Intermedial Temporalities

UCSD doctoral research.

Capturing performance through the lens of temporal fragmentation. Ongoing documentation of live sound and movement using experimental photographic techniques.

I am a musician who photographs performances. Not to document them. To transform them.

When I open the camera shutter during a live concert and close it several seconds later, what the lens captures is not a moment. It is many moments collapsing into one: a conductor's arm as a white arc, ghostly bows moving across strings, a musician who stood and sat again within the same frame. The result is not a blur. It is a record of time accumulating.

That record is the raw material for everything else.

The Loop

I photograph a live performance using long-exposure techniques. I convert the image into audio using two sonification programs, which translate pixel brightness into pitch and amplitude. I compose from that material. I perform the composition. And then I photograph the performance again. The loop closes and begins again.

Why Time

The question behind all of this is simple and very old: can you stop time? Can an image, or a sound, create the feeling that time is not passing but simply is?

Photographers like Hiroshi Sugimoto left his shutter open for entire film screenings. Alexey Titarenko blurred crowds into spectral forms through long exposure. Michael Wesely compressed thirty-four months of urban construction into a single frame. Composers like Éliane Radigue and Alvin Lucier used sustained drones and recursive recording to dissolve the listener's sense of clock time. What connects them is a shared strategy: accumulate duration until linear time gives way to something else. I call that something else a perpetual present.

My practice lives in the space between these two traditions, image and sound, and the loop that connects them is the research.

The Intermedial Concert

In performance, long-exposure photographs from previous cycles are displayed in the concert space while new music is performed live, and a camera is already open, collecting the current performance into its next image. The audience is surrounded by time in three forms: the preserved duration of past performances on the walls, the unfolding present of the music, and the future being collected in the open lens.

