FOR AN OLFACTORY IMPRESSION

My work is based on the body, and by definition a body is a living thing and gives off a smell. In my photos, however, I see the body as an abstraction and have never associated it with a smell. And yet, in an evolution of my work, I have begun to mix the body with such diverse elements as fabrics, flowers or furniture, which add a new element to my photos.

I have now begun to associate in my mind memories of the session when I took the photos with the memory of the smells given off by the various objects that accompanied the model.

My perception of the body has also changed and I no longer interpret it as a neutral volume within a space, but instead it has taken on more human qualities and then there inevitably appears its perfume.

Bill Durgin
January 2011