www - Wandering in the Webcam Wilderness 2012

The light reflecting into the webcam’s lens is reconstituted into pixels, which are then formed into blocks of colour by a jpeg compression algorithm. Through a lossy process, the algorithm reduces the size of the digital file, discarding data in order to transmit it faster over the Internet. Pixels within a particular tonal range are grouped together, which gives a particular ‘blocky’ look to the resulting image.

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In an effort to draw attention to the surface—to emphasise and accentuate the images’ digital construction and remediation—I reprocessed my collection of images through further compression. In an unusual contrast of techniques, after this deliberate degradation, the computer is used as a digital darkroom to reference the history of landscape representation. I mimic traditional photographic techniques, such as controlling contrast, burning in the image edges (a common landscape photography practice), and enhancing tones within localised areas. Then, once again, the images are remediated; removed from the screen, they shift from the digital realm to the material, output as 2 x 1.5-metre prints, where the digital origins of these artefacts are even further accentuated due to their large scale. When seen from a distance, they first appear as conventional photographic landscapes, but, as one moves closer, their digital foundation clearly emerges. The materiality of these images is further contrasted to their digital origin through being inkjet prints on a non-resin matte paper—where once colours glowed as emanating light, transferred to print, they possess a velvety depth.