Stemming from Man Ray’s studies on the materiality of photo paper, Alex Black studies how we experience incandescent light through its interaction with objects
Photographer: Alex Black
Stylist: Sharifa Morris
Alex Black and Man Ray
Man Ray’s photograms of the Twenties were a technical study in the materiality of photo paper. I built a basic darkroom in my bathroom with cheap construction material. Along with fashion items, I incorporated found objects from my home, limiting myself to my confinement. The whole process felt very scientific like I was a chemist. This impacted my sense of composition which became more calculated and rigid. I studied how we experience incandescent light through its interaction with objects. A photogram is a recording of the physical nature of light. Although we can’t touch it, it has a direct, chemical response on photo paper.
Alex Black photographer
Alex Black is a Director and Photographer originally from Montreal living between Paris & New York.
She sees the photography process as a way to making a painting or sculpture. Inspiration is drawn from the visual language of abstract art to create representations that exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. In there lies a tension between abstraction and figuration. Fashion is used as a tool for its shapes, colours and forms to achieve an effect and are usually simplified or schematized