This photograph by Glenn Sloggett shows a close up view of red roses growing in a suburban street. While at first the image appears to represent a picturesque garden scene, on closer inspection it becomes clear that these suburban roses are riddled with disease. This work is from Sloggett’s series Filthy – a white trash (lost) love story. The series is typical of Sloggett’s practice in that it explores the human themes of life, death, love, success and failure through the depiction of dilapidated suburban settings. Sloggett uses photography to hone in on the often overlooked details of everyday suburbia. He turns his lens to suburban streets, shopping strips, public parks, cemeteries and domestic spaces, imbuing his images with hints of humour, irony, sadness and hope. While Sloggett’s images are devoid of actual people, they speak of the lives of ordinary human beings, of broken dreams and the tragic comedy of human endeavour and ambition.
(2020)
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.
