Public Clocks is a series of photographs of clocks in urban spaces. The images are made using a process developed by the early 20th century photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, where three black and white image are shot with red, green and blue filters, then superimposed to make a colour image.
This project combines an archaic process with subject matter that is also becoming archaic. Since most people now depend on cell phones, public clocks are becoming irrelevant while, we are experiencing a more private hyper-awareness of time.
So, instead of using Prokudin-Gorskii’s technique to create an accurate colour photograph, I am using it to highlight motion and changes in the environment during each of the three shots. By capturing people, cars, buses and subway trains passing by in the red, green and blue components, as well as the moving hands on the clocks, the transience of the scene is eerily exaggerated. In layering different passing moments into one picture, this project is an exploration of our changing perception of time.