“You’re a wizard, Harry.”
Hogwarts and Trees, Hasselblad 500cm, Portra 400, Oct 2022. Double Exposure
I’ve been waiting for my letter from Hogwarts for twenty three years now. With each passing year grows the slow acceptance that perhaps I was born a muggle, a person not gifted with the powers of magic. I may never be able to change into an eagle, or wave a piece of wood and levitate a giant boulder into the air.
As I have gone through life however, I have accumulated a growing hat of tricks. And while none of these tricks that I have learnt are able to defeat the laws of nature which govern my world, there is perhaps a bit of wizardry involved in some of these tricks.
The watchtower, Hasselblad 500cm, Portra 400, Oct 2022. Double Exposure
One way in which I have discovered a bit of magic is through practicing film photography.
The ability to capture light onto a piece of film, in a split second, to freeze it, as you will; to create permanence from impermanence, is a true wonder. With the spread of digital photography, the wonder of this ability is easy to under estimate. But if you are ever in a dark room, and see the image simply appear on a piece of photographic paper, it is miraculous.
The beauty of film photography is that a piece of film, given the right camera, can be exposed as many times as one desires. With each new exposure, a new layer gets added, and the end result is somewhat unpredictable, and arguably greater than the sum of its parts.
I’ve been experimenting with multiple exposures only this year, but as you can see, the results are captivating, fascinating and contain a depth that a single exposure image rarely possesses.
Tree, Flower, Castle Collage. Hasselblad 500cm, Portra 400, Oct 2022. Triple Exposure.
Last week, when I was invited along with the other Art Society of Tasmania members to capture Government House, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps I finally got my invitation to Hogwarts after all.
-A.S. Lenah Valley, 8/10/22