Art is so broad and artists' imaginations are so vast that there are practically no limits to creation. I am always amazed to see or be part of new techniques for creating and bringing art to life, and that fascinates me.
Photography itself is art, good photography where quality, effort, focus and attention to detail are involved. And that same photograph can become something else. I saw this again, as I have so many times before, at an art exhibition I recently attended.
Although I go to many photography exhibitions where the sequences, the captures of life, moments and history are evident, on this occasion it was the technique that stood out, and by far.
When I entered the room, I realised it was a photography exhibition, but I had no idea how it had all been done to create such beautiful strangeness. It was too original and novel. It is entitled ‘The Sauna Odyssey’ and I never suspected that the title revealed the technique used to create the works. The artist is Kenneth Bamberg, a Finnish artist and photographer who has created these wonders with instant photos.
Looking at the exhibition and the signs placed near the works, I realised that the artist had left some instant photographs in a sauna and the heat had altered them. It was something I had never heard of before. Then, from a photograph altered in that environment, he takes new photographs, but in a different way.
All the works have a small sign next to them that reads: Oak frame, pigment print mounted on aluminium, museum glass, and the works measure 133 x 115 cm.
The artist takes the new photographs in a studio and in a dark environment, and those with gold frames are because those photographs evoke fond, golden memories, although all of them generally represent memories.
If you look closely and enlarge the photographs, you can see landscapes, trees, a house, buildings, all of which are memories for the artist, and I imagine they were important moments for him. This is what I was able to find out about the exhibition and the author.
This exhibition makes me think about the evocation of memories that are often captured in photographs, from childhood, adolescence and important moments, photographs of family members, people we love, some of whom may no longer be with us, but who will always be in our hearts and in the photographs we keep.
Looking at the surroundings of the room, I also thought about what an original way to portray certain experiences. The artist took an event that happened to him in the past, such as leaving some photographs in a sauna and then finding them altered, and used it to create art. This is how imagination and creativity work, and that is fantastic.
In one corner of the room were the original snapshots, modified by the technique, and it was very nice to see the beginning of the process that led the artist to his creation. Like the process of life, which is often enjoyed more than reaching the goal, or so it should be, enjoying each step, each step being important.
I loved being present at this exhibition and seeing this creative and original mind. Thank you all very much for joining me today, I wish you a very good Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
