Alt + Ink - Instagram by Hand...
This project explores how Instagram has changed the way our society interacts with and consumes the photographic image. Photos on the platform are ephemeral pixels that are instantaneously digested and discarded—a rather unsatisfying realization I had after returning from Rome in 2016 with a robust Instagram habit in tow. I wanted to engage with my photos more than just posting them once on Instagram where their life as a photographic experience was already dead. So, I am working to print my Instagram feed as one of a kind hand-crafted photographs, employing a technique that playfully uses both digital and historical photographic tools.
The prints are created by removing the shadow tones from the digital photograph, printing this highly edited photograph—that now consists of just the color seen in the highlights and midtones—onto high quality watercolor paper. The shadow tones are then printed on top of this digital photograph using one of the very first photographic chemicals, Cyanotype or Van Dyke Brown. This time-consuming printing processes relies on both digital and chemical technologies to produce these unique prints. So far, I’ve printed approximately 120 Instagram posts.
Each print is titled with the location, comments and date of the Instagram post; they are editioned based on the number of “likes” received; and signed with either of my two Instagram handles. Please follow my public account @uncc.art.abroad to see more of my travel adventures unfold!
