TOKYO-2017 Fine Art / Other

Representation of Hidden Communication

  • Prize
    Bronze in Fine Art/Other
  • Photographer
    Joshua Sariñana

There is a burgeoning interest in neuroscience in popular culture. Researchers play an integral part in culture but the public knows very little about how science is done, who actually does it or exactly why it’s important. One consequence of opaque scientific work is the inability to see which individuals are conducting their research, their personal stories, and their motivations to help reveal the complexity of the nature we are imbued by. These images were captured with a compact large format camera using experimental New55 PN instant film. The opaqueness of the positive (left) represents the raw data collected by scientists on their quest to understand nature. The inverted negative (right) represents how scientists reveal nature through filtering data, beautifying imagery, and at times removing unwanted, but captured information. All scientists are part of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Joshua Sariñana's passion for photography coincided with his interest in the brain and mind. After studying neuroscience at UCLA and MIT, Sariñana switched his focus to the practice and theoretical study of photography. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including a solo exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Photography, and has shown at the Month of Photography Los Angeles, Photoville, and the Center for Fine Art Photography. Sariñana was named as 2017 and 2018 Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist.