Photograph as Material

Crumpled, drenched, folded, or torn: photographs, when physically manipulated, can become the raw material for three-dimensional works of art, a potential explored by many contemporary artists today. Ryan Foerster, for example, uses photographic paper as a test bed for material reactions, including those involving water, rain, and wind, while Matthew Brandt bathes his developed photographs in the body of water they depict. Such processes continue the photographic experiments of early 20th century artists, such as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, to expand the possibilities of photography beyond the limits of documentation.