Observation Exercise, 2022

Photograms of water on photographic paper, paper, string, 24 x 33.5 cm; scans of photograms of water on acrylic plaque, paper, string, 21 x 29.7 cm

The water from the drinking water fountains (cheshmi) next to the Central Mineral Bath in Sofia, Bulgaria is a constant observer to a series of presences, absences, passages by, and passages through. I recorded some of these everyday rituals as a series of photograms* of the water in the sink basins, accompanied by a list of human interactions with the territory defined by the mineral water which took place during that same period of time. The first book displays the photograms in their original form, as an archive of the water with its waves, droplets, lights, and shadows as they existed in each recorded instance; and then as a series of scans of those photograms overlaid one on top of the other to create a sense of depth replicating the point of view when looking down into the water basin. We observe the water, and the water observes us.

*A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material, in this case photographic paper, and then exposing it to light. For this project, each sheet of paper was placed on the bottom of a water fountain basin at night and illuminated briefly, so as to let the water imprint itself onto the photographic paper.  

Developed in:

Book Impulses, workshop

An artistic research process through the visual language of photography and the photo book as a space

Studio instructor: Martin Atanasov

Apr–Jun 2022, KO-OP and One Book Bookstore, Sofia, Bulgaria

Featured in:

Book Impulses, pop-up group exhibition accompanying an exhibition by Tirazh Books

Jun 2020, KO-OP Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

(images by Martin Atanasov)