The Untimely Apparatus Of Two Amateur Photographers

As technology advances, camera design continues to inadvertently conceal many of the processes involved in capturing three-dimensional reality as two-dimensional photographs. This makes it increasingly difficult for people to understand the implications and limitations of the many details involved in the act of photography. Chinese artists Lin Boyan and Huang Chen-tsung (self-proclaimed amateur photographers) explore, deconstruct, reveal, and rethink the basic elements of photography through their photobook, The Untimely Apparatus of Two Amateur Photographers, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards. They attempt to enhance our literacy of one of the most influential contemporary mediums.

"Obsolete technologies and everyday objects are reinvented, repurposed, and radicalized. The choice to work with 'archaic' processes and outdated apparatuses is not out of nostalgia or sentimentality, but from the realization that they provide a flexibility that allows us to elaborate on the neglected mechanisms and the role of the camera in image production. This notion is further established by subverting the photographic language found in camera manuals. In these instructional images, we – as the camera operators – appear to demonstrate the correct usage of the aforementioned apparatuses. In actual fact, we are hacking these apparatuses, violating their original purposes, and making them serve entirely new ends."