DELIRIUM

I contemplated painting as a form of art, for some time, since I have taken up photography, but I suspect that I have neither the patience, nor the technical skills to work with paints and canvas, and I do not have the time to spend on attaining those skills, at present.

Bearing the aforesaid in mind, however, I have always wanted to incorporate some form of painted work into art. The idea that I wrestled with, in this study was to create the equivalent of the ink blotches used in psychiatric practice some times. I wanted to create a study in which each photograph would consist of bold colours and shapes, but would hold within it differing interpretations to each viewer.

Some may experience solitude in some of the photographs, others may experience distress. Some may experience happiness in some of the photographs, while others may experience sadness. Some may experience comfort in some of the photographs, yet others may experience menace.

The study was undertaken in Johannesburg, South Africa. I walked the streets, and in order to get paint for my photographs, sought out graffiti. I actively photographed only small portions of any whole image, to ensure that I did not steal work from any of the very talented graffiti artists that have worked in the city. I then took those small individual portions, which I photographed, and used them in varying multiple exposures to “paint” the images in the study.