Time In Frame

By Jadon Nadeau and Emma McDonald

Our piece explores how time and movement can be represented physically within a single frame. We play with light, motion, perception, and duration to challenge the stillness typically associated with photography. A photograph traditionally arrests time and movement—we wanted to investigate how we might convey the impression of motion and the passage of time without using video or animation techniques. Drawing on our combined skills in photography, illustration, and digital editing, we worked together to bring this idea to life through a carefully constructed collage of moments

We use photography and lighting to explore, movement, time, and perception. The illusion of movement is often created through video and animation techniques. Our project creates this illusion by juxtaposing overlapping images under color-changing light. We were inspired by anaglyph images, which use two overlaid images in red and blue, each separate image seen through the red and blue film as with 3D glasses. We expanded on this by using colored light instead and adding a third color and image, in green. Using this technique we explored various ways of representing time, including the change of a body and object in a space, or the change in the space around the subject instead.

We encourage viewers to get close and view the small details of each image and also engage with the lighting set up on the laptop. Using the photographic medium, we combine freeze-frame and long exposure techniques to capture life-like detail while achieving an animated effect. The resulting work invites viewers to reconsider how still imagery can represent time and challenge their relationship to the subject and the picture plane.