Visualising the Dark Nature of Time

With a style that recalls the most iconic of the noir movies, Argentinean photographer Monty Kaplan proposes a fragmented narrative that deals with some of the most profound human obsessions. 

"I cannot
move backward   
or forward.
I am caught

in the time
as measure.

What we think
of we think of—

of no other reason   
we think than
just to think—
each for himself."

"The Measure" is a project that adapts Robert Creeley's poem of the same name. Using the text as inspiration, I created a sci-fi tale of a scientist, whose obsession with understanding the nature of time and the possibility to travel through it, drives him to madness. The poem speaks of feeling caught in the time as measurement, what was interesting to explore for me was this encounter with an impossible limit, the idea of becoming imprisoned by our own ways of reasoning. The character is trapped in a maze of his own head, unable to see past this tunnel vision. The project's narrative is divided into three, the character's POV; a scientific journal, and a look into his experiments. These all add onto another, becoming increasingly erratic to create a dramatic crescendo while the poem serves as the emotional backbone for the series.

Words and Pictures by Monty Kaplan.

Federico "Monty" Kaplan is a nomadic photographer from Argentina. He uses photography as a tool to examine and question our perception of the reality we inhabit. His background in filmmaking helps him create unorthodox narratives filled with atmospheres that blur the line between fiction and documentary. Find him on PhMuseum and Instagram.

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This feature is part of Story of the Week, a selection of relevant projects from our community handpicked by the PhMuseum curators.

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