Past is an image we form in the present is a group exhibition curated by Chuck Mobley and Emma Tramposch. It is presently at SF Camerawork until May 24th.

A reflection on the ability of photography to "reconstruct" time is not a new area of inquiry, but this exhibition considers this in a particularly relevant and insightful way. Each of the three artists in Past is an image we form in the present re-contextualizes photographic media in order to reveal another layer of meaning. Using found imagery; the artists tap into deeper level of intimacy, previously undisclosed.

Through Melanie Willhide’s process of capturing the reverse side of a photograph, she gives the viewer a physical experience of the photograph as object. A tactical sense of how we "touch" photographs, as well as how they "touch" us. We see the written sentiments by the owners of the photographs simultaneously with a faint impression of the image on the front. This back-and-forth between the image and the personal relationship to the image, emphasizes the power of the photograph in the development of our personal histories.

Liz Stekettee is a San Francisco artist who recreates her own families’ history through her manipulation of her families’ photo albums. The concrete time and place of her family history is shifted in order to satisfy her desire for another version of the past.

Pablo Pijnappel adds subtitles to his families’ home movies. This is done not to revise history as much as to collide the events of the past in order to reveal another layer of truth.

Past is an image we form in the present offers the viewer a new understanding of how deeply we are affected by the photographic artifacts of personal histories. The experience with these works heightens our awareness of a photograph to "tell" us who we are, as well as the desire to subvert a factual documentation of our past.

Also at the SF Camerawork are two other powerful exhibitions. Mike Brodie’s photographs include him as an insider within the world of young people who train-hop throughout America. This exhibition marks his receipt of the 2008 Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers. Jenny Vogel has her first solo show in San Francisco with manipulated surveillance footage and portraits taken from the Internet. These works are haunting--as they simultaneously reveal the impersonal nature of this imagery, while illustrating how these contemporary forms of documentation deeply affect us on an unconscious level.

- laurie halsey brown

(*Images, from top to bottom: Past is an image we form in the present, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, Liz Steketee, Reconstructed Images, photo courtesy of SF Camerawork. Past is an images we form in the present, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, installation view, photo courtesy of laurie halsey brown. Past is an image we form in the present, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, Melanie Willhide, photo courtesy of laurie halsey brown. Past is an image we form in the present, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, Liz Steketee, installation view, photo courtesy of laurie halsey brown. Past is an image we form in the present, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, Pablo Pijnappel, film still, photo courtesy of laurie halsey brown. Past is an image we form in the present, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, Pablo Pijnappel, film still, photo courtesy of laurie halsey brown. Mike Brodie, The 2008 Baum Award for American Emerging Photographers, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, installation view, photo courtesy of laurie halsey brown. Jenny Vogel, Your lips are no man's land but mine, April 3 - May 24, 2008; SF Camerawork, installation view, photo courtesy of laurie halsey brown.)