Exhibition Final Pieces

Tuesday I processed my last roll of film then chose 2 photographs from that to use as final pieces alongside one of my Birmingham photos. After I scanned the negatives I went back to my flat and edited my 3 final pieces on Adobe Lightroom 4 adding contrast and straightening the images. When I finished editing them I went to Print Services and had them printed A1 size. It was very quiet so I had them printed then and there, I had to turn the files from psd files to pdf's which didn't take long, I'd say I was only in there about 45 minutes and my work was printed (normally you have to wait one or two days). Alan advised me to print them onto matte paper so they are seen as paintings more then photographs as they have a very cubist aesthetic. I do want to exhibit all 3 photographs however if there isn't enough space I will just exhibit 2, I assume I will have the space for 3. One of my photographs have a pink cast to it even though it is a black and white photograph so I think I'm going to re-print it.  

Cross Course Seminar (08/05/14)

Yesterday I had my cross course seminar, we mainly discussed the exhibition space, putting up our work and how we're getting our work there. A lot of the students in the group discussed their displeasure with the fact that the exhibition is only 4 hours long where previously people were informed it would be over a full weekend, I'm not as angry about it as some other students in my group however it is a little aggravating that I've spent £20 on printing and its only going to be seen for 4 hours. For me the exhibition will be a chance for me to see other students work and see what they're up to. I would have liked the exhibition to be planned a little better for example I would like to know how much space I have to exhibit my work. We didn't speak about our work during the meeting as we didn't have time however we did discuss the posters and flyers that are being made, I'm not sure if were still displaying posters however we are going to have flyers people can take away from the exhibition containing the group members work and a paragraph about the subject of our work. Overall the seminar was interesting as people spoke about how the exhibition could be improved and the logistics of the exhibition.   

Final Double Exposure Shoot

On Saturday I shot my last roll of double expsoures, I shot in the stairwell on the Benzie Building and as has an interesting geometric structure consisting of concrete walls and contrasting black and white panels and rails. I took wide shots looking down the stairwell as the warped around the frame well then overlapped that with close up shots of the stairs and rails. After I shot the stairwell I went and shot in the New Business School. The architecture was brilliant for the geometric look I was trying to achieve, I took wide shots of the inside facade and the main staircase. One photograph I took still looks slightly negative and one its own is a good photograph but doesn't fit in with the overall narrative of the photos. I also shot the parking structure underneath the Convention Center, I'd shot there before but I decided to double expose some of the things I'd previously shot. I shot the pipes running along the ceiling then overlapped them with shots of the stair set outside, the stair set has a thick metal rail which zig zags up the steps in quite a cubist way. From here I went to another parking structure near Beetham Tower, I've photographed there before but went into a loading area where there was a set of steps with a metal rail which I shot then overlapped with a steel rail. Lastly I went in Central Library and photographed the large glass lift shaft, it consists of vertical steel beams and glass so had a very geometric aesthetic. I shot the lift and then overlapped it with shots of the windows but they didn't come out as well a I'd hoped. I had the film processed in town as the c41 in the art building is broke then had to wait until Tuesday to scan the film. The best photos from the shoot were the stairwell shots in the Benzie Building and the ones taken in the parking structure near Beetham Tower. For my 3 final pieces I'm using one of the photos I took in Birmingham then a photograph taken the Benzie Building stairwell and one taken in the parking structure opposite Beetham Tower. 

Project Research (Key Post: Research)

Through shooting geometric structures and double exposures my work had a clear link to the artistic movement of cubism so I've decided to study the movement. Cubism was probably the most prominent artistic movement of the 20th century, originating in Paris just after the turn of the century it became the movement of the avant-guard lead by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and more. 

Cubism involves taking a subject and depicting it from a variety of viewpoints and combining them to create a new geometric version of the subject. My photographs involve photographing a piece of subject matter the overlaying another exposure in an attempt to distort it and create new patterns sort of like cubism. The cubist artists who's work links closest to mine would be Georges Braque. His paintings 'Man With a guitar' and 'Mandora' are similar to my work in that they contain sharp shapes layered together contrasting with one-another. His paintings create a new structure out of an already existing one, distorting and combining viewpoints. In my work I'm trying to take existing structures and combining them to create new patterns in an attempt to show that 'everyday' structures can take on new interesting forms. 

