Cole Peters

Visual/sound artist

Heir

2018

Photography is an inherently referential medium — that is, it depicts something other than itself. As a means to record fragments of space and time, it is typically intended to present the viewer with reproductions of discernable reality, from which further information or meaning may be drawn.

What does a photograph become when it is stripped of this intention? This body of work is one response to this question. It is ultimately an exploration of surfaces, presented on their own terms. In this sense, the resulting images both embody and contradict photography’s origins and intents — each subject is accurately depicted, and yet appears anonymous, ambiguous, perhaps even devoid of form.

All images were captured on medium format black and white film and scanned in high resolution to enable large-scale printing, with only minimal tonal adjustments and cropping applied to the final images.

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Louis

Louis

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Brian

Brian

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Matthew

Matthew

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Leszek

Leszek

Photograph, 6×9" negative

James/Paul

James/Paul

2 photographs, 6×9" negatives, layered

Stephen/Timothy

Stephen/Timothy

2 photographs, 6×9" negatives, layered

Richard

Richard

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Barbara

Barbara

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Franz

Franz

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Liz

Liz

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Josef

Josef

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Eve

Eve

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Lawrence

Lawrence

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Mark

Mark

Photograph, 6×9" negative

David

David

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Bruno

Bruno

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Rikyū

Rikyū

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Deborah

Deborah

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Sally

Sally

Photograph, 6×9" negative

Soma/Lord

Soma/Lord

2 photographs, 6×9" negatives, layered