Jessica Shimek, “#Mississippi #Morning”

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Cover details – covers are instant film photos.

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Interior page spread and binding detail. The paper strip in the center of the page spread is part of the binding. It is a woven binding, invented by Claire Van Vliet for her Bonesongs book. The image is an ink jet print.

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Interior page spread detail. Image is ink jet printed. The words are letterpress printed using photopolymer plates.

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Interior page spread detail – the number of words increases throughout the book.

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Interior page spread detail (Each page spread with image and words opens up to this image. This image is a map of the area I was photographing for this book.)

 


 
Jessica Shimek (Minneapolis, MN)
jesleestudios.com

#Mississippi #Morning
2015
Hand-bound book, woven binding, letterpress printed, ink jet prints, instant film.
Edition of 20
107 pages
4 1/4″ X 7″ X 2 1/2″ open
3 1/2″ X 4 1/4″ X 2 1/2″ closed

My work explores ways digital media and analog media combine in our everyday life. We can track where we are at almost any given moment, and pinpoint when and where an image was taken. We can sort our responses and contributions of analog subject matter to the digital world with hashtags and descriptions.

For six months I took photos of the Mississippi river from the same bridge twice a week. The photos were posted on Instagram with an assortment of hashtags to identify them. After completing this six month project, I collected the images, the locations, times, weather, and hashtags to create this book.

I chose Claire Van Vliet’s binding because of the way paper strips were used to weave the pages together, reminiscent of the water flow of the river.