Held Up To Light is an ongoing body of work by Bob McCaffrey in which latent images emerge from within the pages of printed books. Through acts of close observation, new images are discovered rather than constructed, existing in a space between perception and projection.
He searches through libraries, bookshops and markets for printed pages, selecting those where chance alignments conspire to form new images when held up to the light. In this moment of illumination, pictorial elements from either side of the page merge to form a new, composite image.
These fleeting illusions are then photographed and reproduced as collage-like prints, where figurative forms combine and multiply, shifting towards abstraction, illusion and perceptual uncertainty.
By embracing chance, ready-made materials and automatic processes, the work draws on the traditions of Dada and Surrealist photomontage. In a contemporary visual landscape increasingly shaped by digital manipulation and AI-generated imagery, Held Up To Light moves in the opposite direction, allowing new images to be discovered rather than constructed.
Bob McCaffrey (@bobmccaffreyartist) is a photographer, designer and lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art.
This website functions as an evolving archive and living exhibition of the Held Up To Light project, bringing together source materials, process artefacts and finished works. Selected images are available as limited edition fine art prints, produced to faithfully capture and translate each original moment of illumination.
For any enquiries, including collaborations, sales, commissions, partnerships or representation, please contact: