Who needs the magic of Photoshop when you’ve got mirrors, paper, a few rolls of colored tape, and a large format camera handy? Taking a decidedly lofi approach to self portraiture, Reed College professor Akihiko Miyoshi, who previously worked as a researcher for IBM, explores the intersection between art and technology in his work — specifically, the impact that the rise of digital glitch art has had on photographic representation. “While the images are made using primarily traditional photographic methods, they reference the new aesthetic that seems to be emerging as a result of the use of digital tools and technologies,” he explains in his artist statement. “Seen in this context, by always including only the silhouette of the photographer with his camera, the images remind the viewers of the presence/absence of the producer/author and the method in which the images were constructed and bring forth the complex issues regarding authorship in the digital world.” Click through a slideshow of fantastic images from Miyoshi’s Abstract Photographs series, and let us know in the comments if you agree that they possess what he calls “a duality (and tension) of being simultaneously abstract and extremely photographic.”
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi
Photo credit: Akihiko Miyoshi