Submit a photo via email, I’ll make a collage, record the process, scan the collage, print the scan using archival inks and send you the original collage, the archival print, digital scan and time-lapse video of the process prepped for social platforms.

These collages explore image scaling and the ability to identify human faces in abstracted situations. Everyday you encounter hundreds of images that have been similarly manipulated and distorted, but in ways that are meant to go unseen. Data is lost, reformatted, scaled up and estimated in ways that completely change what it is that is being presented, but done as to not be noticed. These manipulations are noticeable.

I have made many of these on my own and now you can have one made for you.

The collage is made using a standard, black and white, laser printer and masking tape. The collage then gets scanned at a high resolution and printed using archival inks onto photo paper. Each collage measures approximately 8 in x 8 in, the archival version will measure 8 in x 8 in. The scanned copy is scanned at 1200 dpi, making the full res scan approximately 9600 x 9600. The time-lapse video will be 15 seconds, vertical, mp4 file format and use a h.264 codec, fit for uploading to social platforms.

The “Mirror” option has images that are reflected and the resulting collage has a bit of a ripple appearance. The “Tiled” option has images that are not reflected and look more like they are being viewed through a tiled glass wall.

Photos that work well are portraits that are clear, have relatively neutral expression and have moderate contrast. Photos that are busier only get busier through this process and can become muddled.

These collages are for personal use only. If you are interested in licensing the work, you can email traceloops@traceloops.com . If you submit a photo, you are acknowledging that you have usage rights for that photo and are giving me permission to use that photo in this collage process.