With digital manipulation, Pedro Meyer brings into his pictures what he saw, even if it wasn't there.
Pedro Meyer's pictures are more eloquent than a thousand words. The CD-ROM- based work of this prominent Mexican photographer is a blend of traditional photographic art, spiritual wonder, and thoughtful narrative. Digital technology, Meyer says, "opens up enormous potential for photographers."
I Photograph to Remember - Meyer's first CD-ROM compilation - made photographic history and inspired other photographers like Rick Smolan (creator of From Alice to Ocean) to work in the digital medium. Beyond its format and narrative tracks, however, I Photograph to Remember is a classic example of traditional photojournalism: a collection of poignant black-and- white images that chronicle the last year of his parents' lives.
In contrast, most of the images in his new Truths and Fictions collection have been digitally altered. The Truths and Fictions CD-ROM includes a digital catalogue of Meyer's recent museum exhibit at The California Museum of Photography in Riverside, California, as well as introductory discussions among visual and performance artists of how the digital revolution has affected the way they work. "The fact that my images are digital," says Meyer, "doesn't make them any less truthful than documentary photographs of the past."
Since his start with a Kodak Brownie, Meyer has tried to capture images in his mind's eye on film. Digital photography brings him one step closer. The photograph shown here, El Santo de Paseo (The Patron Saint), for instance, portrays the popular Mexican idea of the local patron saint. Cameras have traditionally provided images of tangible objects and visible elements, eluded by camera-shy patron saints and other mythical figures, not to mention the personal memories of the artist. "Memory informs everything we see," insists Meyer. With digital manipulation, he says, "we can bring into a picture what we saw, even if it was not there."
Where is one of the most accomplished photographers in the digital medium headed from here? Meyer laughs, "That is like asking a mother in labor what her next child is going to be like."
Exhibit info for Truths and Fictions: a Journey from Documentary to Digital Photography: +1 (310) 829 2825. CD-ROM: US$39.95. Voyager Company: (800) 446 2001, +1 (310) 451 1383.
