Andrew K. Thompson

Aiming to transgress the norms of photography, artist Andrew K. Thompson’s work critiques the perceived ideals of perfection typically associated with the medium. His unique practice and process beings with a simple question of “What if?”. This “What if?” factor has allowed Thompson the flexibility of research, play, and discovery, spawning projects such as his Melting Cameras series, which consists of camera-shaped ice cubes made with Caffenol, an alternate photographic process that utilizes unconventional photographic developer, melted onto black-and-white photographic paper.
Thompson’s artistic ethos can be further seen in the gritty and ad hoc, handmade qualities in his work. The artist’s hand is an essential element of his process, with Thompson utilizing photography as a tool that is part of one’s artistic practice rather than just a strict medium. He notes that “I believe the tool doesn’t build a house; the hand that wields the tool does.” In all, Thompson’s practice pokes fun at the conventions and systems that make up photography, allowing photography itself to transcend its typical two-dimensional bounds.