Collages, photographic and mixed
Careful, he sees you!
Collages or Composite Images
A composite image, or collage, is a single new image that combines fragments of other images to create a single composition with new meaning. It can be used to tell a story, like pages in a book or like a scroll. However, it can also simply use a juxtaposition of different objects to make a more compelling single image.
The composite above got its start when I saw an empty garden bench in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. The scene was nice enough as it was, but I was struck by thoughts of how often people had sat there over the years. So, I found a stock image of a very generic adult woman reading a book, and added her as a spectral image.
Composites are often built up in stages. Later, I wanted to make it more explicit that indeed many people had sat on that bench at different times. Finally, I thought about the fact that not everyone connected reality with imagination like I do sometimes. I further imagined that perhaps the imaginary spectral figures were unaware that this photographer saw them. So, I added a self-portrait of me as a sort of interdimensional policeman, warning them that they were being observed.
