Jindagaa [ancestor]: at the fall of night2021
Artist statement: ‘Jindagaa [ancestor]: at the fall of night’ is symbolic of continuing Aboriginal presence in Country through ancestors and jindagaa, through people and language. Combining visible light and infrared photographs from the rainforests and gullies with running water (jarrga) of Ngadjon and Jirrbal people’s Country of Northern Queensland, the image transmutes the invisible and makes the intangible visible. The work reveals a hidden – perhaps forbidden – dimension of the environment, heightening our relationship to the natural world and its mystery. The landscape is a space where something has happened, is happening, or is going to happen; an unfolding dimension linked to the everywhen of Dreaming, a place whose beauty conceals complex layers of history, story, and experience.
daniemellor.com
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.
