This photograph is from Modern romance, a series of portraits of men printed on silk scarves. They show men in their domestic surroundings and reflect Walker’s interest in the themes of gender and fashion that are central to her artistic practice. In choosing the silk scarf as textile and garment Walker problematises the connoisseurship of fine art photography, producing an image that may be crushed and folded and yet is intimate and luxurious. Walker’s questioning of masculinity and the relationship between photographer and subject are carried through into this mixing up of subject and media. As a wider series Modern romance pushes the definition of the male portrait further; other scarves are printed with close-up photographs of erect penises. For Walker the work speaks to ‘… the importance of the textile as a feminist trope and the fluidity of the hung print as a challenge to phallocentrism.’
(2019)
Also known as Giclee prints or bubble-jet prints, pigment ink-jet prints are generated by computer printers from digital or scanned files using dye-based or pigment-based inks. A series of nozzles spray tiny droplets of ink onto the paper surface in a precise pattern that corresponds to the digital image file. In dye-based prints the ink soaks into the paper, whereas in pigment-based prints the ink rests and dries on top of the paper surface.
Whilst the term is broad, pigment ink-jet prints have come to be associated with prints produced on fine art papers. They are the most versatile and archival method of printing available to photographers today. A wide variety of material on which an image can be printed with such inks are available, including various textures and finishes such as matte photo paper, watercolour paper, cotton canvas or pre-coated canvas.
