Artist statement: The horizon seen from the coastline of south-coast NSW / Dharawal is the sole intended subject of this photograph. For inhabitants of an island continent, standing on the edge of the continent evokes a multitude of emotions – hope for the future, yearning for the past, excitement for adventure or fear of invasion.
This photograph was made in the surf by using a lens-less pinhole camera, an early form of photographic device based on the camera obscura principles. The long exposure time required by this technique left a blurry impression of the horizon in the distance, contrasted by markings of immediacy and acute physicality made by salt, water and other elements crept into the camera during the exposure. Through my photographic work, I explore interactions between seeing, forgetting, remembering, and imagining and the role photography plays in this process. By imposing a physical boundary between seen and unseen, the horizon often presents itself as a fictitious landscape where ‘unattained realities’ come alive.
Chromogenic prints are printed on paper that has at least three emulsion layers containing invisible dyes and silver salts. Each emulsion layer is sensitive to a different primary colour of light (red, green or blue). The development process converts the hidden dyes to visible colour depending on the amount of light it was exposed to. This type of paper is commonly used to print from colour negatives or digital files to produce a full-colour image. It can also be used to print black-and-white images, giving softer grain and less contrast than gelatin silver prints. Commonly known as c-type prints, chromogenic processing was developed in the 1940s and widely used for colour printing, including for domestic snapshots. While recent years have seen this process accompanied by ink-jet and digital printing technologies, chromogenic printing still remains in use to this day.
