Dérive
Emma Tarea
The Dérive series, developed using different shooting and printing techniques, testifies to research the materiality of the image. Emma Tarea is interested in the stages which modify and alter the photographic medium. Some photographs result from an etching bath which, by the association of chemical substances, attacks and deforms the surface of the image, causing it to slide towards the unreal. Immersion of the negative, direct application of chemistry onto the paper, artisanal preparation of the emulsion and solarisation are all the techniques that have allowed the creation of these images. Subject to unpredictable factors such as temperature or the ultraviolet index, they all have in common that they are part of a practice where the search for accidents is fundamental. In these explorations, there is the desire to exhibit an image in the process of being (un)made. The referent – whether an object, person or place – is displaced in an enigmatic environment. Made up of organic shapes, veils and blisters, the latter brings another dimension to the cliché. The subject is therefore no longer strictly the one present in the photograph but concerns the photograph itself. Through the utilization and juxtaposition of different processes and images containing distinct elements, Emma Tarea examines and questions what constitutes the essence of the photographic medium.
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