(above: courtesy ICP)

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the ICP, but what attracted me to visit was this camera made completely out of cardboard and held together with household items. It is the work of the Czech photographer Miroslav Tichý in his debut show in America.  Although I was not familiar with his name, his body of work – mostly black and white silver gelatin prints – filled up the entire ground floor of the museum. Where did this artist just pop up from?  It almost seemed like someone had dug it up from somewhere.  Most of the prints are in poor condition, over or under-exposed, and spotty. As I went deeper into the exhibition I’m starting to understand the artist more. He obsessively photographs women, usually of their behinds, while probably following his subjects from what the viewer can see. But what amazed me is that the cameras he used were all self-made, because he was poor and for aesthetics reasons.

Nowadays all our devices are tuned to be crisp and seamless without room for mistakes. After seeing the non-chalance in Tichy’s work, so intimate and personal, I start to appreciate all the uncalculated mistakes. They become almost poetic and dreamlike.  Behind the glass showcases you can see the evidence of all the gadgets of his time that suggests his experimentations. This is where you can get lots of ideas for homemade image-capturing devices. I wonder if he took it to the next level and made moving images out of a cardboard box.