MUSES is an over-sized handmade book containing 80 unique 20″ x 24″ photographic prints derived from 8″ x 10″ negatives and positives. Each print is one of a kind due to a complex printing process. The prints sit in the right side of the book which resembles a traveling case. The left side contains two smaller books. The first, offers an introduction or “his-story”  narrative to accompany the images. The second offers a reproduction of the project journal.

I produced this book back in 1995-1996 when I was working on a degree from The School of The Museum of Fine Art, Boston. MUSES examines the addictive nature of  relationships, co-dependent identity, and love as an artistic inspiration (or muse). I think of it as a time capsule that functions as a container for a bunch of “baggage” from my past.

The Prints
There images includes a selection of black and white prints, as well as a selection of color prints. I produced the black and white images first, and then explored color at the end of the project. Here is a slide show of the images:

The Process
The process of producing these prints was rather involved and time consuming. Typically I started with an 8″x 10″ photographic positive or negative that I exposed using an 8″x 10″ field camera. While I was exposing that film, I would generally take additional pictures with a 35mm camera or a Holga (120mm). Once processed, I would insert the smaller film stocks into an area of the sheet film where I’d scratched away the emulsion. I would then scan the sheet film into a computer and use this as a guide to producing digital transparencies to add text and other elements. I would either print these back onto the film stock, or laminate them to the film via the digitally printed transparency.

Additionally, I would also go in and draw on the film stock and scratch into it with different utensils, For the color images, I used color dyes to affect the color. Some of the color film was also cross processed to produce greater color intensity and shift the color range. All the prints were made with an 8″x 10″ enlarger and I did all sorts of filtering, burning and dodging to get the prints right.

To obtain the original photographic material, I would take extensive road trips from Boston. I would either take these journey by myself or with my friend Seth who is represented in many of the prints. He also shot a significant amount of the supporting, smaller format. material. I did also do some studio sessions for specific images that I knew I wanted to create in a more pre-meditated way.

A significant part of the creative process took place at a  light-table covered with film stock which I would try and piece together into a compelling design. Besides offering a unique aesthetic, which does not entirely come across in the digital versions above, this process allowed me to really develop a strong sense of composition.

The His-Story
The piece that’s missing from this presentation is the content of the small books that are embedded in the larger one. The larger of the two embedded books contains the story that connects many of the images to the theme of the project. That story follows the lives of three characters, myself, my friend Seth, and the first woman I loved. It’s a complicated and personal story, and thus not one that I plan on unfolding here. Ask me in person sometime and I’ll see what I can remember.