Double Exposures from Abroad

Sometimes as an artist, you gather research and material to execute a project or make a body of work, and you aren’t able to work with it right away. It gets put on hold for a period of time to be revisited at a later date. This period of time can vary in length and the many reason for the delay can be just as varied. In some cases you need time to stew. You’re aware that there is something there, within this collection of research, but the inspiration or idea hasn’t fully formed yet. In moments like this, allowing time to pass is essential for forming a plan of action. Also, there are many times when taking time away can be helpful to allow you to approach or re-visit the project with a different frame of mind and fresh eyes. Other times, the idea and the process is all planned out, but life gets in the way, preventing you from finding the time to put in the work to actually make the art.

This is the case for me. It has been almost a whole year since I did an artist residency in the South of France, back in May/June of 2024, and only now have I managed to find the time to work with the images I took on this trip, making layered images of double exposures with the material from this artist residency. It has always been my plan to make a series of double exposure images with the photographs from this experience, but it has been a very long process. This includes downloading the photographs into a database, organizing the images, editing them, sorting through and selecting the ones to work with, planning out ideas and imagery and experimentation (trying out different arrangements to see what works well). That in itself can be quite an undertaking, and that doesn’t include the day to day tasks that interrupt the process – like working five days a week and taking on other side projects to earn a living. This is my reality, and the main reason why it has taken me so long to begin this double exposure project…And I should stress that I have only just begun. The images that are shared in this blog are just the beginnings of what I assume will be a much larger body of work.

For this project, I wanted the images that I create to express a deeper sense of what it was like for me to be in the South of France and to better understand what I experienced. I want the viewer to really experience the French countryside from my perspective. Being surrounded by nature, mountains, open skies, animals, good company (friends and new acquaintances), simple living, going on nature walks, wandering aimlessly, stumbling upon a local hidden gem, learning about the history and culture of this part of France, experiencing some of the smaller cities, walking along the busy streets, and taking in all the architecture to get a true sense of life there.

Traveling can really open your eyes and broaden your horizons as you learn about how different people and places all over the world exist, live, and function. Things like learning about food, culture, meeting people and discovering new places. Diversity is a beautiful thing and you can really learn a lot from these experiences.

Now, back to the double exposure project. There is a real range of subject matter being used in these double exposure images. Merging indoor and outdoor images, adding text, introducing a colour palette from one image into another, or adding a misty filter to convey a certain type of daylight in order to express a feeling or emotion. A lot of elements are at play in this project.

I captured a lot of the details around me when I first arrived in these places. From landscapes, close ups of plant life, insects and other forms of nature to Cityscapes, textures, pattern and architectural elements, to capture the essence of a place. For me, the first impression of a place is an important one. That is when I will usually attempt to photograph everything and anything around me, to document as much as possible. After a while of being in the same place, you ignore or forget things that you walk past dozens of times, and you don’t see a place the same as you did when you first arrived.

With double exposures, when pairing together the right images, the combination can generate some pretty powerful results. Symbolism plays a key role and interpretation of the merged image can range from clearly expressing a point, to alluding to diverse meanings, depending on the image and the artist’s intent. I am not suggesting that any of these images shown here are visual expressions to this degree – it is early in the project and I am just getting warmed up! But that is what I aim for, and have achieved this in the past, with satisfying results.  

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and look at the images from my most recent project, I hope you have enjoyed it. Any new content from this project will be posted here on this page at a later date.