My research throughout Unit X had gradually changed just like my work has. At the beginning of the project I researched into the work of William Eggleston, he is one of the most notable photographers to shoot banal, everyday situations and make them look appealing so his work was a good place for me to start. In the period after that my work focused much more on shape and form so the work of painter Mark Rothko has a small but important influence on my work. Still focusing on form and pattern within everyday objects and architecture I studied the work of Albert Renger-Patzsch who is noted for finding patterns and interesting lines in everyday objects, he primarily photographs in black and white and his photographs were a big influence in my work from that point on as he presents the most normal objects in a way that makes you take an interest in their structure which is something I definitely wanted to achieve. The next photographer I researched into was Deidi von Schaewen, I found her book 'Walls' in the library and took an instant liking to it, I researched her mainly because so focuses on texture and one thing my photographs needed to have was a variety of textures so different shapes and objects could contrast against each other. As my photographs focused more on geometric architecture and objects I wanted to research an artist who was known for creating geometric structures, I ended up studying the work of artist Sol Lewitt, he is a fine artist who created a minimal structure of out 122 individual cube variations, I mainly studied his work as I wanted to find out interesting things that could be done with geometric structures, he combines many small sculptures to make up one overall piece, this was one of the early things that influenced me to use the double exposure technique and combine exposures to make one overall photograph. Although he isn't a photographer his work was still quite a big influence on me. After I decided I was going to shoot double exposures I wanted to study the work of a photographer is very concomitant in using the technique. I found the work of a Japanese photographer who goes by the name of 'Hodachrome', he uses the double exposure technique but takes it a step further in that he cross processes film and shoots on a roll of film then reverse it and shoots on it again giving this work an orange cast. His work showed the aesthetic of double exposure work and was a great example of that it looks like to combine architecture through double exposure. I have taken interesting elements from all these artists work and combined them with my own style to make a body of work that has gradually progressed and changed into something that will to the brief justice and show my capabilities.         

Georges Braque - Man with a Guitar

      

Colour Double/Triple Exposure Shoot (35mm)

This week I've been shooting more double exposures, I decided to use colour film so I could compare it to the black and white work I did in Birmingham and decide which film I would use for my final pieces. I decided to shoot more simple everyday subject matter like walls, window frames, rails and a variety of other textures. My aim was to overlap various textures in an attempt to create new shapes and textures that could never exist, they only exist in the photograph. There are a few photographs I think are strong but the more industrial modern subject matter I shot in Birmingham works better. After meeting with Alan we discussed my work and he said that its alright to shoot more complex subject matter because I was concerned the subject matter didn't fit in with 'the everyday' theme. When I shoot for my final pieces I will return to some of the locations I shot for this roll as I discovered a few really interesting locations like the walls of the Convention Complex. 

I went back and shot in the parking structure below the Convention Complex because it had interesting pipes and a brilliant geometric stair set. I don't think the simple subject matter works as well as the industrial stuff so for my final pieces I'm going to go back to shooting black and white film and shooting more complex geometric subject matter. 

Birmingham Shoot (Key Post: Investigations)

Through investigations throught the means of research and experimentation I can to using the double exposure technique in my work to create new progressive photographs, my work has gradually been leading to this point through researching photographs such as Hodachrome and experimenting with the double exposure technique I wanted to shoot photographs that show the geometric theme of my work. I think the photographs show my work moving in a more progressive and abstract direction, these photographs show the direction I want my work to move in. The process of shooting the photographs was fun as I had to imagine what I wanted the photographs to look like before I shot them and work out where to place certain things in the composition. The location I shot the majority of the photographs was in a parking area that backed onto the library in Chamberlain Square. The location was brilliant for what I wanted as it contained all concrete sharp architecture and a lot of pipes and fences so I thought combining all these elements would make for interesting photographs. The location was quite grotty and there were rubbish bins everywhere and litter however this gave the location a very well worm and used atmosphere that only helped to represent the theme of 'the everyday'. The hardest thing about shooting double exposures is guessing how much to over expose the photographs, I usually overexposed it by a stop or two not much more, most of the photographs came out exposed well only one or two are a little under exposed. I tried filling the frame with pipes and different textures but then also shot wide shots of the architecture against the sky then shot close up shots so fill that space with a new texture. The photographs look good but when I looked at double exposures on the internet and in books people mainly take a photograph as an outline such as a person the photograph something else to fill that space, I don't want to photograph what everyone else is photography I want to use the technique to create something new that hopefully they've never seen so I think I'm going to stick to completely filling the frame with texture. I want to continue shooting double exposures but experiment shooting in colour and also shoot triple exposures to see what kinds of textures and patterns I can create.

Investigating into new photography techniques made my work much more individual and experimental and gave me photographs that I can now build on in creating my exhibition pieces. Before I created these photographs I felt like my work had hit a wall and I was photographing the same types things over and over again and now I've started using double exposures my work has moved in a new and interesting direction.  

