This project is a significant departure from my social documentary or humanist-focused work. It is not black-and-white, shot on a tabletop, and highly manipulated using Photoshop. This work's motivation was to experiment with design ideas and to combine forensic photography practices with art. The following is the short essay I wrote about the project in 2020.

Forensic Art Project:

The nexus between art and science has been a captivating combination of disciplines for many artists over centuries. The genesis of this curiosity may be considered within the European Renaissance period, which started around the 14th century when the Western world was waking from the Dark Ages. The Renaissance was a period of significant intellectual growth, social reform, politics, culture and the development of science through deductive reasoning. However, it is the arts that the Renaissance period is best known for today with its natural depictions of subjects, the application of vivid colours through the development of oil paints, and the understanding of space and perspective. Polymaths like da Vinci and Michelangelo are well-known for their scientific exploits to support their art practice. The advancement of knowledge and the development of scientific instrumentation added to the understanding and practice of art. It has been advocated that Dutch painter Vermeer used an optical device to aid his paintings, although it is now considered this device may not have been a camera obscura.

The development of complex mathematics leading into the 17th century witnessed notable advancements in understanding the world through physics and optics. Scientific principles and theories developed by Kepler, Newton, Huygens, and Hooke significantly advanced scientific knowledge, including, but not limited to, understanding the propagation of light, the electromagnetic spectrum, and optics. Newton’s book, ‘Optiks’ published in 1704, is considered a milestone in scientific publications.

This creative work explores the nexus between art and science by using forensic photography methods to create images within the context of fine art. Unlike natural science, which applies a deductive reasoning paradigm to observe natural phenomena, forensic science utilises an inductive model that appropriates knowledge already existing in science. Forensic photography also tends to borrow methods that are mostly scientific photography methodologies. Forensic work, often aided by photography or imaging, is about observation, including the invisible and the analysis of patterns.

These images represented in this body of work were designed to be printed on a large scale for exhibition. Large-scale prints expose the details within the image and are intended to change the viewer's perspective from initially seeing a motif design to discovering the ordinariness of the subject matter. Several scientific photography methods used within forensic investigation were utilised in this work. Each method has the primary purpose of forensic photography, which is to visualise and document physical evidence. The goal of this artwork is to question the connection between art and science and, in particular, through the lens of forensic photography, both metaphorically and literally.

(Click on the left and right arrows to advance the gallery)

Project Status: Completed