GHOST ING PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADAM BROWN
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS © ADAM DANIEL BROWN, 1998–9.
WORDS © C L BROWN, 04 MAY 2002.
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A NOTE ON THIS PROJECT
This project has been a long time in the making; so long in fact that it might almost be considered a ghost itself. The images are around nine years old. The original text was composed in 2000 and was based on extracts from a notebook I had kept since 1995. In 2002 I decided to write new words, taking my inspiration directly from the photographs themselves. I wanted to try and create a coherent narrative for the images. Whether this has been achieved you may now judge for yourself. Enjoy the journey; embrace the destination, wherever that may be.
c l brown, april 2007. GHOSTING 3
HOW IT CAME ABOUT
This project began life with the working title mystery shoot, because of the circumstances in which the photographs were taken. Sometime during the period 1998–9, Adam had chanced on a camera, left unguarded and vulnerable to his curiosity, and proceeded to take the series of photographs shown here. Although almost a whole roll of film had been shot, no-one noticed (and Adam, of course, neglected to tell of his little adventure).
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Consequently, when the film was eventually developed and returned (complete with an extra set!), there was a great deal of confusion. Which gradually gave way to amusement as it became apparent who the mystery snapper was. Adam’s twenty five photographs are presented in almost the same order in which they were taken. In none of them does he manage to photograph the kitchen clock, so we have no idea what time they were taken. However, some unearthly hour of the morning is suggested by the presence of pyjamas and the complete lack of parental supervision! (Of course, had the adults not required sleep, it is safe to say these photographs could not have been taken). c l brown, 2000.
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01 PORTAL/THE INVITATION (geometry of a journey)
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02 Down is up in reverse; THERE IS NO FEAR in the UNKNOWN, only MYSTERY
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03 MYSTERY TRAVELLER; TRANSPORT OF DREAMS
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04 In shining wonder at THE BEAUTY OF CREATION; THE EFFORTLESSNESS OF BREATHING
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05 BECOMING LIGHT; BECOMING THE ENERGY OF THE UNIVERSE
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06 …and out the other side; more KNOWING, with a new-found confidence to laugh at THE PROFOUND AND THE SACRED
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07 Rejoicing in the ARCHITECTURE OF CHAOS; when memory becomes FUGITIVE and erases EVERYTHING except THE INESSENTIAL
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08 GHOSTING (the first state)/OBJECTIFY THE MICROCOSM
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09 the beginnings of AN EXPERIMENT WITH ALCHEMY; the forging of base metal in THE FURNACE OF IDEAS
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10 GHOSTING (the second state)/FUSION OF SPIRIT AND MATTER
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11 A SUBTLE ARRANGEMENT OF PIECES; THE BIRTH OF A NEW MATHEMATICS
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12 …and the emergence of PERFECT STRUCTURAL FORM; all elements conjoined
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13 A PORTAL of PAST or FUTURE calling; the sudden arrival of new MYSTERY, SHINING AND NEBULOUS
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14 GHOSTING (the third state)/THE GREAT ARC of SUBSTANCE and SHADOW
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15 A certain FLUIDITY of motion; the CELLS DIVIDE and COALESCE
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16 A further experiment with ALCHEMY; the PREPARATION of channels
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17 GHOSTING (the fourth state)/THE GLIMPSING of ETERNITY
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18 CHAOS revisited/Quantum physics and the END OF ALCHEMY (the great deceiver)
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19 REJOICING in the architecture of CHAOS (a different viewpoint); THE DESIRES of MASS and VOLUME in DEFIANCE of SPACE
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20 GHOSTING (the fifth state)/BEING WITHOUT LIMITS, COMMUNICATING in the new LANGUAGE of the UNIVERSE
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21 THE LANDSCAPE knows EVERYTHING
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22 ALL IS SIGNAL; TRANSMSSION; THE FREQUENCY OF UNDERSTANDING
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23 The unbreakable cycle, WITHOUT BEGINNING OR END; the GREAT CONTINUUM
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24 Things may LOOK THE SAME, but it is really JUST THE NEXT STAGE of the JOURNEY
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25 GHOSTING (the sixth state)/ALL is ONE; LIFEBLOOD, PULSE; the SONG SINGING the UNIVERSE
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TSOH GN NWORB MADA YB SHPARGOTOHP