"It's a psychic term for object reading," says
CU Denver Photography Professor
Carol Golemboski of her art-photography iPad app's name,
Psychometry. "It's sort of like fortune-telling in reverse. Since I was doing all of this still-life work and using objects as metaphors it was perfect -- in an ironic way."
At CU Denver since 2002, Golemboski is a photographer who combines still lifes with darkroom magic to create works of art that are often stunning and disturbing. Her subjects often include taxidermy, mannequins and a wide range of unusual antiques.
She teamed with Roxanne Davison of Denver-based Brainchild Blueprints to develop an app that showcases her photographs from the past decade. She uses analog techniques in her studio and darkroom, employing slowly disappearing techniques involving silver gelatin, transparencies and pre-digital techniques of all kinds.
"There's kind of an irony I made it into this app," she says. "It's meant to be old technology meets new technology."
Besides showcasing 48 photos, the $9.99 app includes numerous interactive bells and whistles, including essays by Curator Leslie K. Brown and Golemboski, video interviews and behind-the-scenes tidbits on each photo when you tilt the iPad vertically.
"I wanted this to be as much about the process of creating the work as the different photographs themselves," Golemboski explains.
Psychometry debuted at the App Store in February and earned immediate notice, nabbing an
Independent Publisher Book Award, or "Ippy," for "Outstanding eBook Achievement."
Golemboski's photos will be showcased in the gallery at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House for
TEDxMileHigh on June 15.
Her next project focuses on magic and "photographer as magician." Working in the darkroom "feels like magic," explains Golemboski.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Eric Peterson with tips and leads for future stories at eric@confluence-denver.com.
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