Laura Padgett: Seeing Things has been published following the exhibition of the same name at the Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art from 13 February –  21 March 2008. The book documents work not only included in the exhibition but also from the past several years. One of the main principles explored in Laura Padgett’s most recent work is the diptych. These photographic pairs are sometimes composed seamlessly, sometimes with a thin space in between. Her use of text creates an additional visual / cognitive layer to each composition.

‘It is about processes of understanding in which identity and difference play a role. The image offers a story that the viewer must decode. I once spoke about this work in reference to the viewer taking on the role of a detective. In this process lies the ‘punctum’ of the work, as Roland Barthes would have said. …The significance and sublimity of these images lies in the fact that they are hermetic and cannot be completely decoded, offering us a multiplicity of answers at one and the same time.’ (Peter Weiermair)

Seeing Thing includes a foreword by Garo Keheyan, essays by Peter Weiermair and Denise Robinson as well as a conversation between Verena Kuni and Laura Padgett. Edited by Garo Keheyan, assistant editing by Cleo Demetriou and Miriam Butler.