Bob Jones

What is the essence of a selfie? What binds subject to object, human to technology? In her work _587 Blitze_, Berlin-based photographer Bob Jones explores the photographic self-portrait through an intense, radically physical process. For the project, Jones developed pinhole cameras using a 3D printer, deliberately creating her own alternative to conventional image-making apparatuses. Altogether, ten studio flash units were used, delivering a combined output of roughly 9,600 watt-seconds. > “Normally, photography barely produces a physical sensation, but at this intensity and in such close proximity to the light sources, the physical effect became immediately noticeable. Several of the flashes contain UV components, and the sheer intensity of the light can even cause sunburn.” – Bob Jones Another part of the work explores the intersection of analog and digital media. The artist took selfies with a smartphone — in darkness, onto large rolls of photographic paper that were exposed in the process. > “The driving concept was radical simultaneity. At the very moment the smartphone flash inscribes my body onto the paper, my image is simultaneously recorded digitally onto the sensor. I experienced a strange sense of self-multiplication: I am physically present on the paper and already exist as a digital record at the same time.” – Bob Jones