It's not everyday that you meet a young woman who keeps her own blood in the fridge. Photographer Tara Cronin presented her work to me at the student portfolio review at the International Center for Photography. Cronin's beautiful "T for Transition" series is a kind of self-portrait and zany science experiment rolled into one.
Cronin writes: "The blood, is my own, clinically drawn. I keep a small vial in my fridge. The images are a result of a scan of the blood between two clear negatives, just scotch-taped together so nothing leaks out. I got the chlorophyll from a lab-- it is pure chlorophylin powder, that when I add water to it, becomes liquid chlorophyll. The blue-ish image is a crushed pill-- one of the medications I'm taking. I'm also experimenting with ways to scan galinstan, a liquid metal-- liquid because its melting point is around 60 degrees F-- this I see as the blood of the earth. While chlorophyll is the blood of trees and flora; my own blood and on microscopic levels, medicine, the 'blood' coursing through my blood. Blood of blood. Providing information and transformation while it runs through my veins and body."
Blood, from the series "T for Transition", May 2010.
Chlorophyll, from the series "T for Transition", May 2010.
Blood, from the series "T for Transition", May 2010.
Klonopin, from the series "T for Transition", May 2010.
Chlorophyll, from the series "T for Transition", May 2010.
