On a seemingly random day in 1997, Bill Armstrong spun the focus ring on his camera to infinity and captured an image. At that point, he had worked as a photographer for more than 20 years, shooting found collages composed of torn posters that he’d scavenge from the streets. This new photograph, however, was unlike anything he’d ever created before—it was blurry, hazy, an almost painterly abstraction of its subject. In that moment, he decided to abandon the photographic conventions he once abided by.
“I had been following the rules of straight photography for years: no cropping, no manipulation, only things as they are,” Armstrong tells My Modern Met. “Manipulating that image by defocusing no longer fit my definition of a straight photograph.”
It didn’t take long for Armstrong to reorient his photographic practice toward blurred collages, which he has been producing for over 25 years as part of his Infinity series. In their hypnotic forms and psychedelic colors, these compositions resemble abstract heat maps, revealing faint outlines of figures in motion. Armstrong also gravitates toward Buddhist and mandala-like imagery across his work, remixing these symbols through his signature blurred lens.
“Over time, I’ve discovered that blurriness has a richness and diversity of meaning and association far beyond my expectations,” the photographer explains. “The power of blurring in photographic images is one of exploring emotion and psychology rather than objective fact. It’s both simple and profound.”
That dual purpose is embodied, quite magnificently, in Armstrong’s first in-depth monograph, All a Blur, published in October by Axiomatic Editions. Across 300 pulsating color photographs pulled from the Infinity series, the volume showcases the sensitivity and restraint Armstrong exercises throughout his creative process. In these images, there is nothing extraneous, nor are there the typical distractions of high-definition details. It seems wise to adopt a new perspective, one grounded not in reality but in perception, in order to properly engage with the book’s photographs.
For Armstrong, that’s precisely the point. Each page documents how, for decades, he has transformed everything from Renaissance paintings to Buddhist mandalas into radiant abstractions, all in an effort to achieve ambiguity. Why, his monograph seems to ask, should an artist be tasked with legibility, with overexplaining a subject to the point of it becoming mundane? Even underneath all the blur, it’s clear that precision isn’t necessary to derive meaning from a photograph.
“I hope that viewers may discover their own meaning in the work,” he explains. “The trajectory of the Infinity series explores universal aspects of life: hopes and dreams; success and failure; trauma and recovery; aging and mortality; and the quest for spiritual grace.”
All a Blur is currently available for purchase via Bookshop. To learn more about the photographer, visit Bill Armstrong’s website.
For more than 25 years, Bill Armstrong has produced hypnotic, technicolor photographs that blur its subjects—sometimes beyond recognition.
Bill Armstrong: Website | Instagram
Armstrong’s photographic process is explored throughout his first in-depth monograph, All a Blur, which is now available for purchase.
Axiomatic Editions: Website | Instagram
Quotes have been edited for clarity. My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Bill Armstrong.
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