What is a Derivative?

Sometime in the fall of 2015 I began to experiment with a new process I titled ‘Derivatives’, but WHAT IS a derivative?

A derivative is an attempt to combine my work in college with my work in analogue photography by ‘collaging’ on film through a process of multiple exposures.

The project started as a direct response to the boom in amateur digital photography. To be frank, there is an abundance of mediocre photographers all producing nearly identical work. Everyday I logged into the forums and saw the same handful of photographs being reproduced by an endless number of aspiring photographers. I started thinking about how I could transform this content into something original and new — even better if I could push the boundary of analogue photography at the same time.

From this thought derivatives were born. These photographs are assemblies of 2 to 6 images within the same frame of film. What I aim to do is take an image and subvert its original intent by placing something wildly different alongside of it —  ideally in a visually stimulating way that transforms the content.

I no longer work solely with amateur photography, I now work with commercial advertising, historical photographs, illustration, classical art work and my own mixed media collages in an attempt to further refine the messages and stories I wish to tell.

Shop all our derivative works here.