Mystery and Imagination
Brief:
To explore and develop ideas to produce a final piece of photography through the theme of 'Mystery and Imagination.'
I have chosen three starting points and responded to the works of photographers who explore the theme of mystery and imagination, to show a variety of ideas and techniques that i have experimented with and to give me an idea of which direction i would like to go in for my final idea.
MY starting points:
- Uta Barth and Hiroshi Sugimoto:Blur
- Richard Wentworth: the Everyday
- Film Noir
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Uta Barth: Blur
Uta Barth (born 1958 in Berlin) is a contemporary photographer who lives and works in Los Angeles. In her projects, Ground and Field, Barth has experimented with depth of field, focus and framing to take suggestive photography rather than describing places, making her photos very ambiguous. Her photos only show background information, and have an absence of subject in them, engaging the viewer in a subliminal way to test their memory and intellect.
"It seems to me that the work invites confusion on several levels, and that the 'meaning' is generated in the process of 'sorting things out'. On the most obvious level, we all expect photographs to be pictures of something." - Barth.
Barth suggests that her images lack focus because the "camera's attention is somewhere else", explaining why so many of her photographs are often empty of any foreground subject.
"Slowly it becomes clear that what we are presented with is a sort of empty container and it is at that point that people begin to 'project' into this space" - Barth.
Barth's photography challenges the viewer and forces them to draw their own respone and perception from what they see in the image; whether it be something or someone. "The highly optical pieces did this in a rather jarring, confrontational way - inviting voyuerism and at the same time hindering or frustrating your ablitity to see and decipher an image; the current work by straining your perception of things that are barely visible, in some instances depicting pure light itself."
"It seems to me that the work invites confusion on several levels, and that the 'meaning' is generated in the process of 'sorting things out'. On the most obvious level, we all expect photographs to be pictures of something." - Barth.
Barth suggests that her images lack focus because the "camera's attention is somewhere else", explaining why so many of her photographs are often empty of any foreground subject.
"Slowly it becomes clear that what we are presented with is a sort of empty container and it is at that point that people begin to 'project' into this space" - Barth.
Barth's photography challenges the viewer and forces them to draw their own respone and perception from what they see in the image; whether it be something or someone. "The highly optical pieces did this in a rather jarring, confrontational way - inviting voyuerism and at the same time hindering or frustrating your ablitity to see and decipher an image; the current work by straining your perception of things that are barely visible, in some instances depicting pure light itself."
Analysis
Form: This image is mainly out of focus apart from a few green and yellow leaves in the top right hand corner. The photo focuses on these leaves in the foreground, some of which are highlighted making them look more yellow, while the leaves become greener as they move further away from the sources of light. The out of focus background appears to be a park or an open space of grass, and there are some blurred dark green shapes which we could assume to be trees or bushes.
Process: This photo has been taken in colour outside, and uses natural light as it is clear in the image that it is daytime and has probably been taken on a sunny day as most of the photo appears to be overexposed. Barth has used a digital camera on manual focus to make the whole photo very blurry apart from the leaves in the foreground, and uses a shallow depth of field to create this effect.
Content: I find this photo particularly interesting because although the leaves in the foreground are the only aspects of the photo in focus, it is actually the blurred background that draws the viewer's attention because it really forces you to look at the image and try to make out what the out of focus shapes really are. Barth's out of focus work challenges the viewer to figure out where the camera's point of focus really is, and evokes confusion in the viewer as they expect the photograph to be of something, whereas Barth's images often look at the surrounding informationg. Barth hopes that the emptiness of her images will be filled by the viewer while they feel appreciation for the everyday objects that we no longer "see".
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Process: This photo has been taken in colour outside, and uses natural light as it is clear in the image that it is daytime and has probably been taken on a sunny day as most of the photo appears to be overexposed. Barth has used a digital camera on manual focus to make the whole photo very blurry apart from the leaves in the foreground, and uses a shallow depth of field to create this effect.
Content: I find this photo particularly interesting because although the leaves in the foreground are the only aspects of the photo in focus, it is actually the blurred background that draws the viewer's attention because it really forces you to look at the image and try to make out what the out of focus shapes really are. Barth's out of focus work challenges the viewer to figure out where the camera's point of focus really is, and evokes confusion in the viewer as they expect the photograph to be of something, whereas Barth's images often look at the surrounding informationg. Barth hopes that the emptiness of her images will be filled by the viewer while they feel appreciation for the everyday objects that we no longer "see".
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Response to Uta Barth's Blurred Work:
Aim: To respond to Uta Barth's work by taking blurry, out of focus images that made it hard to make out what atleast part of the image is of, and by using a shallow depth of field to create a sense of perspective and to have an aspect of the image in focus whilst keeping the background blurred.
Process: I took these photos inside and outside in the daytime using natural light. I used a manual setting without the auto-focus so i was able to play with the depth of field and focus the camera on different aspects of the images. i mainly used a shallow depth of field so i was could create the same effect as Uta Barth; having a subject in the foreground in focus while making the background blurred. In some of the shots i completely blurred the image so that it is hard to make out what the photograph is of.
Critique: Although i like this set of photos, i only think a couple of them look like the works of Uta Barth. Her work was much more difficult to make out what the images were of, whereas my photos, although blurred, are not ambiguous enough and are taken of obvious subjects such as plants and the sky. Barth also blurred her images a lot more, and my set mainly consists of having an in-focus subject in the foreground and blurring the background.
Further Development: To focus on blurring the photograph more like Barth to create a sense of mystery in the photo, and maybe focus on the emotion that the picture creates, for example a calm or happy atmosphere.
Critique: Although i like this set of photos, i only think a couple of them look like the works of Uta Barth. Her work was much more difficult to make out what the images were of, whereas my photos, although blurred, are not ambiguous enough and are taken of obvious subjects such as plants and the sky. Barth also blurred her images a lot more, and my set mainly consists of having an in-focus subject in the foreground and blurring the background.
Further Development: To focus on blurring the photograph more like Barth to create a sense of mystery in the photo, and maybe focus on the emotion that the picture creates, for example a calm or happy atmosphere.
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Richard Wentworth: The Everyday
Richard Wentworth is a British artist and studied art at the Hornsey College of Art from 1965. He became identified with the New British Scultpure movement, and his work focuses on the juxtapositions of materials and everyday objects that do not belong together. Wentworth's work centres on the everyday objects, and he combines and manipulates found objects such as dictionaries and sweet wrappers, and allows the viewer to become more aware of the everyday by changing the way we perceive the world around us in unexpected ways.
In his ongoing series, Making Do and Getting By, Wentworth also uses photography to document "the sculptures of the everyday", for example a cigarette packet jammed under a wonky table leg.
"I find cigarette packets folded up under table legs more monumental than a Henry Moore. Five reasons. Firstly the scale. Secondly, the fingertip manipulation. Thirdly, modesty of both gesture and material. Fourth, its absurdity and fifth, the fact that it works."
In his ongoing series, Making Do and Getting By, Wentworth also uses photography to document "the sculptures of the everyday", for example a cigarette packet jammed under a wonky table leg.
