my “new” INSTAX print frame ~ (embiggenable)
(embiggenable)
OVER THE PAST WEEK I HAVE MADE 2 discoveries; a) one of which was hiding in plain sight, and, b) the other was not momentous but it did make me laugh.
RE: b) - this morning, while having my AM coffee and perusing the interweb, I can across an article about a photo exhibit. One of the pictures of the exhibit showed 3 Polaroid pictures mounted on the gallery wall in nifty, small frames. I was intrigued and after looking at the exhibit photo for a bit-cuz I was wondering about the “Polaroid” pictures (were they actually Polaroids)-it stuck me that they were, in fact, INSTAX Mini prints.
First thought: delight in seeing those prints hanging in a high-end gallery exhibit. Second thought (the laughter): the nifty frames are empty INSTAX film packs. The laughing part derived from the fact that, after a lot of time spent trying to find inexpensive, readily available frames for INSTAX Mini prints-without success-I have been inadvertently throwing them away in a fair amount quantity wise….arrrrgh!
RE: a) - I have been a long-time fan of Eugène Atget’s work. In particular, his photographs of French interiors-many of which were made, in his declining years of his apartment interior. Consequently, it occurred to me a couple months ago that I just might have enough interior photographs made in my house to constitute a “serious” body of work.
Lo and behold, after a dew days this week of rummaging around in my photo library, I discovered that I have at least 30 worthy possibilities. And, get this example of pure, dumb luck-it turns out that, through absolutely no conscious effort on my part, all those possibilities were made utilizing the iPhone, full-frame, PORTRAIT mode. And, each and every photograph exhibits an element of a nice, subtle touch of out-of-focus foreground or background. A visual element which, together with a very consistent picture making POV, really helps to tie the photographs together as a cogent body of work.
The body of work, which I have currently labeled simply feeling at home is, if nothing else, a prime example of the idea that one need not venture far and wide in pursuit of the dramatic / spectacular / unusual photo referents in order to make interesting work.