Jerusalem Stills (2013)
The Jerusalem Stills series comprises of a progression of still photographs digitally stitched together. The photographs come from a range of photographers at the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) in London. Amongst the range of source photographs are images by John Garstang, an archaeologist; Arthur E.T. Rhodes, who served with the ANZAC Mounted Division in Palestine in 1917-18; T.W. Dickenson, a British Mandate Era photographer working in the 1940s.
These assemblages included fragments of photographs that encompassed the broad range of imaging modes, for instance academic, touristic or commercial and a broad chronological range, describing the growth of the city outside its walls over time; and on a formal level, a significant number of images that function as panoramic views, shot with a wide-angle lens, with their implication of surveying the landscape and colonial discovery.
Manipulated photographic | 20 x 12.5 cm | Edition of 5 + 1 AP
In this way, the broad cross-section of images was used in the production of the Jerusalem Stills, in terms of imaging mode, period and format, a methodology designed to privilege the construction of a narrative lineage of imaging. In the actual construction of the individual works there are different operations at play. The operations of each of these images present different strategies, but collectively they are an attempt to posit new narratives that reflect Jerusalem’s Palestinian narratives, and their effacement.
related projects
Unpicking Jerusalem: a re-examination of the archives - Artwork