Featured: Kay Adams

The next featured artist is Kay Adams who will share images from two of his projects with us. He has a more open and creative approach to photography and how to handle and print his negatives, but let's leave the talking to his pictures after a short introduction to the work by himself:

“The pictures are a mix of two of my current projects which are based on the same idea though. The negatives are part of my "manufactured photography" project, the prints come from a series called "art by accident". What ties them together is the idea of not wanting to have any shots spending their time locked up in a drawer. The next element in both projects is chance, because you can't really control fire, acid, bleach, water and microwaves. This is what transforms an OK shot into a special shot! It's turning trash into something artsy.“

 

From the series "manufactured photography":

From the series "art by accident":

What is the difference between art and trash? That was the first question that immediately struck my mind whenever I read his introduction and saw the work. Not very long ago a local art museum had a new exhibition going on, and one of the exhibits literally was a pile of trash combined with stuffed animals placed in a corner. We were curious and decided to join a tour of the exhibition where we eventually sat around for half an hour looking at that pile of trash. It was kind of strange to be quite honest. Eventually every little detail, which seemed random at first sight had its place in that pile determined by the artist itself and set up each and every time with the same carefulness and in the exact same way. In the end though, I guess this is part of a much bigger question: what is art and what isn’t? In my opinion there are no real limitations to what art can’t be, so I believe there is no real answer to this questions because where should you draw the line and who determines what is art and what isn’t? In my opinion the idea of art implies that there are no rules and eventually your only limitation is your imagination.

Kay's images take the idea of chance and coincidence, already especially prominent in film photography, to a whole new level. While they seem strangely odd at the beginning, they reach much deep under the surface and expose the viewer to subliminal notice rather than obvious statements. There is no distinct content in them, they moreover seem like a painting and not like photographs anymore. For me personally, the difference between good and great art is the amount of room left for interpretation and how each individual may perceive it in a totally different way.

Thank you Kay for your contribution and make sure to check out his website and social media (Instagram & Facebook). Make sure to submit your work now too! If you have created a project / series you would like to share with us, please send an email to info@wasteoffilm.com with a selection of the most representative images as well as a short description of the work itself. Thank you for your submissions.

 

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