The concept of disposable things (unless it’s plastic plates and cutlery) is lost on me. Recycling and reusing have become everyday commodities, and that even applies to our technology. We want something dependable that we can use again and again, even if it costs us a little bit more. The proliferation of inexpensive and hi-tech cameras out there has meant that everyone has forgotten about their disposable cousin and it has also paved the way for an influx of amateur photographers, so when I heard that six photographers were involved in a project using disposable cameras, I was interested to see what they were doing.
One Time Use now showing at K&K Gallery on Broadway in Williamsburg, brings the act of photography back to its roots, by scaling back from modern cameras that for all intents and purposes, take themselves; they leave the image, its focus behind and evidently brings it to the foreground.
The disposable cameras used in the project where all medium exposure, low-resolution and especially un-technical with the photos developed containing grain, haze and distortion.
Each photographer came back with very different images. Some strayed away from their usual visuals (which I had to explore after viewing the outcome of this project) and others kept to the same sort of ideas. Shane Neufeld’s pictures felt like home. He usually takes pictures or landscapes and does mathematical drawings and sketches, which are technically beautiful with everything in place but the pictures he took for this project took a different direction. Some were of construction sites that may have links to his previous works but the ones I liked the most depicted party scenes and young people out and about, a little rough around the edges, which is probably why I was drawn to these images in particular, as they reminded me of nights out in London Town with my friends. Marina Zamalin also took pictures of buildings and construction, which connects to her usual work by way of skylines and cityscapes, however her previous work has been of demure colours, using tones and reflections. It was interesting to see her work in colour.
Anna Moller’s pictures were the most intriging, they stood out from the others. With the disposable camera she was able to produce photos with blurred colours, movement and a vintage feel to them. She uses foreground and background, shadows and light to play with the main focus of the picture, and she was successful in translating this playfulness into a disposable camera. She made the focus of many of her pictures simple objects such as bowls, and turn them into beautiful captured moments.
One Time Use is an exhibition currently on display until the 26th of July at the K&K gallery in Williamsburg on Broadway between Berry and Bedford Ave. The photographers involved are Aaron Binaco, Anna Moller, Daniel Barret, Marc McAndrews, Marina Zamalin and Shane Neufeld. The only time I think to use a disposable camera is when attending one of England’s messy, muddy but overly-enjoyable music festivals; however, now I will look at them in an entirely different way.
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