The Photograph as Contemporary Art: Chapter 8 Response

   Chapter 8, 'Physical and Material', explores the idea of works that rely on their medium itself in order to push a narrative or highlight the physical properties of the art itself. In terms of photography, this can manifest itself in making deliberate choices to shoot on film or incorporate photographs into a larger installation. Considering the availability and popularity of image taking today, the conscious decision to use older analogue techniques or elevate the physical image beyond the single frame is one that holds significance in the artistic process. Along with this, the democratization of publishing photography has resulted in innovative ways of presenting and distributing photography to the world.

   One such photographer who has innovated the way that their photographs are viewed is Jason Evans with his NYLPT project. While Evans' works is available as a printed book, it is also available as an app for your smartphone. The app uses a randomized algorithm that displays a sequence of photographs that are accompanied with procedurally-generated sounds that are similar to the music Evans listened to while taking the photos. The randomness and unpredictability of this way of showing photographs lends itself to the nature of street photography, but it also creates an experience for the viewer that gives one a glimpse into the mind of the artist (particularly at the point of taking the photographs). Evans' work inspires me not only in the aesthetic of his double exposure street photographs, but in the innovation and imagination required to create something new in an art world that seems to have seen it all.