So, if you are new to what a Vortograph is, I am hoping that this will be helpful. If you already know what they are maybe there will be some useful information for you in this little blurb.
A vortograph, as stated by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, is the first completely abstract kind of photograph composed of kaleidoscopic repetitions of forms. Alvin Langdon Coburn was the pioneer in nonobjective photography and invented this style in 1917 and remained the principal advocate and practitioner of the technique.
The name is a reference to the Vorticist group of British writers and painters featuring fractured planes and complex space characteristics. Vorticism as an art movement was inspired by Cubism and only lasted a small while in the early 20th centure in England. The style is closest to futurism in its embrace of dynamism.
So, here is my question to myself, that I hope to eventually find the answer to. Where do I fit in this? Digging through some of my old notes the first time I shot one was back in October 25th 2011. It is nothing special in my eyes now but my original project in my first semester of college has been seeping in my mind for the better half of the decade.
I have seen classmates of mine find there thing and run with it. I never felt like I ever found my thing. I was always working, scrounging around, and doing my best to stay afloat in San Francisco. Now that I am out I find myself brought straight back where I started, staring back staring at these images again. I have lost some of the media over the years. I don’t even know where these prints have gone but I feel like it is time to dive back into this experiment.
