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EDITOR’S LETTER
Hello and welcome The Journal, I’d like to begin by explaining what The Journal magazine is to me and why I have created it. Sketchbooks are my religion, or at least my religious texts. I have filled dozens of them over the years and I get nervous when I reach the end of one and don’t have another waiting, I see my Sketchbook or journals, whatever name you would like to call them basically as a visual diary, however anyone can make an art journal. The only difference is how you use it to inform your practice. The most obvious reason for keeping a sketchbook is practice. The greatest athletes, musicians, actors, artists and any type of creative person practices. It’s part of the DNA and the mantra of every good coach. Drawing is a skill, one that’s consciously and constantly developed. Sure, some people probably have more raw talent, maybe their brains are wired differently, but the skills are developed with practice. The idea is the key, everything else is just a tool. Jackson Pollack didn’t just paint huge, pretty pictures (if you like that kind of thing... which I emphatically do) he used the canvas and the paint to communicate an idea, without which, there would be a lot more free space in museums and galleries. Da Vinci only made a handful of paintings, but he’s a household name because of his ideas in his sketchbooks. To paraphrase Quentin Tarantino when asked about Peter Jackson’s King Kong; “if it isn’t about race, then it’s just a movie about a giant monkey.” Ideas are like butterflies in a high wind, and for me a sketchbook is the closest thing there is to a net. Refrence for quoatation This magazine is in essence my polished sketchbook, but with an extra added intention of using it as a piece in my portfolio. It is my intention when I leave the safety of an institution to work in publishing or graphic design, and not having my main source of income coming from photography. This aspiration for my future career in art has only been recently realized; during the end of my previous project ‘data’ I became very self-aware of my love for publications. Whether this is magazines, books, posters, I just wanted to be a part of that design world, I consider my photography degree as the loyal, drab wife while I spurned for graphic design – my exciting mistress. By creating my Journal as a magazine, it allowed me to still to use it as a tool to inform, develop and contemplate my photographic practice. Yet it also allowed me to develop the skills of working in Adobe InDesign, developing an understanding the importance of good aestheticism in graphic design. However, before you begin reading through the magazine, I would like to inform you due to the publication being polished sketchbook, it only contains highlights taken from my written artistic journal, therefore there are missing shoots and images that didn’t make the cut. Also with the way I have constructed the magazine, the imagery is place into chapters rather than filling the pages with shoot after shoot after shoot, I compiled the shoots into chapters.
Laura Matthews
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07 08 16 20 About Us
Shoot One
Essay
Shoot Two
Looking at what The
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Journal has to offer in
There’s a storm
Reflections on final
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major protfolio.
comforts.
the virtual realm.
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28 39 44 68 Shoot Three
Shoot Four
Glitch Tests
Non Places
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Red and blue filter
Falmouth landscapes
Reflections on final
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matic subject of the
play with portratiure.
noctunal city.
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Visit Us Online At http://study-bookmark.tumblr.com
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ABOUT US: JOURNAL & BOOKMARK
About Us Portfolio
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The Journal
The Bookmark Blog
Format is my photographic portfolio and blog, this site can be used to view several projects that I have created over the past 2 years. The site also contains an ‘about’ page, which can be used as a directory to both the sketchbook and bookmark sites, as well as all other professional social sites such as Linkedin.
Journal is my personal sketchbook, it is a place where I upload work as it develops. The site works well as it allows for feedback, which can sometimes be completely irrelevant, but can also be very useful especially when considering how the meaning and the intentions of the imagery can differ between viewers.
