I was drowning in a sea of banal images when I stumbled upon Walter Plotnick’s work ” Re-Imagining the World of Tomorrow ” .
If you browse http://www.walterplotnick.com/ , his creations, although produced using a very modern hybrid digital-analogue workflow, are by their very content and design strongly rooted in our past. A superficial glance might even lead you to believe that you are looking at reproductions of works of old but no, you are looking at modern re-compositions of works of old and at remarkable original photograms and wire creations along with a selection of his contemporary commercial photography .
What comes to my academically untrained mind when I look at some of his work ?
Elegance, joy, multiple exposure, humanity, hope, balance, Moholy Nagy , Man Ray, moving pictures, Metropolis, fondu-enchaîné or cross fading, delight, arabesques, a desire to dance, nostalgia, memories of visiting the Expo 67 in Canada, America, the smell of hypo, politics, cold war, science, future, beauty, creativity,daring feats, skill , celebration, daily life .
I was once a little boy awestruck by science and its promises. I understand now that it is philosophy, not science that will determine humanity’s future; that we urgently need to make progress in our values and develop and use technologies wisely if we are to have any future at all.
Walter Plotnik’s work, brings me much joy and food for thought ; I hope you enjoy it too.
I don’t really know Walter Plotnik, and he hasn’t put me up to this, but I do know he his hoping to get an exhibition up and running in Belgium this summer. Like most projects this one needs financial support:you could have a wander at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1417697998/re-imagining-the-world-of-tomorrow-euro-exhibit-bo and consider backing the project. You’ll have the pleasure of meeting Walter through a video. I love the idea that people from all walks of life can support a project like Walter’s, in my ideal future world most of our time will be used in creative pursuits…So thanks Walter for giving me the chance to have a little taste of my ideal future today!
chevaugeon photographer 
Great post. Your list of things that came to your mind when you looked at Mr. Plotnik’s work had my mind reeling. Especially “the smell of hypo.” At first I read it as “the smell of hippo.”
Thanks Charles, if I get at least one more person to look at Walter Plotnick’s work, I’ll be delighted. I am not a writer nor a critique and have no formal training in the Arts but I do feel I have to make the effort to point people towards photographers ,established or not, that I feel a connection with. I find that it also helps me explore with words what that connection might be. As for ‘hypo ‘, years of work in tiny improvised darkrooms in small Parisian flats…a smell that I’ll never forget and that the work discussed here revived.