On Going Evaluations (unfinished)

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Experimental Photography

Chloe Stead

Multi- media experiment 1

Here I dotted acrylic paint in a formation that enhanced the shapes of the bubbles.

I edited the lighting on the image on photoshop. It started out a bright white, but I faded it to a duller grey-ish colour.

On photoshop I enhanced the bright colours using the sponge tool.

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How well do you feel you have realised your ideas and intentions and what results have you got? Ensure you talk critically (compare, contrast, assess) about your work. You should reference your influences and assess how your work compares.

When I first began the project, I had a clear idea of what I would like to do because of my influences. I knew what I wanted from creating mind maps and mood boards, and looking for inspirational work. My main influence, Sebastiaan Bremer gave me a lot of ideas for my work. He inspired me to use paint over my photographs. Sebastiaan Bremer uses a lot of small dots of paints on his own work, which inspired me, and I decided to use his technique.

When I created my mind maps and mood boards I considered aspects such as my colour scheme, shapes and the content I wanted in my images. I thought about my theme and what I wanted my images to tell my audience. I wanted my audience to see that my theme is about fear, and more specifically about the term being “thrown in at the deep end”. I decided on using the colour blue throughout my work, which is commonly associated with water. I also wanted to create shapes that reflect water such as waves.

When creating my mind maps I also considered using some scannography along with multi-media photography. I was inspired to use scannography by Olga Guerra. For my first image I attempted (1) I used scannography. I decided not to use this method anymore because the scanner and the water reacted with each other, and the image came out too blurry to use. I didn’t like the size of the bubbles in this image. Every time I tried to capture in image of the bubbles with the scanner, my the time the scanner had scanned it the bubbles had

(1)

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turned to foam. I decided to use a camera as it is much quicker so I can capture the bubbles when they are at their best, and because the quality of the image was much better when I used the camera.

Another thing that I considered was using food colouring in the water to make my bubbles brightly coloured. This again was inspired by Olga Guerra. Image (1.5) is a piece by Olga Guerra. As you can see she has used scanography, and she has also used some sort of red colouring in the water. I decided I wasn’t going to use food colouring in the end as I liked the natural rainbow colours the bubbles produced naturally. I realised that I could also edit the colours on photoshop to give my photograph a tint, and I would have more control of the colours that way.

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On the left you can see a piece of work by Sebastiaan Bremer, and on the right my work. Sebastiaan has clearly used many more dots of paint to make up his work than I have. They appear to be different in size and shape though seem to be strategically placed to enhance the child in the image. Like me, he has also just used white paint. We have also used dots of a similar size for our work, though some of his dots vary. The contents of out images differ a lot. I wanted to keep my images clean and simple. I used as little colour and detail where as Sebastiaan has used images with a lot of detail and colour.

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Qualities:Consider the aesthetic qualities of your work. How does it look? What do you like about it? What are the strongest and weakest elements from an aesthetic point of view?

I think that my final image reflects my theme and the idea I wanted to convey quite clearly. Especially with the shapes I have with the dots. The main theme I chose was fear, though I wanted to show the idea of being thrown in at the deep end. Feeling nervous about trying something new, and feeling afraid of not succeeding. I think that the bubbles demonstrate this idea somewhat. I though that bubbles might be easier to work with than with water, and I though that bubbles were much more interesting. I love that way that bubbles create bright colours on their surface, and I like the shapes they make. Using bubbles enabled me to follow their shapes when painting on my dots to create wave patterns, reflecting my theme a lot.

I think that some of my experiments have turned out really well and look really nice. My final piece only has a small amount of detail on the bubbles which I think looks better than my pieces with more detail as it doesn’t look over crowded. I love the effect that dots have, because though you are painting over it it doesn’t look as if it is covering the image. As you can see with the image below (2) I have covered a lot of the page with white dots, though it doesn’t obstruct the image. I think the dots look integrated with the photograph, especially with my final image. I think that the dotsadd a surreal element to quite a seemingly plain image.

I really like the images I have taken. The images of bubbles look really beautiful, with the

(2)

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combination of really dull colours and then really vibrant rainbows and splashes of colour. I think that it could look better if my images were purely made up of large bubbles rather than some small bubbles, as the smaller bubbles didn’t come out so clear when I printed my images. I ended up choosing the final image that I did because the bubbles in the photograph were much larger.

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Consider the technical qualities of your work? How well done is it? What elements are strongest and which could need further work and development? Be sure to use technical terms in your work such as exposure, shutter speed, aperture and talk specifically about any post-production techniques you have used.

For my work I needed to take really good quality images, use photoshop to edit the lighting and colours and then paint over them. I had to have a few practices, playing around with the camera settings and with paint. At home I practiced using scanography to capture my images, and I practiced using a camera.

When scanning my bubbles, I filled a clear plastic container with a little water and washing up liquid to create bubbles. I photographed the bubbles from outside of the container in order to not accidentally get the camera wet. One problem I had with taking my photographs from the outside of the box is that you could see a slight glare in some of my images. There is also a logo on the box which I tried to keep out of my photographs. I decided on using a camera in the end because I had a bit more control over the way it looked. The scanner and the water in the container reacted and the images came out too blurry to use. The scanner also made all the bubbles burst. As you can see from image (2.5) I didn’t manage to captureany scan images of large bubbles, only small blurry ones.

