This lumen print comes from my Ancient Algiers/Modern Fossils series that explores the past & present landscape using a (photographically) ancient process. Prior to, and at the time of the European expansion, a cypress forest covered the area now known as Algiers. We see vestiges of that ancient past today alongside flourishing flora that has been introduced to the area over time.
Using the energy of the ever-present sun, this series illuminates the natural world, representing what was here before and what is here now.
After all, we are the ancient past.
**********
A solar printing process creates a lumen print. These images were composed on a mixture of recycled photographic paper then placed in the sun for development, resulting in unique impressions of our native and present landscape. This photographic process, originated by British scientist Fox Talbot, was among the first photographic techniques developed in the 19th century, 140 years after Bienville claimed Louisiana for the French.