"I find cigarette packets folded up under table legs more monumental than a Henry Moore. Five reasons. Firstly the scale. Secondly, the fingertip manipulation. Thirdly, modesty of both gesture and material. Fourth, its absurdity and fifth, the fact that it works."
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Response to Richard Wentworth's 'The Everyday':
Process: I walked along the street and took photographs of litter and unusual objects that i found on the floor. I took the shots in daylight, using natural lighting and used the auto-focus setting on my camera so that i was able to zoom in on the object whilst keeping the photo in focus.
Critique: Even though these photos are quite simple, i like the idea of documenting everyday objects on the street, because they are completely taken out of context when photographed on their own like this. I particularly like the photo of the shoe because unlike the other objects i found, you dont expect to see a shoe lying on the street, so i thought this added a sense of humour to the photo.
Further Development: If i were to continue this idea i could go to different parts of London and see if the type of things you find on the street differ from one place to another. I could also move away from just photographing objects on the street and also photograph mundane objects in the home similarly to Wentworth, or take photos of things people dont usually notice, for example a crack in the wall.
Critique: Even though these photos are quite simple, i like the idea of documenting everyday objects on the street, because they are completely taken out of context when photographed on their own like this. I particularly like the photo of the shoe because unlike the other objects i found, you dont expect to see a shoe lying on the street, so i thought this added a sense of humour to the photo.
Further Development: If i were to continue this idea i could go to different parts of London and see if the type of things you find on the street differ from one place to another. I could also move away from just photographing objects on the street and also photograph mundane objects in the home similarly to Wentworth, or take photos of things people dont usually notice, for example a crack in the wall.
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Film Noir:
Film Noir is a cinematic term used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize suspicious attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period started in the early 1940s until the late 1950s, and the term film noir, French for "black film" was first applied to Hollywood films in 1946 by French critic Nino Frank.Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography.
A classic example of film noir style is a single, harsh light aimed through a set of horizontal window blinds so the light projects the shadows of the blinds on the actor's face, reducing visibility in favor of creating a dark, brooding mood.
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Features of Film Noir:
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Response to Film Noir Photography:
Process: I took these photos in the photography studio and used the studio lights to create different shadows and silhouettes on the back drop. For the blinds shadow photo i put strips of masking tape onto the projecter so that the lines were projected on to the models face.
Critique: Some of the silhouettes are slightly out of focus in the photos. I particularly like the first two photos where the model is wearing the hat because the shape and the slight transparency of it is very interesting to look at. I could have tried using more costumes for the dress up part of this task aswell instead of just just photographing the hat.
Further Development: To take a larger variety of film noir photos and to try and take photos where the silhouette is in focus. I could also try taking photos of different and more interesting angles and asking the model to do a range of poses that reflect the theme of film noir.
Critique: Some of the silhouettes are slightly out of focus in the photos. I particularly like the first two photos where the model is wearing the hat because the shape and the slight transparency of it is very interesting to look at. I could have tried using more costumes for the dress up part of this task aswell instead of just just photographing the hat.
Further Development: To take a larger variety of film noir photos and to try and take photos where the silhouette is in focus. I could also try taking photos of different and more interesting angles and asking the model to do a range of poses that reflect the theme of film noir.
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Barbican:
We visited the Barbican on our photography trip before visiting the White Chapel gallery, and as a task we were told to take photos capturing the shapes and different perspectives of the modern architecture, and the contrast in texture and surface of the surrounding area.
Process: I took these photographs whilst walking to and around the Barbican in daylight and using a normal shutter speed of 1/25 of a second, and using a large depth of field so that a lot of the photo was in focus. I set my camera onto auto-focus to make sure my shots were completely in focus and so i could capture as much detail as possible of the buildings. I didn't need to use flash for the photographs i took of buildings outside, but i had to use flash for some of the shots taken inside the Barbican as the lighting was quite dim inside.
Critique: I could have made these photographs more interesting by taking shots from different angles to really capture the essence of modern day architecture. A lot of the surrounding buildings were very tall but i could create more variety by photographing them from the top of the Barbican instead of from ground level. However, i do really like the photographs of the tall buildings against the bright blue sky because it looks like they are slightly bending from the angle i have taken the image from, and the bright day has created a nice contrast between the darker and light areas of the photos.
Further Development: To take more photographs of a variety of surrounding modern architecture from interesting angles, and to play how we see something by maybe taking photographs of reflections of buildings in the windows of the surrounding buildings.
Critique: I could have made these photographs more interesting by taking shots from different angles to really capture the essence of modern day architecture. A lot of the surrounding buildings were very tall but i could create more variety by photographing them from the top of the Barbican instead of from ground level. However, i do really like the photographs of the tall buildings against the bright blue sky because it looks like they are slightly bending from the angle i have taken the image from, and the bright day has created a nice contrast between the darker and light areas of the photos.
Further Development: To take more photographs of a variety of surrounding modern architecture from interesting angles, and to play how we see something by maybe taking photographs of reflections of buildings in the windows of the surrounding buildings.
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Eugene Meatyard:
Eugene Meatyard was an American photographer, born 1925 in the state of Illinois, whose most famous works involved masks worn by people posing. His work was often described by his peers as the most original and disturbing imagery ever created with a camera, and his work has been featured in many major museums and important art magazines. His photography was seen as far ahead of its time, and he captured friends and neighbours in abandoned buildings or in ordinary suburban backyards rather than the 'street photography' of the east coast or the romantic view camera realism of the west coast.
Meatyard was very experimental in his work, and he created a mode of "No-Focus" imagery which was completely his own idea, and opened a new sense of creative freedom in his art. He died a week before his 47th birthday in 1972 at the height of the "photo boom" which in the contest of reputation, meant leaving the race early.
"In short, Meatyard's work challenged most of the cultural and aesthetic conventions of his time and did not fit in with the dominant notions of the kind of art photography could and should be. His work sprang from the beauty of ideas rather than ideas of the beautiful. Wide reading in literature (especially poetry) and philosophy (especially Zen) stimulated his imagination. While others roamed the streets searching for America and truth, Meatyard haunted the world of inner experience, continually posing unsettling questions about our emotional realities through his pictures."
Meatyard was very experimental in his work, and he created a mode of "No-Focus" imagery which was completely his own idea, and opened a new sense of creative freedom in his art. He died a week before his 47th birthday in 1972 at the height of the "photo boom" which in the contest of reputation, meant leaving the race early.
"In short, Meatyard's work challenged most of the cultural and aesthetic conventions of his time and did not fit in with the dominant notions of the kind of art photography could and should be. His work sprang from the beauty of ideas rather than ideas of the beautiful. Wide reading in literature (especially poetry) and philosophy (especially Zen) stimulated his imagination. While others roamed the streets searching for America and truth, Meatyard haunted the world of inner experience, continually posing unsettling questions about our emotional realities through his pictures."
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Response to Eugene Meatyard:
Aim: To respond to the work of Eugene Meatyard by taking photos of my classmates wearing masks while walking around the Barbican and in the city.
Process: I took this set using my digital camera with a fast shutter speed as the photos were taken outside and it was quite a bright and sunny day. I took the photos of my friend wearing this mask in a variety of poses while at the Barbican and walking around London as a response to Eugene Meatyard's work.
