---

Dafna Talmor

Straight lines are a human invention 

---

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (GI -19191919191919-1, 2019, C-type handprint made from 7 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP, 60” × 27.4” (152.4 × 69.5 cm)

​​The significance of the photographic apparatus, be it analog or digital, promotes the role of technology in the process of identifying and abstracting visual layers of reality, from a mere mediator - a tool - to that of an agent, sometimes equal to the maker. 

This struggle to define, and to a degree accept, the role of the technology in the creative process is
​ever-present in Photography, from the early pioneers of the medium, to the principles of Pictorialism and all the way to today’s advanced digital manipulation. 

Dafna Talmor’s Constructed Landscapes is an artful study of the complex landscape that underpins the process of photographic creativity.

In this ongoing body of work, Talmor combines colour negatives of landscapes that she has been collecting for years and transforms them into visually striking compositions that are devoid of man made structures.

For the Gold Circle showcase of Constructed Landscapes, Dafna Talmor offers an insightful discussion into the approach and techniques she has employed in the making of Constructed Landscapes.

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (GI -191919191919-1), 2019,
​C-type handprint made from 6 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP, 24” × 26.6” (61 × 67.5 cm)

You had been collecting images of landscapes for a long time prior to starting Constructed Landscapes. What gave birth to the idea for this work? 
​
For years, my work consisted primarily of photographs shot in interior spaces with mere suggestions of outside space.  As soon as I stepped outside with my camera, I felt overwhelmed, physically and conceptually. In spite of this, I found myself compulsively shooting landscapes whenever I travelled.  As the photographs were shot with no conceptual agenda, I accumulated rolls of film I was utterly disappointed with. This initial cause of frustration led to the idea of using my personal archive of disappointing images to make work that dealt with my problematic relationship to landscape, providing meaning and function to these seemingly defunct negatives.

​
When you started the project, did you go through a period of experimentation with the negatives or was there a clear idea about the imagery you wanted to produce and how to go about it? 

The work revolved around experimentation in the darkroom. I had never worked in this way before, or collaged my negatives, so had no idea where it would lead and how it would develop. The work, and collaging process, has changed over time, as a result of this experimentation.

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (GI -1919191919191919-1), 2019,
​C-type handprint made from 8 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP, 32.2” × 40” (81.8 × 101.6 cm)

Can you describe the process of composing an image? Do you start with a mental image of a constructed landscape in mind? 

Produced by collaging medium format colour negatives, images initially shot as mere keepsakes across different locations are transformed through the act of slicing and splicing. Any obviously man-made structures such as roads, lampposts, paths or living beings - anything that seems to interrupt the so-called purity of the landscape or invite a particular narrative – tend to get removed with a scalpel. I don’t start with a particular image in mind, but rather respond to the material and allow it to lead me in different directions. The process consists of a combination of something incredibly intuitive on the one hand, and highly considered on the other; Initially, it involves shooting quite spontaneously, followed by labour intensive sessions in the darkroom. I always start by reviewing the contact sheets and negatives. An image gets constructed through a combination of cutting, assembling and printing. Printing in the colour darkroom is an intrinsic element of the process, as it allows me to see the images as they develop. Generally speaking, multiple studies are produced before a final image gets resolved. There is a certain economy that I adhere too, where I use remnants of one image to start the next, in the attempt to waste as little as possible.

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (LO -TH -181818181818181818 -1), 2018,
​C-type handprint made from 9 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP
40” × 45” (101.6 × 114.5 cm)

How important is the choice of geographical locations in each image? Would the work, for example, carry the same meaning for you if the landscapes were chosen at random or based on how they fit together visually? 

The work stemmed from an archive of images shot across locations of personal significance, or places I’ve visited. However, the aim or challenge became to strip these images of their original connotations and associations, in an attempt to defy specificity in terms of location, personal meaning and politics. However, I am deeply aware that there is a certain impossibility, a utopian aspiration, which drives the work. It would be naïve of me to think that this is entirely possible, especially considering the indexical nature of photography. It is these impossibilities, contradictions and limitations that I am fascinated by, and find myself circling and grappling with continuously. 

