Itek-Craig04
© 1991 Craig Ashby
Photograph
10″ x 10″

Here is the negative of yesterday’s self-portrait of none other than me, Craig Ashby. I love the black and white positives and these purple negatives equally.

The purple negatives make up for the loss in contrast by giving texture. Amazing drips and discolorations. Even wonderful fingerprints like those in the bottom left corner. It’s less a self-portrait and more of an abstract landscape. Sure the figurative element remains, but the focus is on the richness in the organic textures.

And even with an almost monochromatic color scheme the color range is still broad. The almost fluorescent purple behind my eyes and streaming to the back of my head. The pale lilac above it to the almost blood color in the lower right corner. Paired with the texture, the colors make the negatives able to stand on their own.

When the last series finished I debated whether to go with more collage or go another direction. I chose this set because I want to feature a good amount of photography on this site. And this set shows something very different than the other two recent sets. I hope it’s adding another layer of understanding to what I do.