Untitled
This cameraless photograph is part of a series of experiments Pinkel began in the 1970s as an MFA student at the University of California, Los Angeles. Fascinated by the transformative possibilities of light, she studied with a physicist and investigated a range of imaging techniques, including light-sensitive emulsions, Xerox machines, and computer and X-ray technologies. To create this work, she crumpled and shaped a sheet of photographic paper in the darkroom and briefly exposed it to a single light source; the paper was then flattened and developed. The resulting image is a two-dimensional representation of the paper’s prior three-dimensional form, created without a camera or enlarger. With its lush surface and stunning trompe l’oeil effect, this unique print is both visually and conceptually captivating.
Artwork Details
- Title: Untitled
- Artist: Sheila Pinkel (American, born Newport News, VA, 1941)
- Date: 1978
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: Sheet: 30 7/16 × 41 1/2 in. (77.3 × 105.4 cm)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, Vital Projects Fund Inc. Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2022
- Object Number: 2022.13
- Rights and Reproduction: © Sheila Pinkel
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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