Double Negative
The novelty of a picture usually turns on the interaction of the things pictured. Objects, people, and places are evocative to the viewer. The photographer achieves this by choosing precisely where to point their camera, a deliberate choice to relate different things in a scene. Rather than an instant, a camera can combine any period of time into one frame. In this way, most all photography is a process of combining images. There exists other ways of combining images in-camera and in the darkroom: multiple-exposures, “sandwiching” negatives, etc. These methods allow for portrayal beyond a single moment in the taking and beyond a single state of mind in the artist. The pictures are the result of every step taken leading up to the capture and the successes and errors occurring during development: Intention mixed with failure mixed with serendipity.
