Artist Statement: Theodore Wilkins-Lang (American, b. 1999, Cairo)

Theodore Wilkins-Lang is an American photographic artist, currently based in Glasgow. His work is rooted in the material and ritual of photography itself; it is in the holy field of silver gelatin that he finds the directions and aims of his practice. Considering the process of photography as an alchemical craft, he follows a strictly analogue programme, seeking to provide an alternative to the disposable and mass produced image culture of the contemporary Spectacle. The ritualized mixing of light, chemistry, and photographic material converges in an alchemical practice of intention and authenticity, striving towards a sanctified piece of art. 

Realised in single-edition, large format darkroom prints, his work follows a general rejection of the ‘series’ format of photography. Focusing instead on the individual work, he emphasizes the presentness and sanctity of the photograph, an approach he believes necessary to establish a photography which stands against or outside the capitalist regime of endless dead images. 

Starting in the Anlgo-Christian tradition which he was raised in (his mother is a reverend in the Church of Scotland), he identifies a commonality between the fundamental divine act, “Let there be light”, and the fundamental material of photography. This loose understanding - that there is a trace of theia ousia (divine substance) in the photographic material - guides his ritualistic approach to photography. This approach manifests itself in an alchemical process in the darkroom, as well as his approach to the subject, the people around him who provide a human anchor of the divine. In this sense, he thinks of his work as not a mere metaphorical exploration, but a deeply personal spiritual endeavor. In the current visual culture of the Spectacle, he believes that this approach is vital in seizing back photography from its negative, monstrous shadow.

He is a frequent collaborator of drone/noise musician Lodge, and seeks to bring the same ritualistic approach to his music as to his photography: a rejection of the recuperated and marketable, against the Spectaclist domination of art.