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Experimental Photographymultiple exposure & scanography

Emily Monsey

(Experiment title)

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To create this I used an edited black and white scanography photograph I had previously taken and another image I had taken outside showing trees and flowers which both worked really well together.

I wanted the face not to be too clear as I really liked the effect of it being covered slightly by the other image overlaying it.

The darker areas of the the other image seem to be much darker at the top which works well with the scanography image as the top of the head and hair are much darker than the hands and center of the face which are much lighter.

I really like the contrast of the flowers and nature then paired with the fear aspect of this scanography image as I think it makes it much more interesting.

I wanted the hands and parts of the hair to still show much more light as these were a main focus of the image. To do this I used the dodge tool.

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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.I think that for this image I have achieved what I had wanted to do as I had really wanted to experiment blending these two experimental photography styles together as I thought it could have some interesting results. I wanted there to be a clear contrast between the two image that were going to be overlaid as I used the theme fear with scanography and then contrasted this with the image of nature and flowers which I actually really liked. In comparison to many other styles of multiple/double exposure this is different as they usually create a silhouette and fill that with their overlaid image, however I didn’t think that this would work as well as it is such a zoomed in image of the model instead of being of the whole body which makes it work much better when outlining the silhouette. I chose to overlay my second image over the entire scanography photograph as this is something I wanted to experiment with and I actually really like the end result for this image. For my influences and inspiration I actually couldn’t find something that resembles this exact idea so I had to look at both scanography and double exposure as two separate styles and see what I liked in each of the images. When looking at the double exposure images I had noticed that ‘nature’ and ‘flowers and trees’ where a key theme that ran through a lot of the work which I thought worked really well. I also thought that this could contrast really well with my own scanography images as they are an opposite sort of style.

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?Overall I am really happy with the end result of this style of mixing the two styles together as I think it contrasts really well. I wanted this to show a lot of contrast between the scanography image that represents fear and then the images of nature and flowers. I think that the strongest element of this image is the actual blending of the two images as I did have to experiment with what photo looks best with each of my scanography images as I really wanted them to blend and not look too different from each other. I think that the weakest element would be the lighting as I had wanted to lighten some areas quite a lot to highlight. The bottom is fairly noticeably lighter than the top of the image which I do really like, however I think that it could be darkened and lightened further slightly in some areas. The technical qualities of this image would be the editing process of the two photographs as I used the black and white filter and also the burn and dodge tools on Photoshop. To take the image of the trees and flowers I had to ensure that the exposure was just right as I didn’t want the images too dark or light as I knew that this was something I was going to edit later in Photoshop so it could be easily changed. Putting the two images together meant that I had to use the ‘multiply’ blending mode on Photoshop to combine the two images together. I then changed the opacity of the nature image until I was happy with the visibility of it.

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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?I think that to improve on this image I would possibly try out using colour on the image of the trees and flowers as this may give an interesting look and also help to contrast further which is something I really wanted to do. I would love to experiment with colour as I could try out changing the different tones and see which best fits with the theme of fear and then also maybe try out something a little more vibrant to see if this has a nice contrast. I think that to improve further I could possibly lighten some areas a little more at the bottom, on the hands and also on the centre of the face as I think this could have a really nice effect on the image. I would then darken some of the areas toward the top of the photo as I think this would give a really nice contrast from dark to light and could highlight the lighter areas further. The darkening of the image could also make it fit better with the theme as fear is stereotypically matched with dark colours rather that light. The lines and shapes created on this image have been due to the hair and hands, this has been similar in all of my other images as the face seems to loose some detail when editing is made to the image. I also think that adjusting the curve and levels on Photoshop have massively effected this image as they have brought out much more detail as the darkening has highlighted the lighter areas. I decided not to use any colour in this image as I did want a varied collection of images and did choose to use colour on a few of the other images. I also thought that due to the darkness of this original scanography image, that it would possibly work better in all black and white rather than colour. I think that it could definitely be developed with some further experiments to see if any other improvements could be made to make it stand out even more. I also would love to do some more images using the scanography photos I already have and then using double exposure with some other images of water as the scanography do have a look of someone drowning by the model is positioned and the effect that the scanner has given them. This is definitely something I would like to have a look at doing as I think that I could have some really interesting and effective results. I think that overall I do like these set of images the best in comparison to the coloured and black and white scanography images alone as these are a little different and much more interesting. I think that they do fit the brief has I have chosen to use two experimental photography styles including double exposure and scanography. I have then experimented further by blending the two together in Photoshop, I also think that they do match the theme as the original scanography image was one of my favourites as I thought it showed fear quite well in comparison to some of the others I had taken.

(Experiment title)

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I really like the end result of this image as it gives the effect of the model being behind glass due to the reflections on the water.

I decided to use both colour and black and white as felt that this gave a really interesting effect with this image and the original scanography image was already in colour which I really liked. The scanography image being

in colour in comparison to the black and white double exposure image makes the ‘glass’ effect more prominent.

