This project emerged from an engagement with the material of glass and the question: How does an individual act within defined systems?

One clearly defined system that I am familiar with, and in which glass plays a central role, is analog photography. Glass appears throughout the photographic process: in the lens, the viewfinder prism, and as a carrier medium for the photographic image. It functions as an invisible mediator between perception and representation.
Photography is a medium traditionally associated with the aim of depicting reality as truthfully as possible. It is often understood as an objective and honest medium and is frequently used as evidence because of its association with truth and authenticity. Yet every photographic image is inevitably shaped by the person behind the camera, through choices of perspective, framing, technology, and interpretation. Photography is therefore never completely neutral; it is always influenced by subjective perception.

This project explores this tension by introducing subjectivity into the photographic process and making it visible.
The photographs were created using a self-built camera obscura, with images exposed directly onto PE photographic paper and glass. The camera’s lens was replaced by a self-developed optical system composed of individually hand-blown glass lenses. Through the irregularities and unique qualities of the handmade glass, the process of image formation is transformed, allowing the material itself to become an active participant in the creation of the image.

The work examines the relationship between material, technology, and perception, exploring how individual interventions within an established system can generate new forms of representation.