Declan Dill
Photographic Series: INSPIRED BY DEXTER, 2021
SCRIMP
O'CLOCK
THE WORLD IS MELTING
BURNINGemUP
inkjet prints
11 x 8.5 inches each
Time keeps marching forward and especially as the end of high school quickly approaches I find myself reflecting on how time passes. Whether it’s past or future I am always thinking about things I need to change or should have changed to make things better. In INSPIRED BY DEXTER, I started by photographing ice as it melted. I used molds to create the ice, in some cases embedding plant material in the ice, in other cases, adding food coloring to the water. I rigged the ice, suspending it from the fishing line, photographing the pieces against the backdrop of a white sheet, while the forms melted. As time passed the ice got smaller and changed forms. In some of the images what was inside of the ice was revealed. In the editing process, I made collages of the images. In some cases, I drew onto the images to complete the theme. In my final images my goal was to show the time passing.
The first photography project that I had complete control over was a drawing and photography match-up. I drew pictures in Photoshop and matched them with images I had taken. Now four years later I want to take that to the next level. Most importantly, INSPIRED BY DEXTER shows how my work has stayed the same but also differed over time. In my work, I am deliberately working to deceive the viewer by manipulating my images tactilely, or within the shooting process to challenge their point of view. I want the viewer to ask themselves, “What am I really seeing? or How was this taken?”
Click images to enlarge.
