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Tim Lewis - Photography
This series of photographs is an expression of my interests in using a scanner as a camera and in the digital artifacts inherent in image manipulation software. Like other types of cameras, scanners have obvious limitations. In this case they are limited by portability, size, depth of focus, light depth, exposure time, etc. Some of these characteristics can also be an advantage. The ?lens? is the same size as the ?negative? so it is possible to not just have a single point of view but an infinite number within the limits of the scanner size, somewhat like elevation views in architectural drawings. The difference may be subtle for some subjects but important for others. Scanners usually face up so the bottoms of some objects are seen rather than the usual top or side. Unlike most modern cameras a scanner has a slow moving sensor rather than a round shutter. These characteristics give scanner-based images a look that is unique in photography. Traditional cameras, film, and darkroom manipulation are so much a part of photography in everyday life that we seldom see the artifacts left by the tools (especially lenses and film) and processes. All photographic processes have their own artifacts including the color and texture of photo papers, black & white or color saturation, and the overall look of a photograph. Older?processes (now called "alternative") like platinum/palladium, toning, bromoil, Polaroid transfers, and all of the other early processes have their own unique characteristics.?Today?s image manipulation software creates an opportunity to take images to places traditional photography cannot go. Achieving the look of traditional methods of darkroom manipulation like solarization and infrared are still possible digitally and digital techniques can be combined to create hundreds of new, challenging visual ideas.The implications of the scanner?s point of view plus new digital tools provide fresh and interesting ways to observe our world.
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