Why is it that we cannot remember memories from when we were babies? I think back and I can see myself standing in a pool. I was probably around 18 months old, it was on a rooftop, I had a green frog floaty around my waist. I only remember this because I remember seeing a photo of it, not because I actually have any memories of the moment.
Memories, as we get older, layer upon each other until, to make room for more, the old memories fade and are buried underneath the new. Such is the work of Berlin-based artist, Michel Lamoller, who has created a way to layer time in the series, Tautochronos (Greek for ‘at the same time’). He creates surrealist portraits and stacks them upon each other to make a collage of passed time. Lamoller does not need digital photography or Photoshop (though, both may make the process quite a bit easier), but uses an old fashioned method – printed images and a scalpel.
Each image is comprised of 10 or so photographs. In each photograph the model leaves, changes clothes, and poses in the exact same position again. Lamoller then prints out the photos and looks for various patterns and, like a surgeon, cuts out pieces, and then layers them together to create the final portrait. Each layer, according to Lamoller, “communicates with each other,” to demonstrate the transitory nature of time.
[REWIND: ‘SCRUBLANDS’ – PHOTOGRAPHER SPENDS 3 YEARS WITH EUROPEANS WHO HAVE ABANDONED CIVILIZATION]
This is a continuation of Lamoller’s series, Layerscapes, which follows the same nondigital stacking and collaging with cityscapes and landscapes. To see more of his work, check out his website here.
CREDITS: All photographs by Michel Lamoller are copyrighted and have been used with permission for SLR Lounge. Do not copy, modify or re-post this article or images without express permission from SLR Lounge and the artist.
[Via Wired]
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