On photography and memory
The current Project has been one of the awarded with the XI Prêmio Marc Ferrez from Funarte which shows and stimulates reflection and artistic production in the area of research, experimentation and creation in photographic language;
My research uses image deterioration as a means to confront and question how trustworthy photography might be taken as a representation of reality as well as a guardian of memory. It seems that similarly to our memory, which fades away thus losing its colors and becoming modified as time goes by, also photography loses its sharpness and reliability once we realize the possibility of adulteration and the change in the way we read photography (such as when we do not know whose relative was photographed in a distant past and the only reference which has was given by and a grandparent or another elderly relative has gotten lost, or when we see someone already deceased being shown on television making remarks on current issues)
In my opinion, those Technologies are still, occasionally antagonistic and different, in terms of production and language.
Considering photographic practice, there has been a revolution in the way it is performed and that revolution has happened over a very short period of time. The once analogical photography has been replaced by virtual and electronic procedures based on binary language. Most of the old tasks have disappeared or been modified at a very fast pace. Thinking about photography nowadays brings out several dilemmas, which requires learning the new language and adapting yourself as an analogical photographer who migrated to the digital process.
Considering the association of an image to what is real, one may infer that photography no longer represents a fragment of reality and more often than not it will provide no clue as to inform us about the date of its production. Which space is to be occupied by photography in a time when even inexistant people might be easily created? How can we tell what is and what is not true?
The following photos were created through the use of a scanner and color negative film exposed not long ago. I take advantage of the noise caused by time to the photos together with some peculiarities that arise from the digital capture, highlighting spots and modifying the original colors already harmed by fungi, film-holder marks and chemical deterioration.