Black and white photo of a person lying on the floor in a pose, with motion blur around them indicating movement.
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A person sitting on a chair surrounded by musical equipment, captured with motion blur, in black and white.
Black and white portrait of a woman in a dark dress against a black background, with a motion blur effect creating a ghostly, doubled appearance of her face and arms.
Two people performing with electronic equipment on a round table, under red lighting, motion-blurred in a dark setting.
Blurry black-and-white portrait of a woman with dark hair, wearing earrings, against a dark background.
Black and white photo of a woman raising her arm with motion blur, with her face partially visible and looking upward, in a dark background
A black and white photo of a woman with her arm raised, looking upwards, in a dark setting with a blurred background.
Dark, modern wooden floor with diagonal pieces and shadows.
Black and white photo of a woman with dark hair, reflected in a mirror, with a blurred second reflection of her in motion, against a wooden wall background.
A black and white photo of a woman looking at her reflection in a mirror with a wooden background. The reflection appears blurred due to movement.
Black and white photo of a woman with multiple exposure effect, appearing to have two faces and body positions, wearing a dress and holding a wine glass, with a dark background.
A blurred black-and-white photo of a young girl with curly hair, wearing a dress with ruffled sleeves, standing in darkness.
Clothes hanging behind a transparent plastic curtain.
A person standing on stage with a blurred, ghostly double exposure effect, wearing shiny boots and casual clothing, with a dark background and stage setting.
Black and white abstract photo with a person sitting on a bench, showing motion blur and long exposure effects
Black and white photo of a woman sitting on a chair, with a motion blur effect creating multiple overlapping images of her in different positions.
Black and white photograph of two women sitting in a dimly lit room with blurred motion effects, creating ghostly figures.
Two women dancing on stage, blurred motion in black and white.
Black and white photo of three women dressed in vintage-style dresses, with their images appearing blurred or duplicated, against a dark background.
Black and white photo of a woman with a blurred, multiple-exposure effect, facing slightly to the right, wearing a dress with suspenders, set against a solid black background.
Black and white photo of a live musical performance with a person playing violin, one sitting on a chair, on a dark stage with minimal lighting, creating a motion blur effect.
Two musicians performing on a dark stage, one playing a violin and the other an instrument, with a blurry motion effect, creating a dynamic visual.
Two musicians performing with one playing a guitar and another playing a violin. The scene is in black and white, with motion blur indicating movement.
Two musicians performing on stage with one playing a guitar and the other playing a violin, captured with motion blur in black and white.
Two musicians performing on stage: one playing a guitar and the other playing a violin, both captured with motion blur in a dark setting.
Two musicians playing instruments on a dark stage, one with a guitar and another with a violin, with motion blur indicating movement.
Two musicians performing on a dark stage, one playing a keyboard and the other playing a violin, with motion blur indicating movement.
Two musicians performing on stage with a guitar and violin in a black and white photo, motion blur indicating movement.
Blurred image of a person standing behind a music stand, with movement causing a ghostly double exposure effect, set against a black background.
A black and white photo of two women, one sharply in focus and the other blurred, looking at a music stand with sheet music, against a dark background.
A person lying on rocky ground in a cave, with arms raised and pointing, black and white photo.
Three people sitting and standing on a sidewalk in a city park with trees in the background; a person with a long beard reading a book, a woman using a scooter, and another woman looking at her phone.
A dark room with a music stand and a curtain, illuminated by a long-exposure light trail creating abstract light streaks, with a shadowy figure in the background.
A black and white photograph of a performer on stage, captured with motion blur. The performer holds an umbrella and is dressed in traditional attire, standing on a patterned rug. There is a snake at their feet, possibly a performer or part of a danc
Black and white photo of a person bowing on stage with a stringed instrument, motion blur indicates movement.
A person standing on stage against a black background, with motion blur and ghosting effects, making the person's figure appear layered and blurry.
Blurry black and white photo of a woman with short hair, wearing a black top, jeans, and boots, standing against a dark background, with motion blur and double exposure effects.
Black and white photo of a dancer in motion, with a blurred, glowing umbrella and a dark background.
Black and white photo of two dancers performing a contemporary dance pose on stage, with one dancer holding a glass bottle. The image captures motion blur, emphasizing movement and emotion.
A person sitting on the floor playing a saxophone, with motion blur and light trails affecting the image, in a dark environment.
A person at a desk with a laptop and microphone, appearing to be in motion, creating a blurred, ghostly effect, against a dark background.
Black and white photo of a woman at a desk with a laptop and a microphone, with motion blur indicating movement.
A woman with long hair and light-colored clothing is performing on stage with a microphone, a laptop on a stand, and various cables and equipment on the floor. The image has a motion blur effect.
A street performer in front of a crowd at night, creating fire patterns with a flaming tool. People are sitting and standing around, watching the performance. Some individuals have cameras or phones, capturing the moment. The scene is in black and wh
Night scene with a group of people sitting and standing on stone steps by a stone wall, some engaged in conversation, some looking at their phones, with a person in motion blurred in the foreground, and a large bright circle of light floating above i
Night scene of a street performance with a fire dancer creating light patterns with fire, surrounded by an audience on a city street.
A person performing a fire-dancing act at night, with a large audience seated on a stone ledge and standing nearby, in an outdoor setting with dark surroundings.
A performer creating a fire spinning circle in front of an audience on a dark night.
A person working on electronic music equipment on stage, captured with motion blur in black and white.
A person sitting on a chair, blurred motion, playing a wind instrument, in a dark room with electronic equipment nearby.
A person sitting on a chair playing a clarinet in a recording studio or stage, with a laptop and musical equipment around.
A person sitting on a chair, moving rapidly in front of a camera, creating a blurred motion effect in black and white.
A person sitting on a chair in a dark room, surrounded by musical equipment, with a laptop open in front of them, and blurred motion suggesting movement.
A person sitting in a chair on a dimly lit stage, blurry motion indicating movement, surrounded by musical equipment including a laptop, microphone, and cymbal.
A person playing a saxophone on a dimly lit stage, with musical equipment and a cymbal visible in the background, captured in black and white with motion blur.