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“Like a sculptor, Armstrong has pared away all but the figure, letting it fly or fall or struggle. Removing extraneous detail, he gives it new life. Armstrong breathes into the darkness to reveal the shadow of man against the light, the classic tale as well as the essence of photography.”

W.M. Hunt, ‘Shadow in the Sun’

Renaissance

Renaissance is a portfolio of photographs in the ongoing Infinity series: an extensive body of work begun in 1997. They are made using a unique process of photographing found images extremely out of focus, with the lens set at infinity. In this case, the source materials are reworked master drawings, mostly from the Renaissance. The multi-layered process of reproduction and blurring, appropriating an image and subjecting it to a series of manipulations (photocopying, cutting, painting, re-photographing) transforms the original images, giving them a new meaning in a new context - a renaissance of the Renaissance.

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The original drawings were attempts to capture the human figure in a specific action, either from Biblical, mythological or historical scenes, but the rough sketches are removed from the milieu of the larger whole. Armstrong’s process accentuates the extraction, removing them further from their context and adding a new psychology of color to the achromatic drawings. Extreme blurring erases features, dissolves identity and obscures individuality while retaining the essence of the original gesture, so that a 15th century religious figure can have secular relevance today.

The themes of the images in Renaissance move in opposing directions. Some of the figures seem to be ascending - flying, floating, or otherwise suspended in the ether - and represent man’s aspirations toward freedom. Or, conversely they may seem to be falling or doomed, as the crucifixes and divers become oddly interchangeable. Others are bound, bent, tethered or twisted and appear to be struggling against the frame, representing the limits and agonies of the human condition. At the same time the photographs may be seen as motion studies of dancers or athletes, reminiscent of Isadora Duncan’s search for a Hellenic ideal, ironically fluid and active for reproductions of action frozen.

The images are intended as meditative pieces, transporting the viewer to another world. Human-centered like the civic humanist ideals of the 15th century, these visions are concurrently ethereal and luminous: an exaltation of the spirit.

Film Noir

“Film Noir” revisits the themes of the classic black-and-white films of the 40s and 50s, but with the lush, saturated colors for which Bill Armstrong is known. The solitary figures contemplating the unknown reference the ethical and philosophical dilemmas laid out in those stories. Armstrong’s mysterious images remain unresolved, however, hinting at the increased uncertainties of the contemporary viewpoint.

After: Dreaming in Color

'In After: Dreaming in Color, I imagine the history of photography as if in a dream, making color interventions into iconic 19th century photographs.

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My process is to transform appropriated images taken from the web and from books by injecting color, either digitally or by manually using color filters and a light table—or a combination of both. After: Dreaming in Color continues the arc of my investigation into layering found or appropriated images that I have been pursuing since the late 1970’s, first with collages made from advertising posters and then with the blurred images of the Infinity series that I am known for.

In my research I have found that the standard histories of photography often somewhat arbitrarily pass over the fact that color has been around since the beginning: in Anna Atkins’ cyanotypes; in opalescent daguerreotypes; in hand–colored and sepia toned photographs. In response to this oversight, I have created my own dreamlike history of color photography. It is a reverie that continues my ongoing study of the contrast and harmony of colors, but this time with an eye toward wit, humor and visual puns.'

Bill Armstrong, 2016.

Figures

Figures is part of Armstrong's Infinity series, which he explains, "includes a wide range of portfolios, from figurative to abstract, that are made using my unique process of photographing found images extremely out of focus with the camera’s focusing ring set at infinity."

Unfixed

The images in Unfixed are not taken from the real world, as they may appear, but are made by re-photographing appropriated images, in this case photographs of Italian architecture.

Unspoken

Partial Appearances

Partial Appearances is a meditation on self, identity and the psychological state of being in-between that reflects the transitional nature of contemporary life. Appearances may or may not be real, and half-truths are often the best one can hope for. Identity, itself, is in question as the shift from the real to the “cyber” leaves the individual in a state of flux. At the same time, once fixed ideas about gender have become fluid and open.

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Partial Appearances continues my investigation into re-purposing the basic tools of photography to transform found or appropriated images so as to subvert the documentary expectation of photography. My early work with found collages of torn posters (Accidental Portraits, Found Collages, Found Diptychs) used framing to transform images hidden in plain sight into illusionistic images. The Infinity series used blur, or negative depth of field, to create an ephemeral parallel universe. Unfixed relied on shutter speed to create fractured, distorted images by moving the camera during long exposures. Partial Appearances explores the magical possibilities of the digital tool of layering to transform a combination of appropriated and made up images into psychological fictions.

With Partial Appearances I have found a new method of creating imagery that furthers my interest in the contrast and harmony of colors while addressing many of the spiritual concerns of the Infinity series. On the simplest level, the use of layers is an apt metaphor for the increased number of layers that threaten to overwhelm the psyche, adding on more to the existing layers of anxiety, alienation, longing and isolation that can submerge contemporary individuals as they try to navigate a constantly shifting world. At the same time, the layers of different opacity represent different sides of the self and point to the spiritual dilemma of the individual’s struggle to become whole in an increasingly complex world.