In Scarti, all contained photos are accidental byproducts of a printing press cleaning process (that is, the stage during which a paper is fed between printing cycles to clean the ink drums). The results are wonderfully juxtaposed images from a photo series called Ghetto; Ghetto depicts twelve contemporary “gated communities” across the world.

The most simple, noticeable, and powerful quality of these photos is the juxtaposition. In filmmaking, we’re taught that a juxtaposition of images creates a subconscious conclusion or meaning. The word “Scarti” means “scraps” in Italian, and the title of this photo series is a clear calling card to its happy accidents that provide compelling imagery.

The merged pairings of photos create poignant conclusions for the viewer. The first is of a madman in an asylum, merged with police weapons and fliers; a sense of chaos and pleasure erupts from the subject’s gleeful expression. In another photo, children from Burundi rest in the branches of a tree. A seemingly giant phantom forearm rests in the background with a limp hand, echoing some ephemeral image of a helping hand.

It’s quite magical that the human subjects appear to cooperate so well with each other in these photo merges, especially by “posing with each other,” often side-by-side. These photos are shot as portraits, mostly with a sense that the subject is aware of the camera’s view. It is this quality of awareness that makes these unrelated, merged subjects appear to “know” each other and be comfortable with one another. Conversely, if two subjects did not know each other in a same photograph, they may appear less relaxed or even watch the other subject in any subtle or large ways.

These photos are especially compelling because the merged photos are often loosely or wholly unrelated environments. This series would visually play differently if all photos were from the same village or building. However, the power of juxtaposition holds some innate influence in the viewer’s eyes; we can thereby see a laughing asylum patient with phantom weapons and assume that he daydreams of violence, when he may otherwise be truly laughing at a harmless joke.

I take inspiration from this series for my own project by considering the use of juxtaposition and overlay (or even double exposure) for my photo series. Filmmaking is often a core influence of my work, and I intend to show a split-second story moment for characters/subjects in my images. Scarti demonstrates how a story or motive can be established using a pairing of two somewhat dissimilar images.