Just over a year ago in anticipation of spring I wanted to grow something. I remembered having grown lima beans on the corner of my desk in 1st grade. The teacher had us simply place the bean in a folded paper towel and soak it with water. We had to remember to water it each day as we peaked at its growth. It was an exciting experience then and remains fascinating today. Below you see the image I made after leaving the bean and paper towel in a resealable bag for one year. Below that is a video of the stills I made initially. I scanned the bean for over a month and the images didn’t seem that interesting. I forgot about the bean and it just sat on a windowsill day after day untended, un-watered even, for several months. When I came upon it again I decided to scan it as a negative. The resulting image much more about energy and entropy than my initial intentions. In a way this is the longest exposure I’ve ever made, a whole year!
I spent the week before the new year back in the darkroom, not to print old work but to make something new and curious. I’m hoping to make more unique works, one-of-a-kind pieces free of editioning, retouching and all the tedious bits of the photographic process. I’ve also been using my hands and fingerprints to create work. I’ll share a few more starfields soon that also have traces of my physical interventions with the images. Happy new year, may it be wonderful and prosperous for us all -Caleb
