Notes
Danh uses a specific organic technique of his own invention to create his art, the style of which is referred as chlorophyll print. Positives of photographs are placed onto leaves, and then covered with glass to be exposed to sunlight for a period of days.
Both volumes feature reproductions of Danh's work, Volume I consists of plates of the photographs printed onto leaves.
Summary
"Binh Danh was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the US in 1979. Early in his career, Danh pioneered a technique of printing images directly onto plant matter, activating the plants' chlorophyll with sunlight. Using this process, Danh printed images associated with the war in Vietnam onto the leaves of tropical plants and grasses. Of this work, Danh explains, 'This process deals with the idea of elemental transmigration: the decomposition and composition of matter into other forms. The images of war are part of the leaves, and live inside and outside of them.' Known for his innovative approach to alternative photographic processes, Binh Danh extends and reconsiders the pursuit of pioneering nineteenth-century photographers. For almost a decade, Danh has traveled across the American West, making daguerreotypes of scenic vistas on silver plates in a mobile darkroom he calls Louis, after Louis Daguerre. Danh imbues this scenery with his distinctly personal perspective--namely, an attempt to negotiate his connection as a Vietnamese American with the landscape and history of the United States. The highly reflective surfaces of Danh's daguerreotypes literally mirror their surroundings, embracing viewers within the idyllic environs of national sites and landmarks. This inaugural monograph features two volumes in a slipcase, bringing together all three bodies of work and a separate book of essays and memorabilia that serves to contextualize Danh's work."-- Publisher's description.
Contents
Volume I. Immortality: Remnants of the Vietnam and American War
One Week's Dead
National Parks
Volume II. Lost Photos / Andrew Lam
Family Photos
My Mother's Gambles / Isabelle Thuy Pelaud
Blurred Memories
Boat People
A World of Difference / Joshua Chang
Remants
Citing/Sighting National Parks / Boreth Ly
National Parks
Conversations / Binh Danh & Boreth Ly
Acknowledgments
Contributors