Wunderkammer Part 1: The Source

I am thinking about the wunderkammer these days. I received the box documenting all keys that were given to my father when he bought the YMCA in the mail (above) just last week; the last stray box before I pack up this series and put it to rest indefinitely. It was an important turning point for me due to the sheer amount of pieces (50). Rather than wondering how on earth I was going to store them, I decided to worry about that later and just make the work - ironically "later" is now.

The source of this imagery comes from "home" - that place that smells like kneaded erasers and WD-40. I am not a documentary photographer and find that I must have a hand in manipulating the subject matter to believe it is successful. Starting in the summer of 2008, I began to photograph the YMCA "Untouched." I picked up the camera again one year later documenting the changes. I always gravitate toward my Dad's easel and the drafting table in the studio. I wasn't able to go home in 2010 so maybe 2011 will bring some photographs of the drastic changes that have taken place since my last visit. I don't know what I am going to do with these photographs (if anything). They have resided on my laptop and very few people have seen them. It's their first public "outing" so to speak. These images remind me of the subjects I photographed when I took my first photography course in 1991. Maybe that's why they aren't spectacular. They haven't changed much at all.

And so... here is where the wunderkammer comes from .... August 2008:















August 2009:














Below are two of the wunderkammer objects featured in the photographs above - the original carved wooden head and the mannequins have always been most meaningful.