I feel that a strong path that I will take with this project will involve distortion of imagery. There is plenty of room to create and experiment and I feel that it will lead to some quite unique images. I feel the they ways that I am working a far from conventional photography but instead are starting to ask question about photography and how we seem images as a hole.
One of my favourite images in terms of its relevance in contemporary life is “Bliss” (the Microsoft background). Its importance comes from the fact that it is a top contender for being the most seen image ever. Yet when we talk about photography as an icon something so banal as a desktop background seems far from the epic adventures of Walker Evans or the photojournalism work of Jeff Widener. Instead this image aims to provide a calming picturesque scene, forming a quaint background over anything else. The images notoriety has transformed itself into signifier pointing to Microsoft and we automatically acknowledge being behind a commuter screen when we see the image.
I wanted to distort this image in a way that reviled some sort of bigger picture to represent the way this image is recognised around the world. This image has a connection with so many different people around the world, but how does it impact their idea of bliss? how does it change their vision of the picturesque? how does it transform their engagement with their personal computer?
I expanded the canvas and painted in a strange new landscape that added curious textures and tones. As the image expands we see more and more of it digital contortion within the file. It creates a graphic form that the audience is very aware of. As the distorted image reaches out it become more and more alienated from the real just as the original image’s reach is alienated the further it gets from Napa Valley via Silicon Valley, California.