Critique: I think these photos are actually quite humerous because the model is doing everyday poses such as sitting on a bench but wearing an amusing and absurd mask. I could have taken photos of people wearing different masks though and could have photographed the models in different and more interesting poses. The photographs also dont have the same atmosphere as Meatyard's work as his photos have quite a disturbing and and scary atmosphere, whereas my set is more jokey and entertaining.
Further Development: I could take more photos of people wearing masks but in different settings that are more similar to Meatyard's work, for example in the woods or in a run down or derelict place. I could also use masks that are more disturbing and create quite an uneasy and supernatural atmosphere in the photo.
Critique: I think these photos are actually quite humerous because the model is doing everyday poses such as sitting on a bench but wearing an amusing and absurd mask. I could have taken photos of people wearing different masks though and could have photographed the models in different and more interesting poses. The photographs also dont have the same atmosphere as Meatyard's work as his photos have quite a disturbing and and scary atmosphere, whereas my set is more jokey and entertaining.
Further Development: I could take more photos of people wearing masks but in different settings that are more similar to Meatyard's work, for example in the woods or in a run down or derelict place. I could also use masks that are more disturbing and create quite an uneasy and supernatural atmosphere in the photo.
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White Chapel Gallery - John Stezaker:
On the 8th March we visited the White Chapel gallery for a photography trip, where we saw the works of John Stezaker. Stezaker is a British conceptual artist who creates surreal collages using pre-existing images such as classic movie stills, vintage postcards, publicity photographs and book illustrations. He creates new unique works of art by adjusting, slicing, and inverting separate pictures together. Art historian Julian Stallabrass said:
"The contrast at the heart of these works [by Stezaker] is not between represented and real, but between the unknowing primitives of popular culture, and the conscious, ironic artist and viewer of post-modern images."
Stezaker transorms these found portraits using a manual cut and paste technique. His subtle and unsettling technique manipulates the naturalistic pictures; toying with the subconscious and the surreal, and fragmenting our view of contemporary reality. Stezaker's 'Dark Star' series turns publicity portraits into cut-out silhouettes, creating an ambiguous presence in the place of the absent celebrity.
"A lot of what I do is trying to see the world as a series of ghosts. That’s the only way I can explain it, but it does seem to have an urgency in the present. I have a certain horror of nostalgia, for me it’s a very current concern. There’s a certain horror with the past."
"The contrast at the heart of these works [by Stezaker] is not between represented and real, but between the unknowing primitives of popular culture, and the conscious, ironic artist and viewer of post-modern images."
Stezaker transorms these found portraits using a manual cut and paste technique. His subtle and unsettling technique manipulates the naturalistic pictures; toying with the subconscious and the surreal, and fragmenting our view of contemporary reality. Stezaker's 'Dark Star' series turns publicity portraits into cut-out silhouettes, creating an ambiguous presence in the place of the absent celebrity.
"A lot of what I do is trying to see the world as a series of ghosts. That’s the only way I can explain it, but it does seem to have an urgency in the present. I have a certain horror of nostalgia, for me it’s a very current concern. There’s a certain horror with the past."
Analysis
Marriage XLV 2007 collage 25.5 x 20.5 cm
Form: This image by Stezaker is a collage of two portraits combined together. one of the portraits is a woman while the other is of a man, and they have been joined so that their facial features have been matched up, making it look like a whole face. The manipulated face is looking at the camera smiling, as if it were a normal portrait of someone, and both the people seem to be wearing quite outdated clothing; the woman wearing a blouse and the man an old suit. Both the images have been taken in black and white and have probably been taken using an old film camera.
Process: For his 'Marriage' series, Stezaker used publicity shots of classic film stars and juxtaposed the images by manually cutting and overlapping the famous faces. He probably used the black and white film photos of people looking in roughly the same direction so that he was able to match the facial features up.
Content: Stezaker conjoins the portraits of pairs of men and women to suggest new faces, and to produce new portraits that give the viewer a slightly uncomfortable feeling. By combining the two images, the symmetry of the face is disrupted, drawing to the contrasts that lie below the surface of the expression.
Form: This image by Stezaker is a collage of two portraits combined together. one of the portraits is a woman while the other is of a man, and they have been joined so that their facial features have been matched up, making it look like a whole face. The manipulated face is looking at the camera smiling, as if it were a normal portrait of someone, and both the people seem to be wearing quite outdated clothing; the woman wearing a blouse and the man an old suit. Both the images have been taken in black and white and have probably been taken using an old film camera.
Process: For his 'Marriage' series, Stezaker used publicity shots of classic film stars and juxtaposed the images by manually cutting and overlapping the famous faces. He probably used the black and white film photos of people looking in roughly the same direction so that he was able to match the facial features up.
Content: Stezaker conjoins the portraits of pairs of men and women to suggest new faces, and to produce new portraits that give the viewer a slightly uncomfortable feeling. By combining the two images, the symmetry of the face is disrupted, drawing to the contrasts that lie below the surface of the expression.
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Response to John Stezaker:
Process: For this set, instead of using old photographs like Stezaker did i photographed people that i know and printed out the photos so i could cut them up manually rather than editing them on the computer. I printed each image out a few times and cut them up, sticking them together in a similar way to Stezaker. I tried reassembling parts of different people together, but most of the images were slightly different sizes and so didnt fit together as well as Stezaker's collages are, so i mostly layered the photos to distort the subject's eyes.
Critique: I really like Stezaker's technique of manipulating the features of the face because although it is quite a simple method, it is very effective in creating a surreal and quite uncomfortable sense to the photo. I think i have responded well to Stezaker's work, however i could have probably experimented more with the different techniques that he uses instead of focusing on manipulating the eyes. I could have also edited the photos to make them look more like old fashioned photographs as Stezaker mainly used images that were taken using black and white film.
Further Development: If i were to take this idea further i could try this cutting and pasting technique on a variety of different images, and not just limit myself to portraits. I could try taking a photo of a scene or location and then layer the image so that it is eventually transformed into something unrecognisable. I could also experiment with Stezaker's 'Dark Star' series where he cut out the subject from the photo and creating silhouettes where they should have been.
Critique: I really like Stezaker's technique of manipulating the features of the face because although it is quite a simple method, it is very effective in creating a surreal and quite uncomfortable sense to the photo. I think i have responded well to Stezaker's work, however i could have probably experimented more with the different techniques that he uses instead of focusing on manipulating the eyes. I could have also edited the photos to make them look more like old fashioned photographs as Stezaker mainly used images that were taken using black and white film.
Further Development: If i were to take this idea further i could try this cutting and pasting technique on a variety of different images, and not just limit myself to portraits. I could try taking a photo of a scene or location and then layer the image so that it is eventually transformed into something unrecognisable. I could also experiment with Stezaker's 'Dark Star' series where he cut out the subject from the photo and creating silhouettes where they should have been.
