Art and Life > Frames Series

The concept of the “frame” evolves with the window in Renaissance architecture and in painting where there exists an exterior frame and interior segments.
Through the medium of photography, I have begun to realize this “framing” phenomenon as it occurs in architecture in the device, the window. I see how spaces become privileged when they are isolated. These fragments are icons, landscapes, cityscapes, portraits; little pieces making a whole. This isolation of the objects in the photographs allows for the abstraction of the space and peculiar changes in planar relationships.
By this isolation it becomes more apparent why we are attracted to a certain view. Through this process of fragmentation, the photographic image becomes more like the process of human sight. We do not see situations as a whole but rather as a summary of a collection of many objects and relationships.
While living in New York City, I discovered, through analyzing my photographs, the possibility of creating my own frames. These were acetate cutouts which were applied directly to the negative carrier of my 4x5” camera. This technique gave me the creative freedom to carry my “window” within the camera. It was no longer necessary for me to depend on architecture to provide the proper frame at the proper location.
In New York City, I explored the reaction of my “frames” to architecture and urban situations. While in the Dominican Republic, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Jamaica, I incorporated the “frame” with landscape and the human figure. The “frame” re-created the photographic visual experience to take it beyond the relationships of background to foreground, and depth-of-field. The “frame” altered the relationships through their isolation furthering the possibilities of visual interpretation.
Fernando La Rosa, 1990