Double horizons : shifting figure and ground in some Australian photography

This paper outlines a practice as research investigation into the construction and representation of the figure and the ground in photography through overlapping multiple temporal and spatial renderings of the same subject within single photographic images.

This included a critical investigation of the representation of time, perspective, and location in historical and contemporary photography with particular attention to the synthesis, imitation, and distinction of characteristics of human vision in this medium especially where they are indicative of consciousness and attention.

This investigation informed a re-evaluation of the premises of the genre of the photographic portrait and it’s setting, especially within the unstructured environment of the Central Victorian ironbark forests and goldfields. Analogue and digital photographic experiments were conducted in superimposed shifts in camera position and their convergence on significant points of focus through repeated exposures across different time scales. The images correspond to a stage in human stereo perception before fusion, to represent the attention of the viewer, where, in these images, the ‘portrait’ is located.

The findings were applied to the large format camera production of high-definition images that extended the range and effectiveness of selected pictorial structures such as selective focus, relative scale, superimposition, multiple exposures and interference patterns.

The outcome was an exhibition at Smrynios Gallery in Melbourne in April 2004. This presentation includes a discussion of relevant work by Australian practitioners Daniel Crooks and David Stephenson.