Brett Biedscheid
Senior Technician
Lens Based Media
During my BA in Fine Arts (University of New Mexico), I gravitated towards alternative photographic practices; In particular, I was drawn to photo montage. At the time, this was an analogue practice involving photo negatives, razor blades and countless hours at the enlarger. As time passed, my passion for this process remained strong even as technology progressed. I now work digitally, albeit using the same techniques and time-intensive processes I was drawn to during those early ‘darkroom days’. More recently, I decided to devote further exploration of my montage practice by earning an MA in Film and Photography at the University of Derby in 2022. My works are all self-referential, and most are self-portraits. Each constructed moment queries the notions of what success is, what failure entails, and explores the fleeting societal construct of ‘national identity’. In essence, my work that explores being lost, whilst also serving as a poorly informed guide to making the most of a bad situation.
This series explores Réseau plates and fiducial markers. In scientific and technical photography, these two elements form a system for measurement that ensures distances and measurements have not been distorted; think of the crosshairs on Apollo moon images. My work is self-referential, and this series illuminates the struggle measuring distance, direction and progress in a life constantly being contorted and warped by time and experience – new plates and markers must continually be created.