​
You refer to your previous work, Obstructed Views, as an attempt to photograph interior spaces while suggesting an outside space. In Constructed Landscapes, you talk about creating a space that defies specificity; a conflation that turns place into space. Do you see these two bodies of work as being complementary or providing balance for you in your practice?  

Obstructed Views led very directly to Constructed Landscapes. Consequently, the two bodies of work share certain conceptual concerns or approaches; For example, the play with light and overexposure - a conscious choice when printing in the darkroom - that serve as obstructive mechanisms that question the role of the image, and point beyond the photographic frame. The attempt to strip places of their specificity is also a shared concern and continuous thread from one to the other. There was an obvious natural progression, an interest in more abstracted representations or suggestions of landscape, which may not seem as obvious to others so thank you for pointing it out!

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (MU – 1818181818-1), 2019,
​C-type handprint made from 5 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP
24” × 33.7” (61 × 85.5 cm)

You choose to deliberately remove man-made elements from your landscapes. Is this part of the place into space conversion? 

Absolutely…. I feel manmade elements invite particular narratives, which is something I prefer to avoid. I hope the images resist narrative, and instead become a space for contemplation, but remain disorientating for the viewer. I don’t intend to create a comfortable space, but rather one that hopefully perpetuates a more active way of looking or thinking about landscape, physically as well as metaphorically. As mentioned above, I’m also interested in the paradox of removing elements that create interruptions in the so-called purity of the landscape, that are consequently replaced by new interruptions that point to a manual intervention. I like to specifiy that what is removed is anything obviously manmade; There is so much that is erroneously perceived as natural, which is also manmade.

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (CO-1616161616-1), 2017,
​C-type handprint made from 5 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP, 40” × 25” (101.6 × 63.5 cm)

There is a pervasive analogue quality in the work. A sense of constructed images that are unique through a process of creative destruction, which cannot be ‘undone’ as a digital image could be. Is the digital vs analogue struggle intentionally present in your work? 

I am interested in the irreversibility of the act of creative destruction you mention. Traditionally, the photographic negative has a certain sacred quality, so there’s an element of playful defiance. The fact there is no master file that can be maintained, no ‘undo’ action, also raises the stakes. Furthermore, the residue of the ‘mistakes’ or accidents that take place - the hesitations, imperfections and slips of the hand - become intrinsic to the process and part of the visual language which is, to borrow your term, ‘pervasively analogue’. Saying that, I like to point out that there is no hierarchy in my opinion. I’m not a purist, i.e. I don’t believe film is superior to digital. They are equally valid tools, which enable diverse approaches that enrich contemporary practice. Photographs have always been manipulated, from the early combination prints produced by Pictorialists and Modernist experiments with film to current digital manipulation. There is a great deal of work that can only be made as a result of digital modes of production and technological advances, which are invaluable to the development of the medium.

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (LO -TH - 18181818-2, 2019,
​C-type handprint made from 4 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP
16” × 19.9” (40.6 × 50.5 cm)

Has this work changed the way you view landscape photography? Would the processes you have developed for editing the negatives affect the way you would now frame and photograph a landscape?  

The work has altered the way I view landscape photography, as well as (experience) actual landscapes, and has inevitably affected the way I shoot. As I’m aware of the fact I will be collaging the negatives, I am liberated from being precise or feeling the pressure to create images that are interesting in themselves. They serve purely as source material, which is there to be reconfigured and abstracted. There is a real freedom in knowing that these original negatives are not precious, and are not made to preserve, perpetuate or suggest any kind of idealised moment, landscape or singular point of view. What that is replaced by is a multitude of perspectives that are embedded within one photographic frame, that points to a kind of Cubist disposition. Saying that, I have a great deal of respect for artists that are able to make complex and interesting work through ‘straight’ photographs. The fact I couldn’t seem to do that is what led to Constructed Landscapes.

