by John H. Diephouse
Dimensions: 20″ x 30″
Media: Photography, printed on aluminium
For more information on this piece: 517-999-1052
Price: $300.00
Inspiration for Face of Copernicus
“Face of Copernicus” is part of a series of photos I created as a study of technology-related subjects. The series includes close up images of circuit boards, computers, digital displays, and computer components. Paradoxically, these images reflect shapes, textures and forms that are simultaneously literal and symbolically analogous. For example, the instantly recognizable image of a circuit board also begins to resemble the map of complex highway system when viewed under very close scrutiny.
“Face of Copernicus” captures the working mechanism of a computer hard drive. The concrete mechanics of the rotating disc are readily apparent. When considered at a more abstract level, one might imagine the multiple circles in the image mimicking Copernicus’ theories of astronomy that explain the rotation of the earth and planets around the sun. At its most conceptual, the image may also reflect a mental model that the centrality of technology and information in modern life that is analogous to Copernicus’ sun.
Artist’s Biography
I have been taking photographs for much of the past three decades. I am primarily self-taught and moved to digital photography about eight years ago. This transition marked a qualitative shift in both my interest and satisfaction resulting from the ease of making adjustments in the “digital darkroom”. This has encouraged me to experiment and more freely apply my creative vision, and corresponds to the start of my publicly exhibiting my work.
At this point in my development, I seek to share images with which I have a strong and instinctive personal connection. Images may be simply documentary, invoke a sense of time and place, or resonate with an abstract blend of color, form or meaning. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection. My creative process follows an intuitive yet patterned search for the combination of elements that produces the kind of instinctive connection I seek. Most often the images with which I have the strongest connection are those that do not produce an immediate reaction but provoke a response through repeated contact and consideration over time.
