Richard Pilnick
Ltd.

‘Expiration | Inspiration’ is a collection of images shot on expired Polaroid Type 55 large format film with a Linhof Technika. The film ranges in date with the youngest of the film expired in 2007 and the oldest in 1997. The first edition contains 15 images & the first NFT collection by Richard Pilnick.

This collection explores the notion of what is real, for if we see, is it really there..? The chemicals have dried in the pods, thus exposing only part of the image. A photographic representation of our Matrix, or more rather, a glitch in our Matrix, showing how reality is vailed by our own perception and preconceived notion of reality.  This vailed perception also represents the struggles within the mind, that of self acceptance and of questioning our place in this world. 

From these expired images, may we draw inspiration with seeing, as if we’ve opened our eyes for the first time. May we find strength within ourselves, to let our light shine bright for the world to see.

As we look to nature to find purpose in the self, we see the cycles, we watch the passing clouds, the waves come and go, the tides ebb and flow, the sun rises and sets. Ever changing, never ending, each passing moment witnessed perfectly imperfect. A peony flowers for around 14 days each year, so the reality is, the beauty of the peony is in the other 351 days, for without them, the peony would not be so. 

It is in the unseen, not the seen, where true beauty lies...

Perfect imperfection is admired in the natural world, we watch without judgement at the beauty before us, the way each flower differs from the next, how the trees bend towards the light. Yet when we look to the self, this is eroded, ‘it should be this way, or that’, and we try to change that which is before us, casting aside something we deem to be imperfect or a failure. But what is failure...? Surly ‘failure’ is only so, if we allow it to be, if that dip in the road stops us in our tracks, but if we continue, life will blossom... 

Expiration | Inspiration is just that, each sheet of expired film tells its own story of the struggles within the creative mind, a test from the universe to see if one will continue. The youngest of the film expired in 2007, so each time a sheet is loaded one asked ‘will this one work’, eagerly awaiting the timer to peal apart the film. There she is, the chemicals have started to dry leaving areas undeveloped, creating an abstract beauty, a beauty at first instinct is a failure, but with time and space renders a differing opinion. 

This failure is synonymous with the struggles of artist’s mind, those moments when you struggle to show up for the self, when you question all that you are. For they show the days when you can’t show up, when the pain is too much and you turn the alarm off and roll over, the tears rolling as you questions your self worth. But that exhalation is always followed by the following inspiration, as important to appreciate as those moments of achievement, they are all on the road to success… 

Richard Alexander Pilnick was introduced to photography at a very young age by his father, an engineer who spent many years working away in Asia and the Far East. He would document his trips with an old Pentax - this became a deep personal connection point for father and son and a joint passion to share and explore together. Now, Richard shares his own experiences and the lives of others through the medium of photography, capturing the essence and beauty of the unique souls of this world. 

Using medium and large format film photography, Richard is noted for the unobtrusive manner with which he relaxes his subjects, effortlessly imbuing their faces with serene and unperturbed expressions. For Richard, photography is his doorway to different cultures and traditions, it is a moment captured, a feeling, an emotion, a silent form of communication and a message to be interpreted and appreciated through many generations with no geographical boundaries. 

Richard's work has been exhibited in various locations around Europe and Asia, most notably in the National Portrait Gallery in November 2013 Richard was exhibited as part of the 'taylor wessing photographic portrait prize 2013'. 

His work has been commissioned internationally for both commercial and editorial uses, Richard Pilnick is available for both commercial and personal commissions. 

Born in 1981 in Nottingham, England, Richard Pilnick lives his life with intention, dedicated to his passion.