A Parallel Planets piece by Unknown
"This is a collection of images I took while travelling. Travel has always been something special and surreal for me. It's isolating, yet stimulating; sitting there while a new landscape enters your view continuously. I wanted images to reflect this and so I soaked exposed rolls of film in various solutions, damaging the emulsion in unpredictable ways. I felt this gave the images a harshly organic look. You can see the results of the chemical interactions with the emulsion. They became a physical part of the image. It gives a tangibility that I think is important for the fleeting nature of travel. Rather then being something temporary or disposable, I wanted to make images that looked physical and permanent, especially on a digital platform. I see this as a dialogue among mediums, one which is very relevant today as we are becoming more and more reliant on digital technology. I do not see myself as a modern cynic, nor nostalgic; I want to experience the present in the most sincere way I knowhow. Photography is a way for me to do that, because it gives me a tangible satisfaction of the moment and a foresight of satisfaction when I view the images later. This also relates to travel because there is the anticipation of the destination that I think causes people to overlook the journey of actually getting there. As I look out the window, I see a continuum of places passing me by, each a garden of particular features, and I pass by it all, in solitude."
About the Photographer: Dante Guthrie is a photographer born and raised in Calgary, and moved to Toronto in 2012 with his family. He has been practicing photography since 2010 but only become more seriously involved with it upon moving to Toronto. He shoots all analog, most often black & white, and does the developing and printing at home. Constantly experimenting with different cameras and film techniques, he is always trying to abstract the image in different ways. He has just recently begun to show work this year in group shows in Toronto and abroad.