The main focus for this image is definitely the lips and the hands as the pop of colour on the lips attracts focus and also the lightness of the hands and also the positioning makes them get attention.

The hands being in the position that they are gives the effect of them being pressed against a window and that we are able to see what she is looking at.

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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.For this image I really wanted to contrast the colour with the black and white double exposure image as I thought that this may give a really nice effect and I also liked the edit that I had already made with the original scanography image as the colours gave it a really strange and unique look which I think matched it more with the theme. I do think I have met my intentions with this image as I had wanted to do something a little different with the colours and also with the final look as the others look as though the model is almost drowning in some and this I feel looks as though she is trapped behind glass due to the reflections on the water. This was not an initial intention of mine as I hadn’t planned on giving it this effect, however when I did combine the two images together it gave this effect and I actually really liked it as it still sticks within the theme. My influences of this image would be from what I had seen in research as I had looked at both double exposure and also scanography, but not the two combined together. When looking at these images I had seen many of them using flowers and trees which I did want to incorporate, however I didn’t want to only use this as a main focus. To avoid doing this I took pictures of the river and a bridge as I thought that the water would have a really nice effect and also I did capture some leaves in the image as well. I think that this image almost looks like a view that the model is seeing through a window as it gives the impression that she is behind glass in a way.

Qualities:I really like the end look of this image as I think it does look slightly different from the others as it doesn’t give the connotations of drowning as some of the other scanography images had done and this one actually looks as though the model is pressed against glass as the hands on the scanner have given this look, paired with the light reflections on the water making it look as though she is looking out of a window and that we are seeing the view that the model is looking at. I like that this one is a little different and I also like the pop of colour that is coming from the lips and also parts of the hair that are visible. I think that this does add much more interest to the image as it shows quite a lot of contrast with the black and white double exposure image. I think that the strongest element of this image is the way fact that you can’t actually see all of the model, this is something different as in many of my other photographs I had pictured all or most of the models face. In this we only see the models face from below the bottom of her nose and then her hands are one of the main focuses. The weakest element would be that I would have liked to show maybe slightly more of the water instead of the plant as I think that just the bridge and water did work really well alone. The technical qualities would be from the editing as I had to join the two images together. To do this I used Photoshop and used the ‘multiply’ blending mode to combine them and then the opacity tool to figure out what point I preferred the image as I was changing the visibility of the double exposure image. I experimented quite a lot with this image and found that this version worked best. I think that the strongest element of the image would be the scanography edit as I really liked the colour settings I have chosen as it brightens it up without being too vibrant and distracting from the ‘fear’ theme I had chosen. The weakest element would be the double exposure image as I think I would have liked to see slightly more water to see how this would have looked.

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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?To improve on this image I would definitely spend a little more time in the editing process as I would want to darken some of the areas of the bridge area of the image as this is very light which I think although might not make a drastic difference, I do think that this could be slightly improved on. I also think that I would go over some areas of the hands as they are very bright and could need maybe the burn tool going over some areas of them for further definition. I would also maybe adjust the colour of the hands as they have taken on a yellow tone which makes it look a strange, also tone down the hair but keep the vibrancy and colour of the lips if this would be possible. This was something I found quite difficult when editing as I really wanted to make the lips stand out with a pop of colour however doing this then adjusted the colour of the hair and skin as well so I couldn’t go too far or vibrant with this. I would definitely love to experiment further with this image as I would like to see if it would be possible to have the lips in a very bright, bold colour that stands out and then the hair a little more toned down to ensure it does still look realistic. I would also like to try editing the double exposure image slightly as I would like to see if it would work if this was put in colour also and see if this would be a nice subtle contrast or if it would be a little too much. I would also like to try capturing more of the river in the double exposure image as I think this does work really well, maybe instead of involving the leaves that are on the side of this photo. I really like on the double exposure that the water has made lots of lines and ripples in the water giving in more shape and interesting qualities to look at in this image. I also like the shapes of rectangles and squares that are visible on the bridge as it just gives the whole image more depth and detail as there is much more to look at and contrast with. These shapes and patterns then combined with the lines from the hair and hands in this image do blend really well I think and give added detail to look at. I think this image could be developed by using the burn and dodge tool a little further on the double exposure image as this could be a way to highlight the reflections of light in the water even further which could highlight the overall look of there being glass in front of the model. I would also develop it by adding to the vibrancy of the lip colour as I think this could be even more bold and bright, and do this in a way that doesn’t adjust any of the other colours in the image. I do think that my image here fits the brief as it has used both scanography and then double exposure to create a combined image which I think personally matches the theme due to the scanography. I also think that this image could be interpreted in many different ways as it could be seen as the model look out at her fear of water outside a window, or it could be the prospect of drowning. It could also be seen as the model in the water in some ways so I do think that this image matches the theme and could be seen as doing so in several different ways.

(Experiment title)

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I wanted this to look at the fear of water specifically as I felt that the scanography images seemed to all look as though the model was drowning.

