Paul Knight's photographs are informed by his background in commercial photography; they are technically proficient and almost illustrative in their documentary clarity. These cool formal qualities, however, are unsettled by the subject matter, which is often about private desires and passions.
Knight's 2010–11 untitled series of folded photographs show couples embracing in bed. The series extended Knight’s interest in photographing moments of candour and intimacy between lovers, which remains a preoccupation of his practice. However, Knight has folded the sheet on which the photographs are printed, or in some instances brought together two separate, folded sheets. These folds unsettle any expectation we might have about the photograph’s capacity to show or reveal its subject. This works quite literally, since parts of the images cannot be seen – they are folded out of view. But these folds also manifest those aspects of the subject that cannot be seen, such as the interpersonal desires between couples and their shared history.
(2014)
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.
