Photographic art work in 7 parts, 1988

The story Genesis 1 was reportedly written twenty-six centuries ago, when the Israelites were in captivity along Babylon's rivers. The stories are not accounts of events. 'These are hidden messages. Wisdom in story form with which people in ancient Israel encouraged each other in difficult times.'1 

I exposed all sorts of materials that I associated with the stories on large white sheets of photo paper that I cut from the roll. In one organic movement, the images of the first 7 days came to life in the darkroom. 7 parts with at the end, the painted all-seeing eye, a nod to the Bible text. “And God saw that it was good”
To depict the origin of man on day 6, I placed myself on different places on the paper and pressed the switch of the enlarger. The light did not go through me but descended over me and made the contours of my body visible. A shadow of myself appeared on the places where I had lain.

Did I play God for a moment in that dark room, where I painted with light in darkness? The images were rolled through developing baths, fixed and rinsed in running water. Out of the water the paper must dry to return to its original form. Yet not white and empty, but filled with deep feelings in black and white and shades of gray.

My God the days, the years fly by.

Old stories give our life a future…