At home I also practiced with using the paint over photographs. I experimented with dots, and I also experimented with finger painting, though I chose to use dots because it didn’t over power my photographs.

(2.5)

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On photoshop I edited my chosen images. I wanted them to appear slightly dull in places and bright in other places. I think I achieved this. The bubbles where they are really dense appear to be a dull grey-ish white, where as there as some streaks of vibrant colour that came naturally from the bubbles. You can see in image (2.25) how at the bottom of the image it is just dense bubble, andAt the top there are larger bubbles and more vibrant colour. I used the sponge tool on photoshop to make the bright colours appear brighter. When I printed my images they initially came out too dull and dark. I practiced painting on them but you could hardly make out the detail so I went back and edited them on photoshop and make them brighter. I printed them out again and painted them. (2.25)

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How could you improve your work? Could you develop your work further with additional work? What would you try to achieve with this? Could you undertake further experiments? If so, what would they be?

If I were to do my final image again I would perhaps add a little more detail. On previous attempts I had added too much detail so I was being too cautious this time. I would cover more of the bubbles with the wavy pattern. I may have also added paint elsewhere on my photograph. I could have also experimented with different coloured paint, though I would want to stick to blue or grey, which are the main colours I used which are key to my theme.

If I did it again I could have used water colours instead of or as well as acrylic paint. I would have splashed it over the photograph over a certain section, so it looks like something had spilled on it.

Another thing I could have done is done further editing on photoshop to improve the quality. Though the quality looked quite good on photoshop, when the photograph was printed the quality was reduced. I could have put more effort in to improve the quality on photoshop so it looked a little better when printed. The photograph on the left is the Photoshop version, and the photograph on the rightIs the printed version. As you can see the printed version is much darker than the photoshop version.

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I never ended up experimenting with food colouring in the water to make the bubbles. I think I probably should have as it could have been really interesting. I could have added another colour to my colour scheme such as red to make my images stand out and stop them from being to repetitive. I think that red would have been a good colour to use as it is often associated with death and danger, this is why it is often used for warning signs and labels. It may make people think of blood also.

I think that I should have experimented with water as well as bubbles as I think that that is a clearer reflection of my theme. I think that if I had done it right I could have made the images look interesting. To make it more interesting I could have incorporated water into an image with a model or another subject.

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Finally you should consider if the images you have produced fulfil the brief you were set. Do they match the theme? Are they experimental? Explain your answers using specific examples.

I think that my photographs definitely fit in with the brief. I think that the contents of my images were experimental. When I was photographic the bubbles I was much more conscious of capturing the colours and the shapes, rather than capturing a clear image of a bubble. I wanted my images to have a surreal effect, where when you look at it you are not entirely sure what the image is of, you can just see contrasting colours and some shape. I think that by using paint over my images made them look even more surreal. The paint looks integrated with the original image, but you also know that it shouldn’t be there.

Experimental photography isn’t often used for commercial purposes as these types of images don’t provide a clear representation of the subject. My images definitely don’t depict a clear representation of bubbles. Experimental photography may be appropriate for some commercial purposes however, such as advertising a band/musician.

Multi-media experiment 2

Blue water colour

Water colour and printer ink mixing, creating colour distortion

White acrylic paint dotted over the sections of the image covered in water colour.

Some dots not just over water colour

Can see movement in the image, created by using the camera set on a low shutter speed

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Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results; How well do you feel you have realised your ideas and intentions and what results have you got? Ensure you talk critically (compare, contrast, assess) about your work. You should reference your influences and assess how your work compares.

Like with the pervious experiment, I knew prior to my experiments what colours I wanted to incorporate in my images. I wanted to stick to blue and grey colours to reflect my theme. I knew that I wanted to capture pictures of people as well, as I had decided in my mind maps and mood boards. I also knew that I wanted to capture movement, again to reflect my theme. The theme I have stuck with through out my experiments in water, more specifically the idea of “being thrown in at the deep end”, a phrase relating to fear.

My main influence was Maureen Gubia. She is an artist that frequently uses multi media. She sometimes will incorporate photography in her work, combined with paint such as oil paint or water colours. Her work inspired me to try using water colours with my work, and perhaps experiment with different techniques using acrylic again.

Initially I though I might try out finger painting over the top of my images using acrylic paint. I did some rough experiments, though decided that it Would over power the original image and I wanted to keep it much more simple. I was inspired to try out this technique from Maureen Gubia’s portrait of Noah Lennox (3) where she appears to have used messy splodges and squiggles of oil paint over the image.

(3)

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I also wanted to branch out and try something different. I finally decided to use water colours, which is how I came to my final image. Though I still incorporated the white dots of acrylic paint over the water colour.

(4)

The image on the left that you see above is one by Maureen Gubia, and the image on the right is my own work. This particular piece of work was inspiring to me, even though it does not incorporate photography. It inspired the use of watercolour and the way I used it, and it influenced the colours I used. You can see some other of the similarities between them, such as the content.

