tokyo view photographed by luigi cassinelli in 2010

MATERIA ET LUMEN EDITIONS

Books & Prints

cover of book Seirēn


CRITERION ON PHOTOGRAPHY

I capture what LIGHT and SILVER generate, right in the moment I SEE. I exhibit what I captured.

Nothing Virtual

No Retouching

No Digital Photos

No Film Recording

No Artificial Intelligence



UR-PHOTOGRAPHS

scan of original photograph of Tokyo shot in 2010

My work consists of original photographs. I name them ur-photographs because an ur-photograph is the unique physical record generated IN THE MOMENT I release my camera shutter. In that moment, three forces interact: the photons reflected by what I observe, the silver halide crystals layered in my film, and my decision to capture that moment in time. Such interaction instantly creates the latent image in the emulsion, later revealed to our eyes in the physical, final form usually called photographic negative (see image above, but other developers could show us the latent image as a direct positive). The ur-photograph is unique. It bears an existential adventure sealed by its own light, not by post-production.

All of my prints, whether photographic or computer assisted, are by-products of my ur-photographs. Prints and arrays of pixels help to display my photographic exploration. They are all executed to reproduce, as faithfully as possible, the content of my originals. I use electronic technology to present my work, not to generate it.