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Francesca Woodman:
Francesca woodman was an American photographer best known for her black and white photography featuring herself and female models. Francesca lived in Italy in the Florentine countryside for her childhood, and a lot of her pictures are influenced by the old house; the high-ceiling rooms, the crumbling walls, and the old decorations. Her photographs mostly include young nude women, with blurred camera movements or long exposures to make the figures merge with their surroundings. She also obscured the faces of the models in some of her work. She created temporary scenes and spaces rather than its usual documentary application, and shows movement and the transformation of objects. Woodman’s photographs have a very ethereal and unique quality to them; blurring the moving figure to give a ghostly presence.
Her work often shows her in deserted interior spaces, where her body merges with the surroundings, or is half covered behind peeling wallpaper, the flat plane of a door, or where she is crouching over a mirror. Woodman uses very suggestive objects in her pictures which are carefully placed to create unsettling, surreal, or claustrophobic scenarios. She manages to create very disturbing psychological states in many of her photographic series such as Eel Series, Roma and Angel Series, Roma, through her long exposures and created performances in the photo.
Her work often shows her in deserted interior spaces, where her body merges with the surroundings, or is half covered behind peeling wallpaper, the flat plane of a door, or where she is crouching over a mirror. Woodman uses very suggestive objects in her pictures which are carefully placed to create unsettling, surreal, or claustrophobic scenarios. She manages to create very disturbing psychological states in many of her photographic series such as Eel Series, Roma and Angel Series, Roma, through her long exposures and created performances in the photo.
Analysis
From Angel Series, Rome, 1977-1978
Form: This photograph by Woodman is in black and white and looks like it has been taken using an old film camera. The image has been taken inside a derelict room where the walls and floors look old and ruined with paint peeling off the walls, and some of the objects in the room are in bad condition. There are 3 windows lighting up the room, one which is hidden by the girl in the foreground, and they look quite overexposed because it is so bright. Behind the girl jumping there are two white sheets that are hanging from the ceiling which look quite ethereal and ghostlike. The whole photograph has quite a haunting feel about it due to the blurriness and slight transparency of the girl and the ghostly white sheets, along with the eeriness of the empty room.
Process: This photo has been taken inside but is using natural light as you can see the light in the room disperses from the windows in the background, which appear very bright. Woodman used a film camera with black and white film, and used long exposures in most of her work. In this image she probably asked the girl in the foreground to jump while she took the photo to create the blurred movement of her figure. She probably also used a tripod so that she could capture the movement of the girl while keeping the run down room and the white sheets in focus.
Content: In Woodman's images there are no new buildings, only ruins, whose decayed forms remind us of the eighteenth and nineteenth century Gothic revivalists which were major influences of her work. Woodman reveals the injuries that occur in the time it takes to produce a single picture: hair turns wispy, flesh fades and stretches into smoke. The longer her shutter stays open, the blurrier and more transparent bodies will appear, until at last they disappear. Shortly before her death, she began experimenting with a particularly long development process that required her to spend several hours producing a single photograph. In the end, her camera captures not the girl but the long moment it looked at her. As Chris Townsend says: "with Woodman's art the medium that is most concerned with showing us what is indisputably there becomes preoccupied with hesitation, with uncertainty, with displacement of forms"
Form: This photograph by Woodman is in black and white and looks like it has been taken using an old film camera. The image has been taken inside a derelict room where the walls and floors look old and ruined with paint peeling off the walls, and some of the objects in the room are in bad condition. There are 3 windows lighting up the room, one which is hidden by the girl in the foreground, and they look quite overexposed because it is so bright. Behind the girl jumping there are two white sheets that are hanging from the ceiling which look quite ethereal and ghostlike. The whole photograph has quite a haunting feel about it due to the blurriness and slight transparency of the girl and the ghostly white sheets, along with the eeriness of the empty room.
Process: This photo has been taken inside but is using natural light as you can see the light in the room disperses from the windows in the background, which appear very bright. Woodman used a film camera with black and white film, and used long exposures in most of her work. In this image she probably asked the girl in the foreground to jump while she took the photo to create the blurred movement of her figure. She probably also used a tripod so that she could capture the movement of the girl while keeping the run down room and the white sheets in focus.
Content: In Woodman's images there are no new buildings, only ruins, whose decayed forms remind us of the eighteenth and nineteenth century Gothic revivalists which were major influences of her work. Woodman reveals the injuries that occur in the time it takes to produce a single picture: hair turns wispy, flesh fades and stretches into smoke. The longer her shutter stays open, the blurrier and more transparent bodies will appear, until at last they disappear. Shortly before her death, she began experimenting with a particularly long development process that required her to spend several hours producing a single photograph. In the end, her camera captures not the girl but the long moment it looked at her. As Chris Townsend says: "with Woodman's art the medium that is most concerned with showing us what is indisputably there becomes preoccupied with hesitation, with uncertainty, with displacement of forms"
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Response to Francesca Woodman:
Aim: To experiment with different shutter speeds and to try and create an ethereal atmosphere in the photograph.
Process: For this set of photos i focused on experimenting with the different shutter speeds to see how this would affect the outcome of the image. I took these photos in my house using a tripod to keep the camera still so that the person in the photo was the only subject moving. I had to keep the lighting quite low because in some cases i used a shutter speed of 20 seconds which means a lot of light will be let into the shot. I tried used candles for some of the shots to create an eerie atmosphere like in Woodman's work. I used myself in some of the photos by setting the camera on a timer, and then by moving into different positions when the shutter was open so that the camera captured me multiple times in the same shot. By moving position while the shutter is still open i became only partly visible, creating quite a ghostly feel to the images. I then edited the lighting and saturation on photoshop to make the images appear more gothic.
Critique: Although i do like some of these photographs, they were just to experiment with long exposures like Francesca Woodman so they aren't in a very interesting location and i haven't used any costumes. The photos also came out quite dark because i did it in such an enclosed environment whereas Woodman often used natural lighting from windows. However when i did turn a light on the shots looked very orange so i had to desaturate the images on photoshop.
Further Development: I really like the long exposure idea and if i were to take it further i would take the photos in a more interesting environment that had a gothic atmosphere or was quite derelict like in Woodman's photos. I also like the idea of using a white flowing dress which would look quite ghostly when photographed using a long exposure.
I have become particularly interested in the idea of the supernatural and the paranormal ,and experimenting with Woodman's technique of producing photos which portray something which is very controversial has made me want to continue in this directions for my project, and i would like to produce a final piece which shows my exploration of this topic. I particularly like how the camera shows you something which is not really there, which is ironic as people usually use photography as a way of capturing a moment in time or documenting something. Paranormal photography includes many methods and techniques such as spirit photography, orb photography, cyptozoological photography and more. Broadly speaking it is an attempt to provide physical evidence of paranormal phenomena.
Paranormal photography dates back to the beginnings of photography itself. One of the first spirit photographs has been credited to a Boston man, William Mumler, who took his own photograph in 1861 only to discover the image of a dead cousin in the photograph with him. Mumler was later convicted of fraud but his work helped inspire a growing fascination with photographing the spirit world and other paranormal phenomena.
Critique: Although i do like some of these photographs, they were just to experiment with long exposures like Francesca Woodman so they aren't in a very interesting location and i haven't used any costumes. The photos also came out quite dark because i did it in such an enclosed environment whereas Woodman often used natural lighting from windows. However when i did turn a light on the shots looked very orange so i had to desaturate the images on photoshop.
