Zachariah Pinto

BFA in Photography

Foundations

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My current work is the product of being “stuck” at home. Typical years find me traveling quite a bit. When traveling, I find myself most interested in the architecture of the local area. With travel abroad being restricted, I began viewing the local area like I was abroad. What resulted is a study of the architecture of the downtown areas of the towns on the lower eastern shore of Maryland.

These cyanotypes are a way to simplify the images, so you focus more on the buildings themselves instead of the scene as a whole or the surrounding areas. They also reference the origins of the medium. Beginning as a way to make copies of notes or plans, cyanotypes have evolved into a fine art displayed in many ways. The process of turning negative to positive is an important part of the practice, having to do it twice for the final product. As I have found myself longing to experience the stimulation of exploring new places, I turned this negative of being stuck at home into the positive of finding a new appreciation of how the small towns in Maryland have evolved and expanded over the centuries; paying particular attention to very center where it all began. The foundations of these towns can be overlooked when it’s something you are already familiar with, but when you re-examine from a new perspective you find things can be very different than you remember.

Foundations is a way for me to connect my observations and my fondness of working in the darkroom. The beginnings of my journey with photography started there, just as the beginnings of myself started on the lower shore.