This (a selfie) (2020)

Installation view. Inkjet prints, pigment inks on gloss photo paper. 545 prints at 65mm x 140mm.

This (a selfie)

The launch of the first camera phone in 1999 started a dramatic shift in the use of photography. Different types of photographs emerged as the camera became ubiquitous, the most apparent type being the ‘selfie’. This work explores a new category of images. Instead of recording something for posterity so that it can be looked back upon or shared, these images are made with a singular use. All of the photographs formed part of a conversation, usually via text message, and were used to let the recipient know what I was seeing. They were made with no regard for aesthetics, composition, lighting, or even focus. As photographs, their function only exists within the conversation they are being used; beyond that, they become meaningless and banal. However, collectively they reveal more about me than and less about the object or location photographed.