Further Development: I really like the long exposure idea and if i were to take it further i would take the photos in a more interesting environment that had a gothic atmosphere or was quite derelict like in Woodman's photos. I also like the idea of using a white flowing dress which would look quite ghostly when photographed using a long exposure.
I have become particularly interested in the idea of the supernatural and the paranormal ,and experimenting with Woodman's technique of producing photos which portray something which is very controversial has made me want to continue in this directions for my project, and i would like to produce a final piece which shows my exploration of this topic. I particularly like how the camera shows you something which is not really there, which is ironic as people usually use photography as a way of capturing a moment in time or documenting something. Paranormal photography includes many methods and techniques such as spirit photography, orb photography, cyptozoological photography and more. Broadly speaking it is an attempt to provide physical evidence of paranormal phenomena.
Paranormal photography dates back to the beginnings of photography itself. One of the first spirit photographs has been credited to a Boston man, William Mumler, who took his own photograph in 1861 only to discover the image of a dead cousin in the photograph with him. Mumler was later convicted of fraud but his work helped inspire a growing fascination with photographing the spirit world and other paranormal phenomena.
Following in Mumler's footsteps, a number of other photographers sought to cash in on the spirit photography phenomenon, including Frederick Hudson and E. Buguet. In 1891, Alfred Russell Wallace (one of the developers of the theory of evolution) voiced his opinion that spirit photography should be taken seriously. "Lord Combermere Photograph" That same year, one of the best-known ghost photos of all time was taken by Sybell Corbett at Combermere Abbey in Cheshire, England. The photo was of a library room, taken with an exposure of one hour. Although the room was apparently unoccupied the entire time, the resulting photo clearly showed a man sitting in a chair. The man was identified by a relative as Lord Combermere, who had died in an accident five days earlier.
Paranormal photography in the Victorian times was very popular and because photographic processes and techniques that manipulated what is seen in the photo were unheard of by most people, people believed that what they saw in the photograph was real. When photography was still a relatively new and mysterious technology, many were tricked into believing that it could be used to capture images of ghosts and of the soul leaving the body at the moment of death.The first ghosts in photographs were the result of accidents. During a long exposure--such as those required in photography's infancy--a person who stood still would register as clearly as a building. But a person who moved out of camera range after only a portion of the exposure was completed would instead appear as a see-through blur. As the sophistication of spirit photography developed, so did the understanding of fraudulent tricks. Many early photographers were shown to have used double-exposure techniques and simple plate-swapping tricks.
Paranormal photography in the Victorian times was very popular and because photographic processes and techniques that manipulated what is seen in the photo were unheard of by most people, people believed that what they saw in the photograph was real. When photography was still a relatively new and mysterious technology, many were tricked into believing that it could be used to capture images of ghosts and of the soul leaving the body at the moment of death.The first ghosts in photographs were the result of accidents. During a long exposure--such as those required in photography's infancy--a person who stood still would register as clearly as a building. But a person who moved out of camera range after only a portion of the exposure was completed would instead appear as a see-through blur. As the sophistication of spirit photography developed, so did the understanding of fraudulent tricks. Many early photographers were shown to have used double-exposure techniques and simple plate-swapping tricks.
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Aim: My aim for this set of photos was to develop my response to the work of Francesca Woodman and the early Victorian paranormal photographs by experimenting using a long exposure. I wanted to take shots in a location that looks quite ethereal to create an ghostly atmosphere in the images.
Process: I photographed my friend Elly in the grove using long exposures of various shutter speeds. I wanted to capture the movement of her body and to make her look quite ghost-like like in Woodman's photography, so took photos of her moving through the trees and through walkways to create quite a haunting atmosphere. I used a white dress in these images because i thought the movement of the dress would appear very ethereal and ghostly, and i thought it be look similar to Woodman's angel series where she photographed the girl jumping in a white dress. I used manual focus in these shots, and i didnt use a tripod because i really liked the effect it had when the camera captured my movement as well as the models. I took the photographs on the right in Golders Hill Park using long exposure; while the shutter was open i walked through the pathway, creating quite a magical and mysterious scene. I edited the set above on Photoshop, playing with the saturation and the shadows in the pictures, and trying to make the subject look more like a ghost.
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Critique: I really like this set because i think the setting with the trees gives quite a Gothic atmosphere. I especially like the images i took of Elly running in the walkway because her body merges into a variety of different positions and the dress becomes quite translucent, making it hard to define the exact shape of her body. I think the blur of the background creates a sense of mystery and confusion about the photo because it looks like the shapes have been smudged together like in a painting, and rather than seeing the shapes you focus on the lighting, shadows and colours of the photo. The photos taken in the walkway really remind me of an asylum corridor, and i really like the disorientation of the figure created by shifting the focal point of the camera while taking the photo.
Further Development: To improve this idea i would like to try taking a similar set of photographs but using a tripod so the movement of the figure stands out more against the background. I would also like to try and find quite a run-down, derelict environment to take my photos like in Woodman's work because i think it enhances the eerie atmosphere that i am trying to create.
Further Development: To improve this idea i would like to try taking a similar set of photographs but using a tripod so the movement of the figure stands out more against the background. I would also like to try and find quite a run-down, derelict environment to take my photos like in Woodman's work because i think it enhances the eerie atmosphere that i am trying to create.
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The Cottingley Fairies:
One of the most famous hoaxes in the history of paranormal photography, the "Cottingley Fairies" appeared in a series of photographs taken by Elsie Wright (1901-1988) and Frances Griffith (1907-1986) beginning in 1917. Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith were cousins. At the time of the first photos, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10. Elsie worked in a photo laboratory and borrowed her father's camera to take the photos. After developing the photos, images of fairies were clearly visible. Elsie's father was unconvinced and declared them fake, but her mother (Polly Wright) accepted them as genuine.
Despite the official position of Kodak laboratories, which stated that the photos could easily have been faked, the Cottingley Fairies attracted strong public interest. The defining moment for this hoax came when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, offered his support. A clairvoyant was also brought to the site and claimed that he had seen the fairies, although he was unable to capture them on film. In 1981 Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith were interviewed for the magazine The Unexplained, in which they confessed to the hoax. The fairies were cut-outs held in place by hatpins. The cousins continued to assert that one of the images was genuine and they really had seen fairies.
Despite the official position of Kodak laboratories, which stated that the photos could easily have been faked, the Cottingley Fairies attracted strong public interest. The defining moment for this hoax came when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, offered his support. A clairvoyant was also brought to the site and claimed that he had seen the fairies, although he was unable to capture them on film. In 1981 Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith were interviewed for the magazine The Unexplained, in which they confessed to the hoax. The fairies were cut-outs held in place by hatpins. The cousins continued to assert that one of the images was genuine and they really had seen fairies.
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Long Exposures - Alexandra Palace:
Aim: To develop my idea of photographing the paranormal using long exposure in a derelict or run down setting.