I had tried this image in both colour and in black and white and preferred the black and white version as I felt it made it look more like she was in the water and gave that impression at first look. I wanted the background

image of the water to be really clear so it could be seen more obviously what the double exposure image was instead of really blending the two together.

I would like to do another scanography image to ensure that the hand isn’t touching the glass of the scanner as I think this could help give the impression of her being in the water if I was to do it again.

I used the burn and the dodge tool to create darker and lighter areas in the water and also on the model, especially focusing on the hand and arm and also the reflections in the water.

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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.For this image I think that I have achieved my intentions for the image as I had really wanted this one to give the impression of drowning, therefore I decided to really focus the double exposure image on water. I had originally taken the image of some of the background surroundings also, however after finding that a lot of my scanography images gave the impression of someone drowning just from the way the scanner makes people look, I decided to use this to an advantage and then focus the fear around water for this particular image. In comparison to the other images I took, I personally think that this double exposure matches the scanography images best as it does show water as a main theme and it allowed me to blend the two images together and see if this did actually work. My influences for the scanography and double exposure were very different as I couldn’t find any existing images that showed them both together as a mixed final photograph. I also could actually find any scanography photographers that did the sort of work I had wanted to do, however when searching scanography online I did find lots of images that I really liked and had wanted to meet the standard of. I also found that many of the double/multiple exposure images were using nature like trees and flowers to create their images which isn’t something I had really wanted to do as I had chosen to mix scanography and double exposure together fairly late on in the process instead of seeing it from a photographer and wanting to experiment doing the same thing.

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?Overall I do really like the final look of this image as this is something that I had wanted to try out since I had realised the comparison between the scanography images, being that they all kind of gave connotations of drowning as this is just something that the scanner gives the look of. I really wanted to use this to my advantage and experiment with images of water to see if it’s something that could work or if it wouldn’t blend together. I think that the weakest element of this image would definitely be that it also has a little bit of the surroundings in the image at the top of the double exposure image which doesn’t help when trying to give the illusion of drowning or a fear or water as it’s not just the water that you can see. I could definitely develop on this as this is really the only image I was able to crop down without cutting out too much of the image to ensure that it was a close up of the water. This is because I hadn’t originally planned on taking any images of water and using it as a focus in my work. I think that the strongest element could be the actual scanography image and the way they have blended together as this was quite hard to find two images that worked well together and didn’t look too different and abnormal in one final photograph. However I do still think the double exposure image could be improved by taking it from a slightly different angle, possibly looking down on the water and focusing entirely on it instead of getting other objects and surroundings in the shot also.

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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?I would definitely improve on this image by re taking the double exposure image of the water as this was actually an image of a bridge and trees in the background also, however when I had realised that the scanography images may work well with water images I had edited and cropped the image in Photoshop to enable me to test out and experiment with this idea. I actually really like the idea of using water as the double exposure image as I think that due to the position of the model and also due to the way the scanner makes her look, it does work well and gives the impression of the model being in water or drowning which helps me to link it with fear. I would really like to take lots more images of water to improve as I think that if I took them from an angle of looking down on the water instead of across it, it may work a lot better with the scanography image. I could also experiment with colour as I had tested the scanography image in colour, however I didn’t try the double exposure image so this could definitely be a possibility to try out to see how it looks and to see if this is something that I would want to do. Along with some of the other double exposure images when the water is captured, it also shows some of the movement and shapes that are in the water such as the ripples the water makes which I really liked as it has given some patterns and shapes to the image. I also think that the lines and shapes of the water contrast well with the models hair as you can see this also has movement which is interesting to see together. I wanted the hair to show movement and be really visible on this image as this is how it would be if you were underwater as the hair becomes very free flowing and has lots of movement and shape. I think that without any colour this worked better in my opinion as I had tested to see which I preferred and found that when both the images were in black and white it did blend much better and easier which also helps when giving the impression of the model being in the water instead of showing great contrast between the two. I do think that this image fits the brief as I know that both the styles of scanography and double exposure are forms of experimental photography. I definitely experimented further also as I had wanted to try out using the two styles and seeing if this worked well with my theme and also to see if these two styles of photography would be able to blend very well together. I believe that this image matches my theme as this could be interpreted in different ways, much like some of my other images as I haven’t made it so there is only one thing to get out of the image as I wanted there to be different possibilities and room for interpretation. This could be seen as us being able to see the models fear of water or drowning which is quite an interesting way of looking at it as it could be seen as a nightmare for the model and we are able to see what she is thinking. It could also be seen as the model actually being in water in an abstract way and drowning as the scanography images gave the look of being drown and showed fear quite easily. From this I do think that fear is shown throughout fairly obviously, however possibly more so in some of my images than others as with this style of photography and this theme you do have to experiment quite a lot and test out what looks best and find what improvements could be made each time. I also think that to make the theme a little more obvious I decided to put the whole thing in black and white as this is something I personally felt looked better and blended better overall, however this is something I would like to experiment with as I think that in my other images colour has been quite an interesting thing to test and play around with.