ADRIENNE MOUMIN
I created The Forces of Victory in 2012, from multiple handmade prints of a film
photograph, shot from inside a Greyhound bus in 2007. It is part of my Architextures
series of handmade silver gelatin photo collages, ongoing since 2000.
Passing by the Victory Apartments on 10th Avenue near the Lincoln Tunnel, while en
route to Maryland from my beloved New York, I was struck with sadness and loss
over what I was leaving behind, for who knows how long. A chance traffic light timing
stopped the bus in front of the Victory Apartments, and I pulled my camera out from
under the seat to shoot, imagining the film exposures would be blurry at best through
the window, but that I might as well try. It felt like a desperate grab, all I was able to
do, to capture and hold onto one more piece of New York.
I was happily surprised when the developed negatives were clear and bright, and
good enough to print in the darkroom, when I finally got around to it several years
later. The architecture of the building almost called out for me to cut the photos
into long, thin sections. As with each of my collages, I experiment with cutting and
composition, until the image itself lets me know how to cut up and assemble it.
Like many other works in the Architextures series, there is more than one collage
made from the original photographic print multiples. Right after finishing The Victory
Arpeggios, the remaining photo sections spoke to me, and I created The Forces of
Victory from those. Two smaller collages followed, until there was nothing left to cut.
The Victory Arpeggios is constructed of more than 80 individually hand-cut elements,
and The Forces of Victory is made of 170 photo sections.
photograph, shot from inside a Greyhound bus in 2007. It is part of my Architextures
series of handmade silver gelatin photo collages, ongoing since 2000.
Passing by the Victory Apartments on 10th Avenue near the Lincoln Tunnel, while en
route to Maryland from my beloved New York, I was struck with sadness and loss
over what I was leaving behind, for who knows how long. A chance traffic light timing
stopped the bus in front of the Victory Apartments, and I pulled my camera out from
under the seat to shoot, imagining the film exposures would be blurry at best through
the window, but that I might as well try. It felt like a desperate grab, all I was able to
do, to capture and hold onto one more piece of New York.
I was happily surprised when the developed negatives were clear and bright, and
good enough to print in the darkroom, when I finally got around to it several years
later. The architecture of the building almost called out for me to cut the photos
into long, thin sections. As with each of my collages, I experiment with cutting and
composition, until the image itself lets me know how to cut up and assemble it.
Like many other works in the Architextures series, there is more than one collage
made from the original photographic print multiples. Right after finishing The Victory
Arpeggios, the remaining photo sections spoke to me, and I created The Forces of
Victory from those. Two smaller collages followed, until there was nothing left to cut.
The Victory Arpeggios is constructed of more than 80 individually hand-cut elements,
and The Forces of Victory is made of 170 photo sections.
