After being introduced to engraving photographs on pieces of plastic, I was immediately struck by the ability to make the image into a negative or a positive depending on the angle in which the photograph was placed. I began to play around with different background colors behind the material to see how the image changed. I then began to experiment with projecting light onto the plastic and was surprised to see the image be projected onto the wall as a negative when on the plastic it appeared positive. I especially enjoyed when the projection was so large that it covered the entire wall creating an image filled space. I also enjoyed when moving the light at different angles making the image more which created a dizzying and overwhelming effect.
The most challenging aspect of this project was deciding on the images I would use. After a few tests I was really drawn to the images of architecture, but what architecture would I engrave? I have always been interested in the differences between the back of town buildings versus the front especially in Northampton, MA. I find the store fronts along Main Street are very colorful and vibrant while the back of the buildings are very worn and broken down. I thought about documenting and comparing these differences, but found myself to be more interested in what I documented when exploring the side streets and alleyways. Because I felt that these projections seemed to make a dramatic space, I felt that by printing the “hidden” areas of Northampton, MA and having them be projected would somehow reveal these areas to viewers.
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf2.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/3ca9d0f0-b01d-4a86-964f-2d1ef130d832_rw_1200.jpg?h=734887d0ac8f0cec39ee0704e568dc9f)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf4.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/5cc391e4-6f11-47c7-b42d-9f0317673624_rw_1200.jpg?h=6efff192aa2ffea31db98165ddb06463)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/796788fd-1627-4afb-85fb-5d3e8de4a191_rw_1200.jpg?h=bb775d2b86a7b1394c6be708de22d556)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf1.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/c51ede61-b513-4306-a602-8bdbc5ab0f16_rw_1200.jpg?h=a02a50ff622729e199b50bc87b2ccc26)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf5.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/66308700-7c0e-4203-b1f9-25abe1ee3514_rw_1200.jpg?h=5b711dc5750a6b83895ea7284e97c27c)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf3.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/454b91fd-48f1-4015-8d97-b121a8e55ce8_rw_1200.jpg?h=c11ba27eb7c51abbd4cd0c060d11bbde)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf1.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/c867b6a0-b5f3-44a5-89a5-2d2452c8af32_rw_1200.jpg?h=7cee93fee7d3626185dbf390a32e9021)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/17cbabb9-0d7f-4efe-badc-940dc20e1f50_rw_1200.jpg?h=188b59cd228644908782997c3d1d0b3c)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf4.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/58e0108b-48e0-46e8-9471-e4a4bba947ee_rw_1200.jpg?h=6edfd17668c23e01fb56812ce4ef2469)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf5.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/6d8079dd-cb93-4d56-b1ce-9303d9e14c75_rw_1200.jpg?h=0031ec33d22b8a3f56f65ea0ca37f84f)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/805ad469-5a22-40e7-8421-616c67e9a1fc_rw_1200.jpg?h=59a9467dab01d142b9eff24331eb1af5)
![](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf3.myportfolio.com/8315e998-6f8e-46eb-9c83-34c059398979/e6b57f46-e2c1-4a83-abd2-bb5fbad46899_rw_1200.jpg?h=7b51cc2a456e4a648e4673057b796beb)