Spike Mafford takes photographs to erase himself. His claim is a romantic one, that wherever he is, he isn’t there. Because his subjects define themselves, they are not limited to theme or style. Mafford is nothing but the projectionist in a theater, running their movies. No one believes that a photograph has nothing to do with the photographer, any more than a painted ship upon a painted ocean owes nothing to the person standing in a studio holding the brush.
And yet, in shrinking his role, Mafford has managed to enlarge the remote purity of a remote world.
Paul Krassner once described a way to tell the difference between
news and dreaming. If you think what you’re reading is unlikely, flap
your arms. If you fly, you’re dreaming. Mafford’s prints fly.
Currently, he’s offering for sale 47 prints for $47 each, size variable. Details at the Spike Shop.
Examples:
Man, that is a amazing deal, I have the first one you posted, the Mao image, have loved it for over 10 years!