A Coalescence on 35mm

While multiple exposure is a common technique in digital photography, I first discovered it by chance when I accidentally re-used a 35mm film roll. The resulting photographs were bizarre amalgamations of several frames, invading and spilling into one another, boldly manifesting the composite nature of each shot; its constructedness and performativity. Exposures, physically impressed onto the film, left visible traces of where light hit (or didn’t hit) the shutter. Frames merged into an eerie oneness, but also retained the dark outlines of their initial separation. “Multiple“ in this case referred to the photograph’s complex temporal structure, as linear time had to pass before I could re-run one film stock and stage a strange “simultaneity“; “exposure“ denoted the spacialization of frames on the strip. Through chemical infusion, multiple exposures were developed into an image of their coalescence. I learnt to plan ahead and think of which two (or more) frames, set apart in space and time (sometimes captured in different countries), could work together. But no matter how carefully I tried to forge a desired meaning, there was always much randomness to this play, as I could never be quite sure how the frames would interact. The final say was to the light, chance, and camera apparatus at each particular instance of image-taking. One photograph in this series is an easily identifiable digital double exposure: Look for clean lines and a “seamless“ fusion. Unlike film, the two frames comprising it were taken only a few seconds and a few steps apart.