Process: I tried developing my previous set of photos by taking similar shots but using a tripod so the background of the images stay in focus. I chose somewhere that look quite run-down in Ali Pali and i quite liked this location because the paint on the doors is peeling off and the black windows give a sense of mystery and eeriness to the photo. I wanted to create a ghostly effect by having the model move while the photo was being taken so they would appear partly transparent and blurred. I then edited the saturation and contrast of the photo so they had the same haunting feel as Woodman's work.
Critique: I think these photos do have quite a ghostly presence to them and i like how the figure gradually disappears into the surroundings in some of the images. However it was a very bright day when i took the photos, meaning that the shots were very over-exposed because of the long exposure, and i was only able to use a shutter speed of maximum 2 seconds otherwise the photo was too bright to see. I had to edit the photographs quite a lot so the final outcome wasn't too bright. I also wanted to take more photos in different locations but because it was too bright a lot of the photographs didn't come out that well and were too bright to edit on Photoshop.
Further Development: I want to take photographs like this but inside a derelict building so that it isn't as bright and i am able to experiment using longer shutter speeds than 2 seconds. For my next set i will try and find a building or place that is quite run-down like in Woodman's photos and use longer shutter speeds to create a more ethereal atmosphere by capturing more of the movement of the subject.
Critique: I think these photos do have quite a ghostly presence to them and i like how the figure gradually disappears into the surroundings in some of the images. However it was a very bright day when i took the photos, meaning that the shots were very over-exposed because of the long exposure, and i was only able to use a shutter speed of maximum 2 seconds otherwise the photo was too bright to see. I had to edit the photographs quite a lot so the final outcome wasn't too bright. I also wanted to take more photos in different locations but because it was too bright a lot of the photographs didn't come out that well and were too bright to edit on Photoshop.
Further Development: I want to take photographs like this but inside a derelict building so that it isn't as bright and i am able to experiment using longer shutter speeds than 2 seconds. For my next set i will try and find a building or place that is quite run-down like in Woodman's photos and use longer shutter speeds to create a more ethereal atmosphere by capturing more of the movement of the subject.
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Aim: To try and create an ethereal atmosphere in my images by focusing on the composition of the photograph and also developing techniques such as long exposure and shifting the focal point of the camera.
Process: I took these photos in an old milking parlour in norfolk because i wanted to use a derelict setting to create a gothic and creepy atmosphere. I used my digital camera, using a shutter speed of maximum 3 seconds because it was quite bright and the photos were too overexposed with a longer exposure. I wanted the model to wear a white dress like in my previous sets because it looks very ethereal and ghost-like from the blur of the movement. The photos are taken indoors but i used natural lighting from the windows which appear quite overexposed in the photos as it was a very bright day. I then edited the images on photoshop by desaturating them and also adjusting the lighting on some as a few were slightly too overexposed.
Critique: I think these photos successfully create quite a haunting atmosphere because the figure which appears semi transparent and merges into its surroundings looks a lot like a ghost due to the motion while taking the photo. It was quite hard taking a photo using a long shutter speed because it was a bright day, but i think the overexposed windows and the harsh lighting on parts of the figure add to the spooky feeling of the image, along with the setting of the derelict ruins of the milking parlour.
Further Development: To take another set of photos in a different setting that creates an equally haunting feeling, for example a graveyard. I would also like to try out ways of presenting these photos as a final outcome, and i could also photograph the model in a range of interesting angles and positions that create a ghostly effect in the image.
Critique: I think these photos successfully create quite a haunting atmosphere because the figure which appears semi transparent and merges into its surroundings looks a lot like a ghost due to the motion while taking the photo. It was quite hard taking a photo using a long shutter speed because it was a bright day, but i think the overexposed windows and the harsh lighting on parts of the figure add to the spooky feeling of the image, along with the setting of the derelict ruins of the milking parlour.
Further Development: To take another set of photos in a different setting that creates an equally haunting feeling, for example a graveyard. I would also like to try out ways of presenting these photos as a final outcome, and i could also photograph the model in a range of interesting angles and positions that create a ghostly effect in the image.
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Chris Nash:
Chris Nash is a photographer who works in London and specialises in Dance. After graduating from Goldsmiths School of Art in Fine Art, Nash assisted portrait photographer Greg Germany, before becoming a freelance photographer; gaining the reputation as being, 'one of the most creative photographers of his generation.' - BBC2 Arts Programme.
Chris Nash's entry into the world of dance photography coincided with the rise to prominence of the post-modern dance movement that became known in Britain as 'New Dance'. This playfully ironic blend of classical, ethnic and 'street' movement demanded a new vision for the way dance was represented in photography. Nash's photographs are very different from the standard dance photography as the dance works themselves are traditional ballet. His strong impact on contemporary dance and his photographic techniques led to him receiving the Dance Umbrella/Time Out Award for 'helping to make the face of dance more recognisable.'
Nash originally used film photography; developing his photos in a darkroom to give him the opportunity to create many different effects. However he has recently made the transitition from traditional film photography to digital. Although he still uses film and conventional photography techniques, he scans his photos into the computer, using different softwares to continue working on them.
Chris Nash's entry into the world of dance photography coincided with the rise to prominence of the post-modern dance movement that became known in Britain as 'New Dance'. This playfully ironic blend of classical, ethnic and 'street' movement demanded a new vision for the way dance was represented in photography. Nash's photographs are very different from the standard dance photography as the dance works themselves are traditional ballet. His strong impact on contemporary dance and his photographic techniques led to him receiving the Dance Umbrella/Time Out Award for 'helping to make the face of dance more recognisable.'
Nash originally used film photography; developing his photos in a darkroom to give him the opportunity to create many different effects. However he has recently made the transitition from traditional film photography to digital. Although he still uses film and conventional photography techniques, he scans his photos into the computer, using different softwares to continue working on them.
I particularly like this photo by Chris Nash where he has merged multiple images to create a panorama of figures which look quite ghost-like due to the blurryness from the movement while he took the photographs. I want to try combining some of the paranormal photographs i have taken similarly to Nash as a possible way of presented my final outcome.
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Response to Chris Nash:
Aim: I want to try and merge multiple photos that i have taken using long exposure together, so the blurred people in each photo will fade into each other. I hope that trying this technique of having more than one ghostly figure in the image will create a more mysterious and ethereal atmosphere, and may be a way of presenting my final outcome.
Process: I combined these series of photographs together on photoshop by copy and pasting them onto each other, and then changing the opacity so that the edges of the images merged together and appeared to look like one photograph.
Critique: I am really pleased with the outcome of these photos because i like how you can see the model in a range of different poses, and how some of the semi transparent blurs fade into eachother, making it seem like there are multiple ghosts in the image. I think the bottom photo where i have only combined three images works the best because i think the others are too busy and it detracts from the haunting atmosphere that i am trying to create, whereas the bottom image works because it almost looks like you are following the path of the one figure along the photo.
Further Development: I would like to try experimenting with this way of presenting my work with other photographs i have taken, and i could also try techniques of manipulating the photograph, such as painting bleach onto it.
Critique: I am really pleased with the outcome of these photos because i like how you can see the model in a range of different poses, and how some of the semi transparent blurs fade into eachother, making it seem like there are multiple ghosts in the image. I think the bottom photo where i have only combined three images works the best because i think the others are too busy and it detracts from the haunting atmosphere that i am trying to create, whereas the bottom image works because it almost looks like you are following the path of the one figure along the photo.
