Charles Schwartz "Light Reclaimed - Masked Japanese Man"

For years I have collected daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes; small intimate images in cases that open and close so that the photo can be carried in a pocket and displayed at will. In collecting these images I usually looked for a perfect, flawless piece, but over time I found myself drawn to the boxes containing the undesirable – broken, scratched, partially destroyed images where the imperfections rather than ruining the object seemed to impart a greater beauty. This new way of looking at photography was intriguing. I kept these marred treasures in a box and called them my orphans.

My interest in these flawed images led me to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi that refers to the celebration of objects that bear the marks of time and use. This idea has influenced my collection of “imperfect” cased images and the body of work I call LIGHT RECLAIMED.

In subjecting these 19th century cased images to the digital process of scanning and enlargement, the photographs are transformed, and the results are unexpected. The photographs originated through a light process, and this second exposure to the light of a scanner alters the image in a compelling way – this is the basis of my work. The process of taking an intimate, antique photograph and magnifying the impact of handling and decay exposes its mystery, allowing the original object to take on a new life.

Charles Schwartz "Light Reclaimed - African American Nanny and Child"