Site Sight Unseen

While wandering the streets of Havana, camera in hand, my attention was drawn to an unremarkable cluster of dried plants. I walked past that simple scene only to be drawn back by a strong intuitive feeling that there was something there for me. The negatives that resulted from that chance encounter became the genesis of my project, Site Sight Unseen.

While working on those Havana negatives, I inadvertently left an unfixed print in the darkroom sink, where it remained unnoticed all day. The print that I turned over at the end of that day changed everything for me. Its dramatic effects and unexpected beauty opened up a new way of working and upended traditional darkroom technique. Instead, I now pour, spray, and drip photographic solutions onto exposed gelatin silver paper, manipulating and closely monitoring the print over several hours. The results are images that have a meditative ink wash feel of a Zen painting.