Further Development: I would like to try experimenting with this way of presenting my work with other photographs i have taken, and i could also try techniques of manipulating the photograph, such as painting bleach onto it.
Duane Michals:
Duane Michals is an American photographer born in 1932 and has worked extensively as a commercial photographer; as an artist he is best known for his sequenced black-and-white images. His work makes innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy. Michals' work accepts that capturing the "soul" of a subject is impossible. However, through the use of narrative it aspires to help the viewer understand something deeper than what the photograph alone displays. Michals rarely uses a studio for his photography, and instead prefers to photograph people in available light, and often in the homes of the subject, always making the environments very minimal and simple.
"They are deliberately impure on several accounts. He parades the weakness and mistakes of the medium, its blurs and double exposures, not to define a specfically photographic way of seeing but to picture what cannot be seen by eye or camera." - Vicki Goldberg
Michals sometimes adds to some of his images by painting over the photographic paper with oils. 'Portrait of Ray Barry and Grapes' and 'Primevera (springtime)' are good examples of where he combines his photographic and painting techniques.
"They are deliberately impure on several accounts. He parades the weakness and mistakes of the medium, its blurs and double exposures, not to define a specfically photographic way of seeing but to picture what cannot be seen by eye or camera." - Vicki Goldberg
Michals sometimes adds to some of his images by painting over the photographic paper with oils. 'Portrait of Ray Barry and Grapes' and 'Primevera (springtime)' are good examples of where he combines his photographic and painting techniques.
Analysis:
'The Spirit Leave the Body'
Form: This photo by Michals is in black and white and is of a man both lying down and sitting up with his legs straightened out on a bed in an empty room. Both the figures are translucent and are highlighted by the window that is behind the man, where the daylight is lighting up part of the room, leaving the area which is furthest away from the window very dark and mysterious.
Process: Michals used a long exposure and changed position when the shutter was open so the bodies would not appear completely opaque. He probably used a tripod to prevent the photo blurring due to the long exposure, and he uses natural lighting from the window which only lights up part of the room closest to it. Michals also used old black and white film for this photo, and for most of his photography as well.
Content: Michals has been seen as a philosopher, expressing his concerns and his views of life through the camera. He tries to capture life after death, and is fascinated by the transience of death and the change of consciousness. Michals does takes photographs to illustrate expressions of thought, feelings, statements and interests. He admitted an interest in death, in particular a preparation for his own death (shown in 'Self Portrait: As If I Were Dead'), which has been a strong theme throughout. "I’m much more interested in what happens when you die. That I wouldn’t find on the street so I had to find a way of expressing it sequentially. I did The Spirit Leaves the Body because I think you literally walk off. What I tried to photograph was the ephemeral. My idea of reality wasn’t simply the facts of reality." This photograph is part of a series showing the ghostly form gradually emerging from its original body of the man lying down. The photos give the impression of the presence of an ethereal being, and Michals states that he was not trying to capture the physical corpse remaining after death, but what happened during the process of death.
Form: This photo by Michals is in black and white and is of a man both lying down and sitting up with his legs straightened out on a bed in an empty room. Both the figures are translucent and are highlighted by the window that is behind the man, where the daylight is lighting up part of the room, leaving the area which is furthest away from the window very dark and mysterious.
Process: Michals used a long exposure and changed position when the shutter was open so the bodies would not appear completely opaque. He probably used a tripod to prevent the photo blurring due to the long exposure, and he uses natural lighting from the window which only lights up part of the room closest to it. Michals also used old black and white film for this photo, and for most of his photography as well.
Content: Michals has been seen as a philosopher, expressing his concerns and his views of life through the camera. He tries to capture life after death, and is fascinated by the transience of death and the change of consciousness. Michals does takes photographs to illustrate expressions of thought, feelings, statements and interests. He admitted an interest in death, in particular a preparation for his own death (shown in 'Self Portrait: As If I Were Dead'), which has been a strong theme throughout. "I’m much more interested in what happens when you die. That I wouldn’t find on the street so I had to find a way of expressing it sequentially. I did The Spirit Leaves the Body because I think you literally walk off. What I tried to photograph was the ephemeral. My idea of reality wasn’t simply the facts of reality." This photograph is part of a series showing the ghostly form gradually emerging from its original body of the man lying down. The photos give the impression of the presence of an ethereal being, and Michals states that he was not trying to capture the physical corpse remaining after death, but what happened during the process of death.
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Response to Duane Michals:
Aim: To produce a set a photos that responds to Michal's 'The spirit leaves the body' by using long exposure and experimenting with different shutter speeds to create multiple translucent figures in one photo.
Process: I took this set of images by taking multiple photos of my model in different positions using a long shutter speed to capture some of movement to create a slight blur. I think layered the images on photoshop so that two figures of the same person appeared in the photo, similar to Michaels. I wanted to try and create a haunting feeling by having a ghostly figure or spirit of the person in the photo looking down on them, or by having the spirit leaving the body while the person is lying down like in Michael's 'The Spirit Leaves The Body'.
Critique: The locations i took these photos in were quite dark and gloomy, so the photos came out slightly grainy when i uploaded them onto my computer. I also think the figures in a few of the images are too transparent from the layering of the pictures on photoshop, and i would have liked them to be slightly more visible.
Further Development: To try layering multiple images of people in a different location where it is slightly brighter so the images dont appear so grainy. I could also try layering more than one image of a model in different positions as another technique of portraying their movement in the photo.
Critique: The locations i took these photos in were quite dark and gloomy, so the photos came out slightly grainy when i uploaded them onto my computer. I also think the figures in a few of the images are too transparent from the layering of the pictures on photoshop, and i would have liked them to be slightly more visible.
Further Development: To try layering multiple images of people in a different location where it is slightly brighter so the images dont appear so grainy. I could also try layering more than one image of a model in different positions as another technique of portraying their movement in the photo.
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Aim: To produce a piece of work similar to Duane Michals' 'Primavera' photograph by painting onto acetate and layering it on top of the original photograph.
Process: I created this piece of work by chosing a photograph as my background layer, and then painting different flowers onto acetate using acrylic paint. I then stuck the two images together so that the colourful flowers would stand out against the black and white photograph behind it.
Critique: I painted flowers because i couldn't really think of any other ideas of what to paint on top of the photo, so created something very similar to Michael's work. Although i like the flowers, i don't think the two images work very well together because there is little connection between the two idea, and the flowers detract from the haunting atmosphere and the ghostly figure i am trying to create in my photography.
Further Development: I could try painting other images onto existing photos that i have taken, however i do not think i will continue with this idea because i much prefer Nash's panorama technique of presenting my work.
Critique: I painted flowers because i couldn't really think of any other ideas of what to paint on top of the photo, so created something very similar to Michael's work. Although i like the flowers, i don't think the two images work very well together because there is little connection between the two idea, and the flowers detract from the haunting atmosphere and the ghostly figure i am trying to create in my photography.
Further Development: I could try painting other images onto existing photos that i have taken, however i do not think i will continue with this idea because i much prefer Nash's panorama technique of presenting my work.
