Matt Theilen Photography

So Nolan Preece has been working with these for years and he recently got an article published in Photo Technique and I am totally intrigued by these. I took an 8×10 sheet of glass, used a kerosene tiki torch and coated the glass with the black soot. I then used mineral spirits to create the splotches. One of them was made with a brush filled with the mineral spirits and using the Jackson Pollock technique, I dripped and splattered it on. The other was more of a pour. I then scanned them on my Epson V750. I’m thinking of printing photographs on vellum and using these glass plates to “sandwich” the vellum negatives to create interesting portraits….stay tuned

I’ve lived in Northern Nevada for most of my life. Carson City is the state’s capitol and is a fascinating place to photograph. Twenty minutes from the east shore of Lake Tahoe and being located along the Eastern Sierra, the surrounding area has some of the best and most diverse landscape for recreation of all kinds: world class rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking — this is why I live here. However, when I drive through the small urban areas of the city, something else fascinates me — the “space available.” The images are inspired first by economics, then by those who’s work I have seen that is reminiscent of the images I am making (particularly Rothko and Lewis Baltz.) One could say I’m doing photographic work from the 70’s in 2010…but it’s right there staring me in the face–Space Available.

These are a few scouting photographs from my digital camera — The work is being done in 4×5 and 8×10 to control perspective and to allow for printing HUGE. Enjoy