How the scanner sees us

Compossing from the scanner

The word “photography” means “drawing made with/through light”. So, theoretically, according with the way of functioning of a scanning machine, a scanner can be considered a high definition camera with a minimal depth field.

These “photographs” were taken under this premise. No white balance was realized, not retouching in Photoshop not any editing program was made… the goal was to catch the way that machine would see us, like if it were a giant eye.

The interesting fact about this way of “taking pictures” is not only the minuscule depth field, but the way the image is recorded. The scanner needs to save the information by moving a line of light along the frame. That means the shutter speed works completely different than in any other camera. The picture is not taken all at once, but by merging infinite independent “lines” of information. Therefore, if the elements being captured move, the effects are very interesting (for example, in the picture below there is a single person being pictured, who moved his head during the scanning).

One of the inspirations for some of the compositions came after studying the work Glass on body (1973) by Ana Mendieta.

Also, the idea of having “something” looking at us from that “other side” was intensified after the sinister black background shown up, inspiring misterious figures. The feelings after the pictures are not so pleasant as the colourful elements may have made us think, but instead they bring a sensation of being looking at recordings of vicious, strangly disturbing but pleasant pictures. There is a creepy side, but like a window into the night these images keep us staring the high detailed textures, with a bitter feeling inside us.

This was a project I enjoyed a lot, since working on it and learning new ways and tools for creation like this was particularly fun.