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A collaboration between photographers Al Brydon and J. M. Golding, Tales from a Non-Existent Land, is being featured on the Ilford Photo online magazine.
The project is fascinating; each expose a roll of film in a plastic Holga
camera, send it to the other, and re-expose it - not knowing what is
already present in the latent image. A perfect example of what John Cage described as "Chance Operation" in music.
photo by
Golding
describes the process as, "The random magic of two unconscious
processes and two Holgas." The results are quite astounding.
The
pair started to make this work roughly ten years ago, after a chance
encounter on a photo sharing platform. This led to a mutual appreciation
of each other's work and they found that both saw the potential of the
landscape to resonate with inner experience and make it visible.
Both photographers were using a camera called a Holga; an incredibly simple plastic medium format camera known for its low quality lens which produces a very dreamy aesthetic, frequently including lens flares and vignetting. These image characteristics, and the simplicity of this lo-fi process of making images, attracted each of them to using it in the first place.
Both photographers were using a camera called a Holga; an incredibly simple plastic medium format camera known for its low quality lens which produces a very dreamy aesthetic, frequently including lens flares and vignetting. These image characteristics, and the simplicity of this lo-fi process of making images, attracted each of them to using it in the first place.
Each
start with one roll of film and expose the roll as normal. Then the
film is rewound and the exposed roll is sent to the other. Each then
re-exposes the film through their own cameras, creating a double
exposure. Golding is based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California while Brydon is based in the North of the UK; he is also a co-founder of the Inside the Outside collective (link below).
They
never plan the photographs, relying on serendipity and knowing each
other’s work. This is likely to influence the exposures they make,
whether or not with conscious intent. Over the years they’ve become
better at predicting what the other might do. Yet there's still a
glorious element of surprise once the films have been
developed.
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