PHIL MAXWELL

When I first started work as a photo journalist magazine editors would routinely annoy me by cropping my images before publication. All those decades ago I would never have dreamt that I would eventually end up tearing up and collaging different photographs together as well as scribbling and painting on them! The work below developed from four photographs I took of a woman and child in a market in Laos. The powerful subject was caring for her baby as well as selling food on a stall.

I began by printing an image on card and then rapidly over painting it with white acrylic paint. The image was then rephotographed and colour was added digitally. The finished images were then collaged together and the collage was printed on canvas. Finally I over painted different parts of the canvas.

This work involved a lot of experimentation and trial and error; I was never really sure of the direction the work was taking. It was a rewarding organic process that breathed extra life and possibilities into the original photographs.