Artist statement: I am a portraitist and have always loved photographing people. However, recently I have started to explore my Asian heritage, travelling frequently to Korea and China. There and here I have photographed people, their things and their environments. Like an ethnographer of sorts, I am interested in the ways in which people present themselves. A camera tends to force an interaction and an encounter. It is a moment where both myself and those I photograph ritually address what it means to be.
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.
