Herbaria Extracta

Reflecting on photography’s incapability to fulfill the illusions of objective, faithful representation that have been cultivated and celebrated from the very inception of the medium, the 'Herbaria Extracta' series meditates on the rarely contested validity of photographic methods in scientific representational practices. Depicting unintended imprints of reality, the work reflects on the status of all representations as mere traces. Juxtaposing layers of traces, unintentional imprints and attempts at both scientific and photographic preservation these images toy with the concept of photographic ‘light writing’, positive and negative processes, and the history of the medium. Even though a charmingly nostalgic glimpse of past practices and objects, the work addresses the fragility and futility of the profound human drive to master reality through efforts at imposing control and order over the surrounding world. Laced with the history of photography and science, the work meditates not only on the abilities of any form of reproduction, classification, illustration or preservation to replicate any level of real experience but also on the inevitably transitory nature of most human endeavours.