Triptych

An ancient form that has since influenced many contemporary painters and photographers, it arose from early Christian art and was the standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards. Derived from the Greek(tri meaning "three" and ptychee meaning "fold"), the triptych is a work of art divided into three sections with the whole intended to be greater than the sum of its parts.

Recently I had the opportunity to work a five month stretch in a cleanroom environment for the semiconductor industry, and from day one, I was amazed at the precautions and safeguards that were instituted simply to set foot in the production area or "fab" as it was called. Besides having fresh-air circulated and fully ventilated ceilings and floors, workers were expected to dress in cover-alls that concealed and protected the wafers from any form of human contamination. Essentially this meant that from head to toe, not a single body part was left uncovered.

Eventually I approached the management and asked if I could photographically document an entire workday(12 hours--we worked a compressed shift)and was granted unprecedented access heretofore unknown in the semiconductor industry(note: additional photos will be displayed/discussed in future posts). The first images I wanted to capture were of the workers, and considering all of the measures they had to take simply to perform their jobs, I felt that a triptych(or disjointed collection of three separate individuals and their uniforms from top to bottom)demonstrated this circumstance the best.

When searching for a structure to enhance or reveal multiple images as one, don't overlook the triptych--after all, history will be in your favor.