Evan Hume

My research-intensive practice focuses on ways that photographs circulate, transmit information, and transform over time through reproduction. Raised in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, my approach to photography is informed by the experience of living in the nation’s political center for much of my life. Over the last several years I have worked with obscure images from United States government archives obtained from publicly available declassified files and Freedom of Information Act requests to the CIA, FBI, and NSA. My current work examines photography as a tool of the state intelligence apparatus and military-industrial complex for surveillance, reconnaissance, and documentation of advanced technologies. While many of the source images date back to the middle of the 20th century, they have only recently been declassified. They represent the time delay from when knowledge comes into being and when it becomes publicly accessible. Furthermore, some documents are redacted and others have been altered by repeated photocopying. Through layering and digital disruption of the images, I present historical fragments in a state of flux, open to reconfiguration and reinterpretation. What we are allowed to know and see is often incomplete and indeterminate, encouraging speculation and critical vision.