Alexa Wright

Sealed envelope, text, undeveloped photographic print 

“I love light. Perhaps you'll think it strange that an invisible man should need light, desire light, love light. But maybe it is exactly because I am invisible. Light confirms my reality, gives birth to my form.” From: The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, 1952 

 

The envelope contains an unprocessed photographic print. The photograph was taken by my father in the mid-20thCentury, but I don’t know the story behind it. A text describing the scene is printed on the outside of the envelope. Exposure to light before processing will destroy the visual image, leaving mental images evoked by the text unchanged. I am interested in stories, and in how we fill in the gaps in narratives. Under Cover explores these narrative gaps and the different ways that visual and textual narratives work on the imagination. 

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