Photography, 1975 to 1990

 

My approach to photography was free from technical considerations, and I worked with the simplest of tools, shooting mostly in daylight. I took photographs wherever I went, using either a 35mm or my favorite 1939 Brownie camera, regarding the images as raw material for further development. It was an additive process, with the pictures frequently completed in juxtaposition with another, or by altering with drawing, cutting or collage.

 

The subject matter is usually an intimate moment, a symbolic act or an ordinary scene that resonates with multiple interpretations. I also appropriated imagery from art history and other sources to complete my ideas.

 

Many of the photographs were reduced and printed the size of postage stamps, becoming multiple images in perforated grids. The resulting “photo stamps” are combined in small compositions to create visual narratives. The miniature scale encourages intimacy. Elaborating on the idea of stamps, the prints are sometimes canceled with various personal imprints, mimicking postal cancellations.

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Sas Colby 2018