine through the holes. In a playful and yet, literal manner, I return the subjects of the photographs back to the light, while simultaneously bringing them forward. I play with the light and use it metaphorically allowing for new readings, sometimes through heavy-handed applications and at other times delicately. The images are permanently altered; they are lost and reborn, hence the title, Dare alla Luce, an Italian term meaning, “to bring to the light” in reference to birth.

 

The title of each piece is significant; some titles were taken directly from the notations found written on the photographs, yet those without any indication of provenance were titled to reference the nuances of photography as a medium and the manner in which we interact with these images.

 

Through this project I began to “lie” about the titles, fabricating new identities and histories as a means of questioning the value of what is lost. I engaged with each image and become increasingly aware of the weight each photograph carries, whether factual or not.