Venetian Church Wall | Mark Lindsay
Much of my work is inspired by ghostly traces of the past. My MFA show, Desolation’s Comfort: Photographic Re-collections was a literal expression of these tendencies. In that show, I re-contextualized[ Fix this in blog] snapshots of the past and put them in places that I felt needed filling.
That work continues on. Another show is currently in the works. But, while working on some images of Venice, it came to me that the entire city is a ghost of the past. One feels its haunted nature from the very first moment one sets foot in the city. Having been to Venice some ten times, I have collected a body of images that I am now revisiting and reworking. Ghosts in Venice is the working title of the project.
Venice is a theatrical stage of a glamorous past. It is easy to find its haunted nature. It is in a poignant state of decay, getting ever more beautiful with time. Echos are omnipresent. Shadows lurk. Sounds, smells, and visions flood the senses. It is a city seemingly frozen in amber, encased in a suspension of time. Yet, the ravages of time eat away at it, each year grinding it down like fine sandpaper. It is easy to see its ghosts. They shout out at you, taunting you to chase them down.
The best thing to do would be to visit Venice again, with this project in mind. But, for now, I will visit the city in my notes and memories. I am working with some new digital imaging techniques that will subtly accentuate the ghostliness of the city. We’ll see where the project takes me. A gallery will appear in my new web site, scheduled for debut in early January.