Description

A consumer point-and-shoot camera (a "TL.168," wide/tele switchable, flash on/off) is modified to reverse the basic mechanics of photography: instead of a lens admitting light to record an image, the camera's own flash becomes the active element, firing as a projection device rather than a capture device. The work documented here shows the camera's flash lit and held, glowing rather than exposing.

Concept

Photography depends on a brief admission of light to fix an instant. Focus Free strips that function away — the camera "projects images for only a glimpse of a second" instead of recording them, removing its traditional capacity to freeze a moment and replacing it with a flash that produces light without producing a photograph. The piece was documented on vvork.com's artist archive (mirrored on Rhizome's ArtBase) under the photo-camera tag.

Exhibition History

P74 Centre and Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia. [Date relative to the 2007 OHO Award to be confirmed — the work predates the award by the listed 2005/06 date, so it may have been shown independently or revisited during the award exhibition.]