Favorite Work From Unit X

When I started this project I wanted to shoot different subject matter than I did in my 'The Figure in Photography'. In that project I shot primarily architecture and street photography so for initially for Unit X I wanted to focus on photographing people. Firstly I shot street photographs of people doing 'everyday' things such as smoking, reading or looking at their phone, I shot the photographs on 35mm colour film and was reasonably happy with them as they were only suppose to be a start point. I showed the photographs to Alan and he said the idea behind them was too simple and obvious and suggested I head in another direction, we talked about the theme and talked about photographing simple compositions in the room such as chairs against the wall and how different objects go together. From the meeting I felt I needed to photograph something different so I started photograph patterns and shapes within architecture, although I wanted to shoot something other than architecture for the project I was confident I could present it in an interesting and different way than I previously had. I started shooting patterns in rails and various other geometric structures that people see everyday but never really notice. Some of my favorite photographs I created were taken in this early period like the black and white photograph of a hand rail in hard sunlight, the rail had horizontal bars which curved around the composition creating hard shadows which looked interesting. Another photograph from that shoot which stood out to me was a photograph of a wall with a variety of textures that looked a lot like a Rothko painting. After this shoot I decided to focus on more geometric architecture and different patterns and textures within it. Another stand out photograph for me is a photograph taken in the parking structure under the Convention Centre, this was a key location for me as I shot there quite a few times after and ended up photographing the location shooting for my final pieces. There is a stair set in the building that is plain white and had a very 2D geometric form that contrasted well against the brick background. By this point I felt I needed to develop my work into something more intricate and complicated and I had just purchased a Nikon FE which allowed me to shoot double exposures so I decided to do that. This was during Easter break so I went to Birmingham hoping to photograph some interesting looking architecture and found a grotty parking structure with lots of square architecture and metal pipes (quite industrial), the type of place people visit but never take time to study its form. I decided to shoot double exposures of this location overlapping different parts of architecture and pipes. The photographs looked very interesting as they resembled cubist structures and the pieces of architecture were taken out of context and used to create new patterns. I decided this was the right direction to go so I shot more double exposures back in Manchester, I shot in the same format on the same type of film as the previous shoot looked interesting and I wanted to use on of the images as a final piece. I feel my work developed well and I used new techniques I had never previously used and I managed to present architecture in a new way that differs heavily from my previous work. 

Unit X Everyday Unnoticed Group

Before I went to my first cross course seminar I didn't know that we worked in our groups to organize our piece of the exhibition. I missed the first seminar so when I arrived at the second they had already started organizing roles and made a facebook group so I had to make a facebook account to join it because I've never had facebook (personally I prefer twitter). We had to come up with a name for our exhibition so we came up with the title 'The Everyday: Unnoticed', we wanted to keep the 'everyday' in the title and then add another word that linked to all our work. We chose the word 'unnoticed' as we thought that our work shows the things people do and see everyday but never really notice which links quite close to my work. All the people in my group were helpful and easy to work with. Mccaullie Porter taken on the role as team leader which she did very well, she kept in contact with everyone and oversaw the transport of peoples work to the exhibition space. It was decided that we were going to make posters to promote the event and booklet handouts, it was decided that one of my photographs was going to be used in the background of the poster so that was my contribution. It was decided that Rene Thomas and Mollie Milton were going to handle the design and printing of the poster and booklet. Everyone in the group wrote and paragraph about their work then sent it to Rene who put it in the booklet, the booklet did look alright however I feel it could have been done better if we had more time as Rene had to wait until everyone had submitted their paragraph which took some time. We kept contact quite a lot on facebook with people posting questions all the time. Although we didn't collaborate in terms of our work I feel we did work well as a group in organizing the promotion and deciding how much space we all need for the exhibition. Working with a group of student from other courses who I'd never met was interesting and we all got on well and expressed our views on certain topics such as title, promotion and exhibition space. 