Post of the Day (30/04/2014)

Firstly this morning I woke up early to use the c41 machine but it turned out it was still broken, on the other hand they gave me vouchers to develop my film at Advanced Photo in town so went there and got my film developed within an hour. I headed back to uni and went in the studio and did some lighting experiments with Gab Deacon, it was fun because I'm inexperienced in the studio so I want to learn as much as I can, I did some basic one and two flash set ups but I can understand why people get addicted to studio work because getting the lighting perfect is very addictive. By mid afternoon I went in the darkroom but only managed to print one photography but I was very pleased with the one photography I did print. I printed a photograph taken in the pillow fight in Trafalgar Square when I visited London during the Easter break. I had to dodge and burn the image and I've done dodging and burning before but this photograph needed more than I'd ever done before. I printed the photograph without dodging and burning then studied that to find out what I needed to do to make it right. I went down to the A4&More Store and brought a black piece of card to use then cut out a shape to dodge the woman's face. First I exposed the entire image for 12 seconds then masked off the woman's face and exposed the entire image for another 4 seconds then covered the woman's body and exposed the background for another 11 seconds. I enjoyed dodging and burning very much and was pleased with the final image, the woman's face could be a little lighter and the background a little lighter but I suppose everything you do could have been done better. 

Post of the Day (28/04/14)

Today was my first full day back after the Easter break, my aim for today was to hand in my keyword essay, process 2 rolls of film and print as many photos as I could and hire a medium format camera. I printed off my essay and handed that in however the c41 was broken so I couldn't process my film I also wasn't able to hire a medium format camera as you could only return equipment today. Anyway I went into town and brought some 35mm colour film as I want to do some colour double exposures. I was going to buy some 120 film however at Fred Aldours and Jessops you can only buy it in packs of 5 but I don't need that many and dont have the money so I'm just going to buy a roll off the internet then hire out a medium format camera when the film arrives. My plan for tomorrow is to process my 2 rolls of film if the c41 is working and print as many photos as I can before my lecture then go out in the afternoon and shoot some double exposures. 

Birmingham Shoot (24/04/14)

Yesterday I went to Birmingham to shoot some 35mm double exposures. The reason I wanted to shoot double exposures is that it will heighten everyday structures and by overlapping them and combining them I can create new shapes. I shot on 35mm film so I cant post the images until I've printed them (which will probably the next Tuesday). I found a great location near the library of Birmingham, it was an underground car parking structure/ back lot, it was a bit of a dump with a lot of bins and litter around but there were a lot of pipes and sharp corners that made for interesting subject matter when double exposed. I had to light meter the thing I was going to photograph then over expose it but I had to guess how much to over expose each photo so they could come out very good or under/over exposed. The location was more interesting than I could have expected and it was a bit of a dump however I don't feel it could pass as 'everyday'. When I walk along the streets I dont see this type of place 'everyday' but its subject matter was very simple, if anything it was the result of everyday behavior that you dont get to see. For example there was a 4 star hotel right next to this place that backed onto it and you could see all the bins and litter and filth behind this hotel that the people staying in it never get to see. I will speak to Alan and see if I can get away with this type of subject matter however if I cant I still want to peruse double exposures and present everyday things in a way that creates something new.   

Double Exposure Research (17/04/14)

Through shooting a few casual double exposures on my Nikon FE I've decided to study multiple exposures and apply this technique to my Unit X work. I thought about shooting architecture then rotating the frame and shooting another exposure on top of that to create a new geometric form out of an everyday objects or pieces of architecture in an attempt to create a new patterns. I decided to research photographers who use double exposures in their work and I can across the work of a Japanese photographer who goes by the name of 'Hodachrome'. He combines exposures, reverses film and cross processes film in an attempt to create new interesting compositions by layering exposures. I can across his work on 'Flickr', his work is much more complex than at first it appears. One technique he uses to combine exposures is to shoot on a roll of film and then he reverses the film and shoots on the other side of it so one side of the film if a regular colour exposure and the other side has orange cast to it. He also use a devise called a Splitzer which fits on your lens and allows you to mask areas of the frame and have more control when layering exposures. His work is interesting in the techniques he uses but he only really rotates compositions to mirror themselves whereas I want to combine different buildings to create new ones.  

So far I've just experimented with basic double exposures but for my new shoot I will experiment with photographing close up pieces of everyday architecture then rotating the camera and double exposing the frame with another piece of architecture in attempt to create new geometric structures. Obviously I still need to retain the everyday theme but I want to heighten it by creating new patterns through the double exposure technique.