Bob Jones

Image: 587 Blitze, Transformation 4 © Bob Jones

What is the essence of a selfie? What binds subject to object, human to technology? In her work 587 Blitze, Berlin-based photographer Bob Jones explores the photographic self-portrait through an intense, radically physical process.

For the project, Jones developed pinhole cameras using a 3D printer, deliberately creating her own alternative to conventional image-making apparatuses. Altogether, ten studio flash units were used, delivering a combined output of roughly 9,600 watt-seconds.

Another part of the work explores the intersection of analog and digital media. The artist took selfies with a smartphone — in darkness, onto large rolls of photographic paper that were exposed in the process.