In spite of everything – the existence of Photoshop and montage, the common use of post-production filters, the ease of deletion and tweaking – there is a residual belief that photography still ought to do what it was invented to do: that is, represent, as faithfully as possible, visual reality. Our surprise at a photograph’s ability to deceive seems perpetual. We never learn. Sean Dack’s work operates within that murky territory of photographic unfaithfulness, taking as its source images that really ought to co-operate, like CCTV footage.
Rearranging the integrity of the source image through a custom script, Dack’s images develop unpredictable glitches and impurities that take on an unexpected beauty, much as conventional printmaking makes use of the ‘happy accident’.