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Aim: To take a final set of photographs by combining factors such as long exposure and a creepy location that i have experimented with in my previous sets of photos to create a supernatural feeling in the images.
Process: I took this set in the East Wing of Highgate Cemetry because i wanted a gothic and scary setting for my final set. I used a long exposure of about 2 seconds because it was a bright day and i didn't want the photographs to appear too overexposed. I asked the model to do a variety of actions to create a ghostly figure in the photo such as running towards or away from the camera, or running out of the photo while the shutter was still open so that the figure appeared semi-transparent. I also layered some of the photos in photoshop like i did for my response to Duane Michals, so that you could see more than one semi-transparent figure of the same person, which looks quite creepy and ethereal. I edited these photos on photoshop; changing the saturation so that they are almost desaturated but have a slight tint of colour in them, and also adjusting the contrast and brightness of the photo and some of them were slightly overexposed.
Critique: I prefer this set of images the most out of all the sets i have taken because i think the setting is perfect for the creepy and mysterious atmosphere i wanted to create for my final outcome. I like the mystifying and blurry movement of the figure in the photos, especially when i asked the model to run toward me while i took the photo which manipulates the figure and creates a ghostly translucent blur amongst the gravestones.
Further Development: I want to use these images for my final outcome, and i would like to try creating a panorama of a few of these photos like Chris Nash did, and like i experimented with photos from my previous sets.
Critique: I prefer this set of images the most out of all the sets i have taken because i think the setting is perfect for the creepy and mysterious atmosphere i wanted to create for my final outcome. I like the mystifying and blurry movement of the figure in the photos, especially when i asked the model to run toward me while i took the photo which manipulates the figure and creates a ghostly translucent blur amongst the gravestones.
Further Development: I want to use these images for my final outcome, and i would like to try creating a panorama of a few of these photos like Chris Nash did, and like i experimented with photos from my previous sets.
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I chose the my favorite images from my final set and also images that i thought would work together. I chose four images, however i was not able to show all four together on this website as i was not able to upload a file size as large as it was, but my final piece will consist of this plus another image attached to it as well. I used the same method that i used to make the other merged images; using photoshop to combine the images and then playing with the transparency so that the edge of the images faded into each other. I am happy with this image as part of my final outcome because i think each figure in the panorama of photos really looks like a ghost-like form and i like how the blur of their movement fades into the other picture, making it look like it is just one photo.
As well as this image, i would like to experiment manipulating the photo. I would like to try bleaching the photograph and I have also looked at Arnulf Rainer who painted onto existing photographs to give them a very creepy and disturbing sense about them.
As well as this image, i would like to experiment manipulating the photo. I would like to try bleaching the photograph and I have also looked at Arnulf Rainer who painted onto existing photographs to give them a very creepy and disturbing sense about them.
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Painting with Bleach:
Process: I experimented manipulating photos that i had taken by painting on them with bleach using a paintbrush. I started off by painting a wash of bleach over the whole photo, and then worked into particularly the darker areas so that the colour change was more dramatic and noticeable.
Critique: I like how the bleach has distorted parts of the images by making the colours turn into yellow and orangey blurs, almost resembling flames of a fire. However i think the photographs i took in the cemetery do not look as good because they are already quite busy photos, and i think the bleach goes too far and you are almost unable to make anything in the image out. I do think the image that i took in the barn looks good though because the photo was originally quite dark in the background, so i think it makes the photograph more interesting by manipulating the colours, and it doesn't distract you from the main focus of the shot - the ghostly figure. I also think the bleach makes the photos seem quite old and faded as the colours are starting to disappear, giving them an aged look.
Further Development: I would like to experiment with other techniques of working on top of these photos. maybe sewing into them or scratching into the photo to bring out the detail behind the bleached areas.
Critique: I like how the bleach has distorted parts of the images by making the colours turn into yellow and orangey blurs, almost resembling flames of a fire. However i think the photographs i took in the cemetery do not look as good because they are already quite busy photos, and i think the bleach goes too far and you are almost unable to make anything in the image out. I do think the image that i took in the barn looks good though because the photo was originally quite dark in the background, so i think it makes the photograph more interesting by manipulating the colours, and it doesn't distract you from the main focus of the shot - the ghostly figure. I also think the bleach makes the photos seem quite old and faded as the colours are starting to disappear, giving them an aged look.
Further Development: I would like to experiment with other techniques of working on top of these photos. maybe sewing into them or scratching into the photo to bring out the detail behind the bleached areas.
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Arnulf Rainer:
I looked at Arnulf Rainer because he is well known for his overpaintings where he obliterated his early expressive drawings or picture to produce almost monochrome paintings dominated by black or red, for example 'Red Overpainting.'In building up a rough and encrusted relief-like surface that shows the trace of the brush and blobs of paint, he gradually asserted the predominance of the reworked surface over the virtually invisible original below. Rainer, a self-taught Austrian painter, photographer and printmaker, used a variety of media in his work, including etching, drypoint, lithography, screenprinting and the Surrealist technique of Automatism, producing paintings such as 'Automization' and drawings dominated by clusters of strokes and sometimes worked over with coloured chalk crayon. Rainer was deeply suspicious of rationality, he investigated the potential of dreams, madness and the subconscious, and this interest in extreme emotional states hinted at in such works became even more pronounced in 1963, when he began to collect paintings by the insane, and in 1964, when he experimented with hallucinogenic drugs. From 1968 he used photographs of his hands and often grimacing face as the basis of partly overpainted works, such as 'Face in Face.' The pictorial language employed in "painting over" which was later developed into "painting out" represents a central theme in Rainer’s painting and his largest group of works. The method of scribbling, painting and drawing over also served to make his expressive black and white photographs more pointed by incorporating characteristics of body language.
"Critical, with hostility against everything, I manage to correct and to paint over. Only now do I dare to destroy so that something better may grow from it. I am filled with fixed but vague images which only become differentiated and concrete as I draw, then change into new ones. After one or two hours I am tired. At this stage, improvements are merely alterations or recollections. My ideas are not extended by the work just produced."
"Critical, with hostility against everything, I manage to correct and to paint over. Only now do I dare to destroy so that something better may grow from it. I am filled with fixed but vague images which only become differentiated and concrete as I draw, then change into new ones. After one or two hours I am tired. At this stage, improvements are merely alterations or recollections. My ideas are not extended by the work just produced."
I like how Rainer's overpaintings look quite scratchy and haunting because he has completely recreated the figure in the photograph into a disturbing and psychotic face. I wanted to try scratching into my bleached photographs so that you an see some of the detail that was originally in the image, however like Rainer's it will be my interpretation of the image because i can't see all the detail under the bleached areas.
I think this technique of scratching back into the photo after bleaching it works very effectively because you still get the semi transparency of the moving figure and the whole image has quite a ghostly feel to it. I used a calligraphy pen to scratch to make all the little marks in the photo, and i think it has the same scratchy look as Rainer's work. For my final piece i will bleach and scratch into the rest of the panorama photo in the style of Chris Nash that i made on photoshop of the ghostly figures in the barn, along with the panorama i made of the graveyard photos.
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