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (LO -TH - 18181818181818-1, 2019,
​C-type handprint made from 7 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP
24.2” × 30” (61.5 × 76.2 cm)

Is it important for the work that it stays as an ongoing project? How do you see the work evolving going forward?  

The work will remain an ongoing project as long as I feel there is enough to challenge me and pique my curiosity. Over the last few years, the work has expanded to include site-specific vinyl wallpapers, architectural interventions, photograms, studies and publications. As well as producing new images for the series, I’m currently experimenting with new technologies that combine analogue and digital processes, which attempt to push the work beyond its current framework. I’m also working on a book, due to be published by Fw:Books in 2020, which will incorporate the process material that is so intrinsic to the project, but has so far had limited outings in an exhibition context. I’m very excited about the publication, as it enables an expansive iteration of the project, specific to the book form.

Dafna Talmor, Untitled (LO -TH -1818181818181818 -1), 2018,
​C-type handprint made from 8 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP
30” × 13.8” (76.2 × 35 cm)

---

Bio

Dafna Talmor is an artist and lecturer based in London whose practice encompasses photography, video, curation and collaborations. Her photographs are included in public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Deutsche Bank, Hiscox and in private collections internationally. Talmor's work is included in Post-Photography:The Artist with a Camera by Robert Shore (Laurence King Publishing 2014) and Alternative Photographic Processes:Crafting Handmade Images by Brady Wilks (Focal Press 2015) and has been featured in publications such as 1000 Words, Elephant Magazine, Camera Austria, ArtReview, IMA, BJP, Hotshoe, GUP, Photomonitor and BLOW. 

Talmor was commissioned by the FT Weekend Magazine for the Photo London 2018 supplement and showed work in the concurrent 'My London' group show in Peckham 24 curated by Emma Bowkett (May 2018). Talmor’s recent solo shows include Constructed Landscapes at TOBE Gallery (Budapest, 2018) and Photofusion (London, 2017) and group exhibitions Inner Landscapes at Sid Motion Gallery and Synthetic Landscapes, curated by Meadow Arts at Weston Park. She took part in Unseen Amsterdam 2018 in the CO-OP section with the London Alternative Photography Collective. Recent group exhibitions include ...on making at Gdansk National Museum (Poland) curated by Sian Bonnell, Moving the Image: Photography and its Actions curated by Duncan Wooldridge at Camberwell Space (London) and upcoming Her Ground: Women Photographing Landscape at Flowers East (London).

Talmor is a finalist of the BNL BNP Paribas Group Award 2019, shortlisted for the MACK First Book Award 2018 and the Unseen Dummy Award 2018, is the recipient of a Breathing SPACE Bursary (2016), Arts Council England Grants for the Arts Awards (2017, 2014 & 2013), the Photofusion Select Bursary Award (2013), selected as a series finalist for the Renaissance Photography Prize 2013, IV Daniela Chappard Biennale Photography Award (2007) and nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Artist Award (2005). In March 2014, a collaborative initiative she co-founded with Minna Kantonen and Emma Wieslander, On Landscape Project, presented an Arts Council funded exhibition and programme of events On Landscape #1, at Yinka Shonibare's Guest Projects (London) followed by On Landscape #2 at Matèria Gallery (Rome 2015) and On Landscape #3 at Lower Hewood Farm (Dorset, UK 2016). 

Alongside her practice, Talmor is an Associate Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Fine Art and Photography courses at Solent University, leads the annual Fine Art Summer School at Goldsmiths, University of London, works on a freelance basis as a visiting lecturer nationally and internationally and runs workshops across different contexts that have included Unseen Amsterdam, Tate Modern, The Photographers' Gallery, Photofusion, schools and universities.

www.dafnatalmor.co.uk