Direct Documentation
Direct Documentation 1.0 (August 2026) is my new analogue photographic documentation project exploring the relationship between an artwork, exhibition, object or space and its photographic representation, with a particular focus on maintaining a direct physical connection between the two.
The photographs are made on color reversal film (slide film), producing a physical positive image. The film has a fixed color balance, which remains unchanged regardless of the light in which the photograph is made. The developed slide film constitutes the primary documentation and, before being handed over to the client, is digitized with the aim of maintaining as close a relationship to the physical medium as possible.
Method
Exhibitions, spaces and objects in situ are photographed and shown as they are, or as they can be physically arranged. If, for example, a fire extinguisher should not appear in the final image, it must either be physically removed before exposure or excluded through composition.
No external light sources are added. Existing light may be subtracted if it can be turned off.
The same film stock is used for all documentation
Perspective and composition are established in-camera, and exposure is established at the time of photographing.
The same color balance is used in all situations: daylight. No correction is made for the color temperature of the existing light. Daylight will therefore appear relatively neutral, tungsten-lit interiors will appear warm, while fluorescent and LED sources may introduce green or magenta shifts.
No filters for color correction or polarization are used.
The characteristics and limitations of the film are retainged as part of the documentation.
The developed transparencies constitute the original documentation and are handed over to the client together with digitized versions.
Digitization should reproduce the physical transparency as closely as possible. Adjustments are limited to those necessary to make the digital reproduction correspond to the appearance of the original transparency.
The film borders are included in the primary digital version to maintain a visible reference to the specific physical transparency from which the digital image originates.
Cropped versions may be made, but only when presented alongside or accompanied by the original bordered version, so that the connection to the physical medium is maintained.
No alterations or edits to the depicted subject are permitted in post-production. Minor removal of dust introduced during digitization is allowed, as are geometric corrections necessary to reproduce the physical film frame accurately.