I'm probably going to show my age by asking this, but how many people remember being in public school and being shown filmstrips? The teacher would bring out a type of projector — basically a high wattage light bulb with a couple of mirrors and maybe a magnifying glass — over and through which a partially developed negative would be pulled, sending a still image onto a screen.

It was primitive but effective, getting information across to thirty restless students who were so grateful for the reprieve from the normal tedium of class that they would pay attention for a while. Looking at the strips outside of the machine gave you no clue as to whether or not it contained a history of Canada or the common cold - both of which were options in grade school.

Like all negatives their secrets were only revealed under certain conditions. These were developed already so they gave up their images with exposure to light like a slide in a slide projector. Other negatives require more work to be turned into an image that can be used. It's in the preparation of the negative, the transferring of its negative image onto whatever will be used to take the positive, that a photographer has his or her last chance to effect the photo.

Using the equipment in a dark room will allow a photographer to determine exactly how much of the picture comes to light, how deep the colours will be, and make final adjustments to composition. The art of the photographer doesn't end with the clicking of the shutter. It continues right on through until the image is laid out for display or reproduced in book form.

45301 is the title given to a 2003 publication of Viggo Mortensen photographs. The name is derived from the number found on a strip of negatives. Considering the contents of the book, I assume it is in reference to the importance that Mr. Mortensen placed on the development process for the works in this book.

Unlike the images presented in earlier works like Recent Forgeries or SignLanguage, or even those from his more recent publications Linger and I Forget You For Ever, the majority of the work in 45301 is deliberately abstracted. In some cases it is to the point where the subject matter is unrecognisable. In others, it appears as if you are viewing the image in front of you through thick, flawed glass, causing the figures or objects in the frame to distort.