These images represent photographs that were made in response to looking at and manipulating many astronomical images - optical, as well as radio and other "invisible" renderings of space. I think of these pictures as paintings or drawings that were made with light on a paper that responded chemically to produce a range of gray tones. None of the photographs were made with a camera. Each picture was conceived and created in the darkroom. Some were made directly with the light of the enlarger. Some were made with light while the photographic paper lay submerged in developer. The tactile quality and nuance have been lost in this translation onto the computer screen.
These photographs do not, for the most part, look like the true astronomical pictures. Rather, I am interested in portraying an imagined celestial event. Each one, when compared to an actual telescope image seems plausible. I am interested in how, in the guise of science any photograph can become believable - a fact. I find it interesting that when presented alongside real astronomical imagery, my photographs might be "interpreted" by a scientist. As a lay viewer I find the telescope photographs inconceivable and mind-boggling. I trust that they depict what they purport. As pictures they are beautiful and elegant. In the end they astound me.
After manipulating all of the astronomical images for display in the exhibition, as well as for this website I became interested in how scientists reveal different structures in the images by altering the contrast and brightness of the digital information. After digitally animating these files to reveal the range of embedded information I began to see the presentation as a temporal event. These short pieces led me to do a series of digital videos that, like the photographs, are comprised solely of light. Not based on any actual stellar events, I hope to convey the essence of what might be.
Pamela Bannos
12/26/2000