Pearblossom Highway - David HockneyA single photograph represents a split second glance (usually, anyway), from one perspective – we don’t view the world in that way.

Our view of the world is through multiple glances, stitched together for us by our brain. When we look at a scene in front of us, we pay attention to some parts of it and ignore others – some parts might be in sharp focus, others just a blur. Our experience of it might last a few minutes, or it might be over a period of several hours.

I attempt to capture this using the medium of photocollage. It doesn’t answer all of the problems photography poses (David Hockney, the master of the technique, rejected it in favour of a return to painting), but, well, I’m better at it than I am at painting.

Although I use digital photos and software to compose the images, it’s still a manual process (the software doesn’t stitch the photos together automatically). I choose which photos are in front of others, which photos to include or exclude, what angles they are at, and (something Hockney couldn’t do with 35mm prints) the transparency of the individual photos.

Featured Image – Pearblossom Highway, David Hockney, 1986