Ralph Nevins

Artist
Ottawa,Ontario, Canada

If photography is capturing essence of a thing, a person, a place, or even an emotion, then I create pictures to hold that essence for a short time. It is a passion to explore the unseen and fractional moments that create the world, and transforming images to create stretched realities that are captivating to visualize unreal events, spaces or time.

Ralph Nevins has been building Digital Slitscan Cameras for 6 years. He creates these cameras to get natural distortions of real life.

Twist of Ponder
Twist of Ponder
29 x 36 x 3 cm
Photograph
2015

One Dimensional Motion through time - a digital slitscan camera has a linear array of pixels of 1xN.
to create a 2d image either the camera moves or the subject moves in front of the pixels. The motion of the subject makes the image - and in this case the model is wearing a striped body suit.
The distortions are the minute motions the model makes in front of the camera - this is real life - not a Photoshop creation. A vertical Flatland where people move through a one dimensional viewed field only saved as a sequence to create a 2D image.

Hug
Hug
29 x 36 x 3 cm
Photograph
2015

One Dimensional through time-
" -King-Exhibit to me, if you please, this motion from left to right.
-I- Nay, that I cannot do, unless you could step out of your Line altogether.
-King- Out of my Line? Do you mean out of the world? Out of Space?
-I- Well, yes. Out of your World. Out of your Space. For your Space is not the true Space. True Space is a Plane; but your Space is only a Line.
-King- If you cannot indicate this motion from left to right by yourself moving in it, then I beg you to describe it to me in words.
-I- If you cannot tell your right side from your left, I fear that t no words of mine can make my meaning clear to you. But surely you cannot be ignorant of so simple a distinction. "
(Flatland-Edwin A. Abbott)