This work is a continuation of my exploration of the transitional and disregarded; the unnoticed and commonplace. The twelve images in this series are direct scans of cooking sheets and baking pans using a flatbed scanner.
I am not trying to replicate what the human eye can see. The scanning process combines thousands of images captured as a lens and light source move past the subject to create a complex perspective that is presented in a single image which could not be duplicated by the human eye. Like my "subtext" series, these images are framed sections, abstract moments. They let us see the depth of texture created by an ordinary human process. These common everyday tools change as they are used. They remind us that we have an impact on our world and that we have the power to change many things in many ways. The images provide a fixed record of a visual exploration as well as food for thought.
The exploration begins during the preview scan and subsequent adjustments to the scanning process. A large calibrated monitor can be used with a direct scan for the entire process but the flexibility of a hand held digital camera is lost. The data captured is far denser than a digital camera's and allows wider latitude for adjustments. The technical palette of image editing software allows me to make individual adjustments in a single pixel's definition and broad changes using complex algorithms to bring out detail and color. Thousands of changes are made in each image until it reflects my personal vision.
This series was completed in June 2003. Prints are individually made when requested using high resolution archival pigment and paper. Each pigment print is inspected, signed, and dated with the month and year in which the print was made.
Names used in this series and the subtext series are not an indication of intent. They are reference points, verbalizations of a single visual element or one thought the image may suggest.
