Gathering Materials

Gathering materials: Multiples, Reflections, and Photography

I am creating a new body of work about the act of capturing images and being the spectator/voyeur. This notion has long been present in my work (The Little Spectator and my Mask series) and I am now using multiples of the same image where the model/object/subject appears more than once. Rather than creating my own duplicates, I am interested in the genuine repetition; the act of noticing and collecting multiple copies of photographic images from these old publications.

1958 German Magazine "Klick"

As I have multiple issues of Klick (they are bound together in a hardback volume which was brought back from Berlin, gifted by a friend) I found many versions of the same adverts printed inside. You can see the prints have subtle differences in shade, wear, fade, contrast, etc. This advert of a hand holding the newest camera of the time immediately interested me. Seen nowadays, this gesture would suggest someone holding a mobile phone with their thumb on the menu button of an iPhone...

I have started working with this man's face; removing the red box and adding the pictures of cameras below which were also advertised in the same magazine. I want to create the impression that he is capturing his own reflection on a surface (e.g. car window, shop window) as if he is using an action sampler lens.

1991 Sky Magazine

2007 New Look
Catalogue magazines are a good place to find duplicates. This model was the most featured in New Look USA's 2007 Autumn collection.

1991 / 1992 Arena Magazine.
Objects with reflective qualities

The majority of the material for my work is found in books and magazines bought from charity shops around the UK. I enjoy transforming the material from older publications such as lifestyle magazines which are otherwise easily dismissed or thrown away. I often cut up product adverts in order to express something meaningful from that which speaks solely of materialism and consumerism. It's easy to slice and destroy adverts for cigarettes, alcohol, perfume, cars, watches, or designer dresses. I think I am trying to dilute the excess, in a way.

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