Standing Stones of Stenness immersed for 9 days
Category
Fine Art
Location
Stenness, Orkney Islands
Gear
Chamonix 45N-2 view camera and Kodak Ektar 4x5 film
Description
The Standing Stones of Stenness endure as one of Orkney’s most enigmatic Neolithic monuments, their purpose lost to time yet their presence embedded within a sacred landscape of interconnected ceremonial sites. At the moment of exposure, water from the adjacent Loch of Stenness was collected and used to immerse the processed film for nine days. The water, minerals and sediments that shaped this ancient landscape were allowed to act upon the photograph, breaking down its emulsion and transforming the image. The photographer initiates the process but relinquishes control of its outcome. The landscape becomes a collaborator, carrying the photograph into an uncertain space between record and disappearance, human intervention and geological time. What remains is not simply an image of the stones, but evidence of an encounter with place. The image becomes special through its refusal to provide a fixed interpretation. As the original photograph is obscured and partially erased, the viewer is invited to imagine what the water might be revealing or depicting. The image is completed not by capture, but through perception and imagination, echoing the enduring mystery of the stones themselves.
Photographer
John Inns
Social Media
Instagram: johninnsphotography
Website: https://johninnsphotography.com
To limit fraudulent voting, you may only vote once per category per IP address.