Visiting the Exhibition

I had to go to the exhibition in the afternoon as I had to rub out the pencil lines I drew the day before whilst setting up my pieces. I visited the exhibition later that night with a couple of friends who study photography and film making so we all got to see our work. The exhibition was a lot busier than I imagined it to be as previously I'd only been there whilst people were setting up their work so I hadn't seen it with extra people. The best thing about the exhibition seeing people looking at your work I suppose that's the whole point of the exhibition but it is nice to see that people are interested in what you have been doing, it makes it worth while. A lot of people were dissatisfied with the exhibition space however I think that that was taken out of context when the space was full of work, it was so full of work anyway most of the wall space was covered. 

I placed my work in the path that people walk around the building so I had a good spot. The exhibition was also casual in the sense that people were open to drink and chat and whatever so it felt very laid back. I enjoyed the exhibition and looking at other students work not just photography but work on all the floors, also seeing how different people had interpreted the same brief as me was interesting and how different their work was to mine.

I look forward to doing other exhibitions in the years to come and enjoyed the experience very much. 

Setting up the Exhibition

Before I arrived at the space on Wednesday I didn't know where I was going to exhibit my work in terms of I didn't know if I'd use windows, wall space or boards. When I arrived the surround wall space was already being used to I decided to use one of the triangular boards, I chose a spot on one of the boards that faced the center of the room and was in the path people would walk so people walking round the floor space would naturally see my work as they walked past so I got myself a very good spot. The only problem with exhibiting on the boards was that I only had space for two of my photographs rather than three, I chose to leave out the photograph I shot in the stairwell of the Benzie Building. My reasoning for this was that it had a clean and minimalistic appearance whereas the other two were both taken in parking structures and had quite a grungy aesthetic therefore they went together well, in addition the Benzie Building photograph was generally my least favorite of the three photographs. 

When it came to putting my work up I'd already worked out that I was going to use double sided tape to attach my photographs as it is very strong and sticks to almost any surface. I stuck three lines of tape on the top and bottom of the print but didn't stick any on the side as I didn't want to worry about air bubbles warping the print and I figured size lines of tape would be enough. 

I measured the board then measured the prints and explanation card and figured I would have to leave an 8cm gap between the prints, I drew out pencil lines so I knew where to stick the prints and then stuck the prints to the board, I placed the prints so that your eyes are in line with the middle of them so you don't have to look too far up or down to see it. The prints were a little bit slanted (as sticking an A1 print is not that easy) but not enough that anyone would be put off the work because of it. 

I wrote a small 130ish word paragraph explaining what the work is about and my influences and inspiration, I also put my email address just in case anyone wanted to contact me. I printed off the paragraph then used double sided tape to attach it to a piece of mount board. 

Overall I feel my worked looked good when I'd set it up, I know my work was a little slanted but hopefully no one else did. I would like to have exhibited all three of my photographs as I didn't print them as a set of three but I just had to work with the space I had, I suppose I could have used the windows but then the prints would have been spaced a little too far out. 

Exhibition Prints

Last week I went to Print Services and had my three final photographs printed for the exhibition. I ordered them on A1 matte paper as I wanted to print them big and Alan advised me to print them on matte paper so they were seen more a paintings than photographs. When I picked up the prints I found one of them had a pink cast, this also came up when I showed my work in a seminar the following day. So on Friday I re-edited the photograph taking out the pink cast then went to Print Services and re-ordered the print. This morning I went to Print Services and picked up the print then went to Book Binding and cut the prints, because I ordered the print separately it was slightly smaller than the other two prints so I had to cut the other two down to the same size, I only had to take a few cm's off each side and I'm glad they're all the same size. I'm pleased with how the prints came out, they work together as a set as they're all double exposure photos with a cubist aesthetic but the subject matter of all three photographs is different so each one stands apart from the other. In terms of attaching the prints to the wall I'm either going to use a small amount of double sided tape in each corner or I'm going to use small pins to attach them. 

    

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.