Sarah Abramson - Playing With Magic
This series is called "Playing With Magic". It is my ode to film. My aim is to draw subtle attention to the pure magic of film as well as the magic that exists all around us. Secondly, it is about the forgotten. Film is becoming something of the past. Magic is always there but also becomes something of the past as each year creeps by and we descend further and further into adulthood.
Magic, the supernatural, and miracles are truly anything you want them to be. It is about abandoning logic momentarily and tapping into ones emotions and imagination. It is paying attention to the whispers and the way the light spreads across a textured surface. Everyone holds within them the ability to lift the veil between what is real and what is not. As children we do it constantly. As we age this seems to become exceedingly harder. Magic is described as being an attempt to preceive and impact the world using emblems, language and movement. To me, this accurately describes photography. Furthermore, what are photographs if not illusions created by light?
It's truly incredible that film is on it's way to becoming obsolete. I can remember the days of developing my own film. Then working with the enlarger to burn and dodge, it felt like I was painting with light. Then placing that piece of freshly exposed photo paper into the developer and watching; waiting for the darkest blacks to appear first, then everything else fills in and you're suddenly standing over this image that you created with your own two hands. Film has a way of surprising you. It can pick up on things that sometimes, we as people, can not see. Who is to say whether or not that glowing orb is a light leak or something more mysterious.
"Playing With Magic" is my way of preserving both the magic in everyday life and irreplaceable enchantment of film. Both often forgotten, both taken for granted, both with a multitude of potential. "And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl