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Nick Fortunato
see everything truly amazing
(thoughtography)
40 unique Polaroids,
3.25 x 4.25 inches each, 2010

"We take for granted the speed at which images of any place or thing are available to us. Using Google's Image Search, we are only a few keystrokes away from seeing anything we can think of. These photographs are an attempt to take an experience currently taken for granted and return it to its unbelievable (spiritual) state.

"In 1854 at the birth of Spiritualism in upstate NY, the Davenport brothers climbed into a box they called a Spirit cabinet and communicated with otherworldly spirits. People didn't understand the trick so they believed. In 1964 a Chicago bellhop named Ted Serios discovered the unbelievable ability to produce images on Polaroid film using only his mind. Thoughtography. His images, a record of the unbelievable. A document of faith.

"I lock myself in a room size box alone, armed with a Polaroid camera and a chair to sit in. The box is a crudely assembled room constructed of plywood and two by fours. It is propped up on saw horses to show that there are no wires connected to it, no trap doors built in or any trap floors by which I can escape. One hundred fifty years ago this box would have been called a Spirit Cabinet.

"Once inside alone, I concentrate on something that I want to see. A target image. Utilizing wireless networked technology hidden in the box I access Google's Image Search, release the shutter, expose the film, and exit with a photograph of that thing. Thoughtography.

"Think of the image, see the image. Unbelievable just like Ted Serios."

Target Image: Tesla, 3/13/10 @ 2:54 AM
Target Image: Cyclone, 5/12/10 @ 1:23 AM
Target Image: Whaling Ship, 3/12/10 @ 4:21 AM
Target Image: Lincoln Memorial, 3/20/10 @ 1:43 AM
Target Image: Kepler, 4/21/10 @ 3:12 AM
Target Image: Fox Cottage, Lily Dale, 5/25/10 @ 3:53 AM
Target Image: Unisphere, 1/23/10 @ 12:55 AM
Target Image: Winchester Rifle, 2/23/10 @ 4:22 AM
Target Image: Rothko Chapel, 2/26/10 @ 2:15 AM
Target Image: Shaolin Temple, 2/26/10 @ 3:55 AM
Target Image: Oil, 5/11/10 @ 3:41 AM
Target Image: Horse, 5/5/10 @ 3:41 AM
Target Image: Hoover Dam, 5/24/10 @ 1:15 AM
Target Image: Indian Chief, 6/1/10 @ 2:41 AM
Target Image: Dark Side of the Moon, 5/12/10 @ 2:21 AM
Target Image: Stonehenge, 6/12/10 @ 3:22 AM
Target Image: Elephant, 4/25/10 @ 4:53 AM
Target Image: Space Needle, 3/23/10 @ 3:22 AM
Target Image: Spiral Jetty, 5/10/10 @ 3:15 AM
Target Image: Sextant, 5/21/10 @ 3:23 AM
Target Image: Charles Lindberg's Grave, 2/22/10 @ 4:21 AM
Target Image: Pioneer Square, 6/4/10 @ 4:31 AM
Target Image: Niagra Falls, 3/11/10 @ 2:07 AM
Target Image: Saratoga Springs, 3/6/10 @ 2:44 AM
Target Image: Totem Pole, 5/29/10 @ 3:21 AM
Target Image: Glass House, 5/25/10 @ 1:25 AM
Target Image: Banjo, 3/26/10 @ 3:23 AM
Target Image: Mount St. Helens, 3/4/10 @ 12:39 AM
Target Image: Wedding Chapel, 2/20/10 @ 4:23 AM
Target Image: White Cliffs of Dover, 3/17/10 @ 4:43 AM
Target Image: Sistine Chapel, 6/4/10 @ 3:21 AM
Target Image: Carnival Ride, 5/25/10 @ 4:25 AM
Target Image: Peony, 2/14/10 @ 4:11 AM
Target Image: Train, 4/30/10 @ 4:21 AM
Target Image: The Plaza Hotel, 2/6/10 @ 2:44 AM
Target Image: Versailles, 4/19/10 @ 3:51 AM
Target Image: Atlas, 2/4/10 @ 2:53 AM
Target Image: Great Sphinx of Giza, 5/17/10 @ 2:52 AM
Target Image: Typewriter, 6/10/10 @ 4:11 AM
Target Image: Alcatraz, 5/22/10 @ 1:32 AM
All images copyright © 2010 Nick Fortunato. All rights reserved.