Paintings on Found Photographs for a publication created with artist James Bouché. Two separate artists’ books that were conceptualized and printed together by Ginevra Shay and James Bouché. Each book explores non-traditional photographic processes. Ginevra's zine is a series of 16 paintings on found photographs. James' zine is composed of 16 scans of personal objects with talismanic qualities.


Published March 2013
Edition of 100
Two Zines
32 pages total
Risograph Printed
Saddle Stitch Bound
5.5x8"

Available at Printed Matter in NYC

In the following collections:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Rock Paper Sissors, Oakland, CA
International Center for Photography, New York, NY
Arts & Sciences PROJECTS, New York, NY
Parallel Art Space, in Queens, NY
950 Hart Gallery in Bushwick, NY
Indie Photobook Library, Washington, DC
Houston Center of Photography, Houston, TX
Bethel University Collection of Artist Books & Publications, St. Paul, MN
Little Brown Mushroom Books, St. Paul, MN
Open Space Library, Baltimore, MD
Memorial Library at 17 Cox, Beverly, MA
Salford Zine Library, in Manchester, UK
Work Flow, Brighton, UK

Lesser Chains (of Being) stems from my long-standing skepticism regarding photography and its relationship to mass culture. Though I was trained in traditional darkroom methods, and having early on pursued direct, documentary, decisive-moment style image making, I became wary of the ease with which images could be used to manipulate society. I felt a need to rebuild my practice, tossing out anything I deemed inessential. To this end, I temporarily abandoned both the camera and the world external to the darkroom.  Early images from Lesser Chains were as simple and direct of photographic experiences as I could articulate; they are the record of the choreography of my body engaging with the chemistry and space of the darkroom. Slowly, I began to re-incorporate the use of the camera in documenting the world, albeit in a different way. Fragments of architecture began to appear as grounds in some of these prints.

Lesser Chains (of Being) stems from my long-standing skepticism regarding photography and its relationship to mass culture. Though I was trained in traditional darkroom methods, and having early on pursued direct, documentary, decisive-moment style image making, I became wary of the ease with which images could be used to manipulate society. I felt a need to rebuild my practice, tossing out anything I deemed inessential. To this end, I temporarily abandoned both the camera and the world external to the darkroom.  Early images from Lesser Chains were as simple and direct of photographic experiences as I could articulate; they are the record of the choreography of my body engaging with the chemistry and space of the darkroom. Slowly, I began to re-incorporate the use of the camera in documenting the world, albeit in a different way. Fragments of architecture began to appear as grounds in some of these prints.

Bronzelidded continues my interests in dismantling the photographic medium and the deconstruction of images. Immediately preceding Bronzelidded, I had spent a year making a series titled Lesser Chains, executed in a black and white darkroom without the use of a camera. It was important for me to abandon the camera for a moment and make photographs with the most minimum of means. After exhausting my set parameters for image making, and finishing the series, I decided to start a new body of work where I used bleach to destroy the remaining photographs from Lesser Chains. These manipulated prints became the Bronzelidded series. It was exciting to make photos that were unfixed, imperfect, and ever-changing.

Created for an exhibition at Yale University Art Gallery and now in their collection.