Artist’s statement: The Fate of Memories

The Fate of Memories, by Lauren Schild. Photograph hand-printed from a 35-mm film negative. Published with the artist’s permission. My photograph, The Fate of Memories, on the cover of this issue, uses books to represent medical education and knowledge. As a medical student, the information I use the most remains clear while the rest becomes varying inklings of knowledge I once learned. However, the framework left behind reminds me that this information is available in the literature, providing a point from which I can rebuild my knowledge. In the image, the copper coloration is reminiscent of rust and reinforces the idea that a gradual loss of information can more easily be restored the sooner the loss is caught. This photograph was hand-printed from a 35-mm film negative and developed in a darkroom. Subsequently, it was reprocessed in a method called mordançage to destroy solid areas of black and create the dilapidated appearance of the books. Though the image was printed in black and white, I was able to retain the copper coloration in the image by not fully processing the paper in the developer prior to adding the fixing solution.