Manifold: a practice-based enquiry into the spatial and dimensional qualities of the photographic print

Howard, Rebecca (2022) Manifold: a practice-based enquiry into the spatial and dimensional qualities of the photographic print. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

Manifold is a practice-based research project that includes a written thesis and a body of photographic works (Manifold part II) investigating the spatial and dimensional qualities of the photographic print. Through methods of cutting, folding, installation and re-photography, the photographic prints (as images of buildings) are transformed spatially and dimensionally. The practice-research examines how each of these methods serve to disrupt the pictorial surface of the photographic print, while also contributing visual and spatial elements. The research questions critique and reflect this position, asking, how can the materiality of the photographic print generate spatial and visual content? How can transformations to the photographic print challenge representations of space and place? And what can the materiality of the photographic print tell us about photography’s presentation of three-dimensional space? The photographic works that constitute the series Folding are discussed as the key works in this project. Through practical investigations and an analysis of theories of ‘the fold’ and Baroque aesthetics, I consider the reflexive and generative act of folding the photographic print and the tension it causes between an “’external’ point of view (…) and an ‘inner’ point of view” (Jäger, 1986:20), two-and three-dimensionality, and virtual and actual space. From this perspective, the practice-research contributes to a field of self-referential photography practice, where the materiality of the photographic print is called into question in the digital age, opening new possibilities for reading space and dimension. In addition, these photographic works also invite the viewer to critically engage with seemingly banal and mundane architectural features. Here, the white walls of the gallery and the corners of an artist studio, for example, become spaces of “possibility and potential transformation” (Mehrotra et al., 2005:19). In the thesis, I examine the work of artists who engage with the photographic print in a sculptural or spatial manner, as a way of exploring architecture and two and three-dimensionality. These include Christine Erhard, Susa Templin, Kathrin Sonntag, and Gordon Matta- Clark. For further theoretical and contextual support, I refer to artist and theorist Gottfried Jäger and his thinking on self-referential photography practice. In considering the materiality of the photographic print in relation to spatiality and dimensionality, I also draw on the writing of Beatriz Colomina, Guiliana Bruno, and Claire Zimmerman.