I've just discovered the work of Matthew Brandt and it clearly reminded me some of the experimentation I've done with photography while in art school.
As a messy person, my hand bag contains forgotten treasures from scattered tobacco to old photographic film. These have lived or rather survived the intense heat of a trip to the Caribbean or the aggressive drum of my washing machine and have left a unique imagery made of distortion and stains. "Happy accidents" as my art school teachers used to call them and that I found in Brandt's latest collection Lakes and Reservoirs.
The connection he builds between what is real and what is visualized seems obvious. It is more than just a picture, Brandt's took the pictures of the lake then plunged it into the own lake water. It is a process he has already used previously when taking his friend in picture, then used the tears to attack the silver film with its salt.
The relation of mirrors and photography: a very standardized almost cliché notion of photography but still very true. A kind of deep set abyss where the flames burn the film.
Aliénor.
