The mysterious and powerful images in this body of work capture fleeting “visitations” from the spirit world — visions as they might appear in dreams or heightened states of wakefulness. The photographs are made using Armstrong’s unique process of re-working found images and photographing them extremely out of focus. In this case, the original source materials are reproductions of Roman sculpture shot with the camera lens set at infinity.
The meanings underpinning Apparition radiate in a number of directions. While many of the images are dark, ghoulish visions, others are hopeful spiritual presences. For Armstrong, the ghosts of ancient Rome represent particularly appropriate messengers for our time, as we contemplate the fate of our own empire.