The Artist Circulates - Amongst Curators, Journalists, Technicians And Her Colleagues 2005

John Hilliard made this photograph, "The Artist Circulates - Amongst Curators, Journalists, Technicians And Her Colleagues", using photography and darkroom techniques. It feels like a process of accrual, of layering and superimposition, like memory itself. The whole piece is filled with ghostly afterimages, figures fading in and out of focus. Look at the way the woman in the dress is multiplied, her presence both here and not here, solid and dissolving. It’s like Hilliard is showing us the many roles an artist has to play, always moving, always performing. The cool tones and muted palette add to the sense of transience, as if everything is in a state of flux. This image reminds me a little of Jeff Wall, in the sense of a staged photograph, but Hilliard is really pushing the boundaries of the medium, embracing the accidental and the ephemeral. Art is like that, a constant dance between intention and chance, presence and absence, always inviting us to look a little closer.