I decided to then experiment with acrylic paint further, reverting back to my Sebastiaan Bremer inspired dotting technique. Though I like this technique, one of my images in particular didn’t come out very clearly as the combination of white paint and a light background meant the dots weren’t very obvious (4).

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The image I have created portrays the message I wanted to get across very well. The colours and shapes I have used really appear to reflect water, and the ghost-like haziness of the girl in my final image shows the fear of death. The image captures my models movement which I think shows the strugglefor them to stay afloat.

For this experiment I played around a lot with the shapes I could makeusing dots. As you can see in image (4.5) I used small shapes and details. I think that these little shapes add something really interesting to my image. In a way they sort of accessorise the image. I have alsoincorporated wavy patterns into my image, which I intended to use throughout my experiments, just to back up the message I was trying to get across.

A large weakness of my image is that some of the colours were distorted, due to the watercolours and the printer ink reacting and this changed the watercolours from blue to yellow and green in some parts (5) as shown in this image. Though these colours don’t look all that bad, they don’t stand out and ruin the image but they were not my intention and don’t fit in that well with my main colour scheme.

(5)

(4.5)

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I think that the placement of my watercolours looks quite nice, and ithas meant avoiding further colour distortion, though I much prefer the way that Maureen Gubia used her watercolours in my example on the previous page. She has used a lot more colour, covering a lot more of the page. She used a much deeper blue colour as well.

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To achieve the look of haziness and movement in my image, I turned the camera to a very low shutter speed. In order to just capture the models movement and not my own I needed to put the camera on a tripod to keep it steady. I used a studio so that I has access to a clean white background and good lighting. This improved the over all quality of the image. You can clearly see in image (5.5) the effect that using a low shutter speed and high quality lighting has effected my image.

The first part of my post production process which I did on photoshop was fairly quick as all I needed to do was make some colour and lighting changes. The lighting in the studio made the image really bright with warm tones, though I wanted cold blue-ish grey colours with a more faded look. It was beneficial to my project that the first part of my post production process was quick as the next part of my post production was to be time consuming.

I printed out my work onto a firm card rather than plain paper. Card is generally more durable, and I wanted to prevent my images from being damaged when painting over them which is why I chose card.

(5.5)

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Like with my other images I added dots of white acrylic paint. I added it mostly where the watercolours already were. I wanted to give the shapes the drips and splashes of the watercolour another dimension. I really liked using acrylic paint for this as when the paint dried it was stiff and gave my images really interesting texture.

I splashed my image with blue watercolour, only from one corner of the image so I didn’t cover my image. I ran into difficulty when doing this as the printer ink and the watercolour reacted and changed the colours, though my final image was definitely an improvement on one of my previous practices (6). As you can see most of my blue watercolour has turned green. I avoided this happening again by making sure most of my watercolour only covered parts of the image similar in colour to it, though I did not manage to completely prevent this from happening.

(6)

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Comparing my work to the work of Maureen Gubia again, she uses watercolour in a much more skilled way than I have in my work. She has used much more watercolour, covering a much larger area of the page. She has created really nice shape, texture and colour in her work. I think that this looks much better than just using a small amount of very watered down watercolour paint.

A problem I faced in my experiment was that the colours from the printer ink and the watercolours mixed and the colours were ruined in some parts of the image which stopped me from using too much watercolour. If I were to do this project again I would perhaps try applying the watercolour to the paper before printing on it, then printing my photograph over it. It may not work but I could have tried it.

I would also perhaps put my watercolour across my image horizontally rather than dripping down from one corner. I perhaps may have persevered with experimenting with finger painting

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with the white acrylic paint like I had initially planned. I think it would have looked really nice to paint skulls and skeletons over the top of my models. I would have perhaps taken my images with a higher shutter speed so that you could see their faces clearly for painting over them.

For this experiment I would have also tried using different coloured acrylic paint to dot over my image. I think it would look nice with a mixture of white, grey and light blue dots rather than just white dots.

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In the brief we were set to create experimental photography. Typically I think that experimental photography is fine art, its only use to create emotion and present its audience with a message. I think that my work definitely does that.

My final piece for this experiment is filled with colours and shapes that hint at a message. I think its audience may be able to pick up on that. The original photograph I used for my final piece is very emotive. The movement is expressive and I think I have captured the desperation and fear quite well.

Multi-media photography is a form of photography not often used in commercial work. It allows the producer to add things to the image that aren’t already there, and the image stops being a true representation of the subject in the image, making it useless for commercial work.

Experiment 3

White dots around the outside of all the leaves

Colours edited on photoshop to make the colours a little duller, and more green less yellow.

Slightly low aperture so all of the colour fades out further away.

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Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results; How well do you feel you have realised your ideas and intentions and what results have you got? Ensure you talk critically (compare, contrast, assess) about your work. You should reference your influences and assess how your work compares.



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When talking about your work, consider formal elements such as lines, shapes and patterns as well as the colour and contrast and also tone of your image. Think about the composition of your work and where this could be developed.


On Going Evaluations (unfinished)

Education

Transcript of On Going Evaluations (unfinished)