Reese's Task Number Four

Using methods common to explorations in typology, such as adherence to particular compositions and similar applications of artificial and available light, I have photographed close to thirty portraits of socks in their usual ball state when I am not using them. Socks, like many other types of clothing, are often adorned with rich use of colour and design to appeal to varying tastes and preferences. Each pair is a set of containers that can conform to the unique body shapes of its user, similar to the way film and digital media depend on the particular mechanical settings and local conditions in which the photographs are made. Sock balls, however, is a pair that has been turned inside out, stretched and twisted, becoming containers contained within them, all as if devouring each other. The precision of colour and design are temporarily disabled but its structural make-up must still contort and adapt in its attempt to negotiate with the changing needs and demands of its owner. While studying in OCAD, I have often come across people who speak of their black and white imagery with an heir of superiority, as though colour is unrefined or superfluous. As expected, they have usually been matched with arguments supporting otherwise. While "After Colour" engages with particular use and thoughts surrounding greyscale applications, it is also accompanied by investigations and perhaps some doubt in the role and meaning of colour in a world that cannot escape it and with which we have become so familiarized.