by Liam Kilby (’24)

Abstract: These images were shot in November on campus between the quads near Classics and Harper Library. In my photographic pieces shot on a 1977 Yashica FR1 35mm camera, the university buildings in the background are foregrounded by the exposure of light from the camera. This exposure was of interest to me because I am not aware of how this occurred – except for speculation as to how. It could have either been a crack on the side of the camera back or overexposure of the film stock itself.  

As nature and infrastructure collide through the indexical frame, the exposed light bursts through the still buildings. Describing indexical here means the camera pointing directly to the referent – the referent in this case being the photo itself. The light exposure contends with the question of capturing an image through the photographic apparatus. How much control does nature have in the causality for the conditions of an image? These photographs work with the mysteries surrounding the potentiality behind why the exposure occurred. It is dually an opening into the expansive opportunities of photorealistic elements of image-making while also a collision it has with the human behind the lens.  

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Liam Kilby (’24) is a graduate student in Cinema and Media Studies with focuses in experimental and Queer cinema, archival practices, and digital media. Currently Liam has found recent interest in Queer archival practices, tactility in videogame studies and online exhibition/ distribution of independent films. Outside of academics, Liam DJs a weekly show for the University radio station WHPK, watches experimental films, and plays video games – when there’s time!