Memory and Emergence

Abstract

A negative contains all the information for the final photographic print. But held up against the light, the negative often appears glaring and garish—certainly unfamiliar and sometimes difficult to recognize. Immediately after exposure in the quiet acrid environment of the darkroom, the positive enlargement is initially invisible and then starts to appear so faintly that it is scarcely detectable; only with patience as it reacts to the harsh chemical baths into which it was plunged does it emerge into a sharp, detailed, and nuanced image. In the shadows cast by the negative, as the resultant positive emerges from the nearly unrecognizable past, it is surprising and gratifying to discover a memory of the initial moment of exposure. This metaphor serves as an apt though abstract description of the experiences described in this essay.