kathryn b

Next April 4 Highlight Gallery will present Water & Polaroid, a solo exhibition by Matthew Brandt until next May 18, 2013. Into the post you can also find Lakes and Reservoirs, a previous series from 2011 which follows the same experimental process in connection with water from lakes.

“For Water & Polaroid, Matthew Brandt presents three bodies of work based on the manipulation of photographic emulsion. To create the works in the exhibition that involve Water, inspired by early landscape photography of the American West, Brandt incorporates the subject of the image into its manipulation. At its most elaborate, Brandt’s process involves using water from an actual waterfall he has photographed to rig an artificial waterfall that pours over the printed image, creating streaks of color that drip from the emulsion. At its most direct, he soaks prints in water drawn from their subject lakes.

Nymph Lake, one piece from Brandt’s Lakes and Reservoirs series, demonstrates this process. Out in the field, Brandt takes with him two key tools: a camera and a five-gallon plastic jug. “The camera is to take an image of the lake or reservoir, while the jugs are to take some of the actual lake,” he explains. Upon return to his studio, Brandt prints selected images, then empties the collected water into a large tray and submerges the C-print of the lake directly into itself. Finally, he waits, as the water in the image slowly breaks down the image itself over the course days, weeks, or even months.” [via Highlight Gallery]