Photographs of Photographs

Kertesz took numerous polaroids of his own polaroids, as well as of his earlier photographs and of others' photographs. I can't find the best examples on the Internet, but here are a couple:







I also like to take photographs of photographs. I'm trying to figure out why. Was it Jasper Johns who described his working method as "Do something, add to it, add to that, add something again, and see what happens?" Although the precise formula can't be adduced, one plus one can sometimes equal a lot more than two when photographs are the elements. Each photograph is magic -- in that it is something much more than what yielded it, and in an inexplicable fashion -- and adding magic to magic can yield something entirely different.

Here is one taken last summer in Chelsea:



The photo (inside a bank, I think) is one of a beach and ocean, which seemed particularly jarring to me while walking in this concrete jungle. I like how, due to the shadows and colors, the sandy beach seems continuous with the sidewalk.

Here is another, from a morning stroll to work:



This is the window of a parking garage, likely the office area for the parking attendants. I like this image principally because of the light that fell on the window, the colors (love the helmet & the poster in the background), and the arrangements of the photos and the window frame. But I also like it because I simply like looking at the photos. There's something touching about the dog in the car, the neatly arranged toy cars, and the goalie in action.

Finally, here is one I entitled "Snapshot," whose sole point is to poke at Thomas Struth's pomposity: