These photographs were taken in 2008 and were to be included in a showing of works in Brazil. Maria Laet often documents performative acts, the photograph in this form becoming the record of the action.

In Sowing Sand (working title), on the shores of The Isle of Dogs in East London, the artist delicately ran a large needle and string through the exposed sand at low tide. Over the course of several hours, the stitching was captured on film before finally be washed away with the rising tide. We used a 50 iso Ilford film in a Mamiya 6×7 camera.

For the Pavement Milk (working title) series, suitable cracks were sourced in pavements around London. Using a buttermilk, the flow of liquid through the hard surface was carefully generated using a syringe and pipets before being photographed on a low speed Fuji colour film, also in a 6×7 format. The final images hold a painterly feel, with a sharp texture to them, the framing of the cracks was a conscious decision to break up the visual field. The formal arrangement nods towards the abstract expressionistic work of the 50’s and 60’s in America and perhaps some of the physical surfaces of the painter Tapies.

Photography © Tom Colebrook / Maria Laet 2008