STEFAN ROBERTS – Waterlog – 6 Sept-1 Oct 2022
“The Waterlog series explores the importance of water as a pivotal and vulnerable force within nature. Water sculpts, rots, and nourishes. In my work, the water that shapes and informs the environment has been allowed to alter and shape the photographic interpretation of the landscape. Just as waters influence on the environment is gradual, so is the photographic process. The images have been formed using a single continuous exposure lasting between 4 months and a year. During this time precipitation has been gradually collected within the image-forming chamber of my unique pinhole camera. With the water in direct contact with the photographic medium, it is free to assert its influence over the formation of the image. It marks and rots the surface of the paper negative; it forges paths like new wandering rivers. The process moves the photograph from being a trace; it appears both like a faded memory and a warning of the fragility of our environment.”