Analog Exposure Artist Statement
The project is not a eulogy for film photography, it is not a story about film photo class at CWRU, it is not in an effort to teach people photography. My project is a documentation of the day to day of teaching film photography in 2023. It must be placed in this time frame, because it seeks to answer the question, what does teaching analog photography look like in 2023?
In a time beyond the dedicated camera, beyond the photosensitive emulsion, why do we choose to step back in time and teach the photography processes of old? Would it not be sufficient to teach the best iphone hacks, and have the student learn with the technology they are already accustomed to? The book, titled Analog Exposure poses these questions, but does not seek to answer them.
The students are not students, the teacher is not a teacher, they are all stand-ins for the viewer. It should not focus on the student as an individual but how a student functions in a college brochure. It says “Look, this could be you, doing this, here at our school” but instead of at our school, it is at ANY school. The project is not an advertisement for the CWRU photography program, but for analog teaching in general. It should inspire the viewer not just to pick up a camera, but to look for a photography class.
The medium of a 8.5” by 11” bound magazine asks the viewer to participate in the analog experience. They must physically interact with the medium in order to engage with the work. Some of the photographs within have been intentionally made in the proportions of the photos made in the class 4.5” by 6.5”. Interspersing black and white photographs with those in color the book begins its narrative. This story will take the viewer on an artistic journey through the class.
My work is situated within the resurgence of film photography in the covid pandemic, and takes inspiration from other documentarian projects. Projects such as Battlefields by Eduardo Pavez-Goye and Flint is Family in Three Acts by Latoya Ruby Friazer.
The target audience is not the most likely to see the work, as it is to be introduced at CWRU. To truly have the characters blend into a set of stand-ins for the viewer, it is advantageous to not know the people depicted. The target audience is anyone who can take the time to pick up a photobook and think about what it means to teach analog photography in our time. My work must primarily be judged by the narrative it creates, not simply as a collection of photos on a theme. Analog Exposure portrays the progression of an introductory analog photography class in the age of instant gratification.