Bookmark is an online research blog, it comprises a compilation of artists who work without and with the photographic medium, as well as including quotations and passages of texts. The criteria of the blog is anything of interest to me, whether this is be contextually, aesthetically or psychologically. The blog is extremely visual and works as a giant mind map, the reason for this is as an aid to help my study; being dyslexic I find it very hard to evaluate imagery which is extensively text based
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SHOOT 1 / STORMY SEAS
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This was a quick shoot, as I was struggling to start the project, so thought the best way to begin was to just to pick up the camera and start shooting. The chosen subject was the storm. These images are the documentation of the periods of time, both leading up to and after a storm. I decided that a good place to start would be with the images that I inverted, as they have a more surreal quality. I think that this prompted ideas of looking more towards the theme of still life, or even banal imagery. This is due to the images just being of a rough sea and nothing more, the possibly have a more appropriate place on a site such
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as Getty or Alamy stock photography sites, rather than in my portfolio. In terms of the purpose of the shoot it was successful in that it began the thought process for my photographic practice. What I have concluded from this shoot is that although I don’t want to shoot themes of the picturesque or sublime landscapes I am interesting the notions of travel, the notion that “to escape is the greatest of pleasures”(Virginia Woolf). I’m interested in documenting escapism, places outside of the home that we have relationships with, where we are contented in, places where we go when we are trying to get away from the
world. Therefore I think the next logically step is to explore this photographically, beginning with a non direct self portrait, with places where I am contented, then work outwards.
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1 Rocks, 2014 Still Image 2&3 The Pool, 2014 Still Image and The Pool 2, 2014 Still Image
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4 Inverted Sea, 2014 Still Image
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I N V E R T SHOOT ONE | EDITTED IMAGE
Overall, I shot about 60 frames for this first shoot. While looking through them I couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity, I’ve seen these images so often as since moving to Falmouth three years ago, I have consistently taken photographs of the picturesque Cornish sea scape. There is no particular reason for this, the images have never served any purpose other than a snap to be shared on a social network, I find myself questioning more the mentality of this process, the compulsion to take a photograph of something ‘pretty’ and show the world rather than just relying on my memory of it. The image displayed over this double page is a quick postproduction edit. I was interested with de-familiarizing images of the idyllic picturesque sea side, I experimented with filters and colours trying to shift the perception of the image, it wasn’t until glancing at my negatives that I have collected over the years that the though as inverting the image came about. I consider that this still of edit has the potential to be explored further as I love the texture created by the process.
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First Reflections on FInal Major Portfolio Laura Matthews
“In a world that is well on its way to becoming one vast quarry, the collector becomes someone engaged in a pious work of salvage. The course of modern history having already sapped the traditions and shattered the living wholes in which precious objects once found their place, the collector may now in good conscience go about excavating the choicer, more emblematic fragments.... SUSAN SONTAG”
Initially Data is in essence was intended as an ongoing research and response project, of which explores how photography is in a continuous cycle of being researched and reiterated. The series contains nine images; each image displays a research image & my own imagery, created as a reaction to the research image. My imagery is displayed as the larger image, while the research image is shown as the smaller image, as it reflects the same sized ratio as how it was initially first viewed digitally. With each image is a cover sheet, which refers to the ‘research’ image that inspired my visual reaction. The tracing cover over the image tells the number the times that particular image has been shared from one ‘Tumblr’ blog to another, also known as ‘reblogging’, as well it states the author (if known) and the source site of where the imagery was first found. Susan Sontag proposes in ‘Melancholy Objects’, “In a world that is well on its way to becoming one vast quarry, the collector becomes someone engaged in a pious work of salvage. The course of modern history having already sapped the traditions and shattered the living wholes in which precious objects once found their place, the collector may now in good conscience go about excavating the choicer, more emblematic fragments” (Sontag: 76). If find this interesting as the paper was written in the seventies, which was also the same time digital technology’s availability on a personal level began, with the release of first portable laptop in 1975, to the apple computer ‘Apple I ‘ being released in 1976. I became fascinated with how this opinion is embedded in an era when digital art and electronic archives were near non-existent, however what intrigues me most is how the argument still
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has validly in this present digital age. This was the trigger that began the process for my previous series of work, I still consider the argument to still have validity within the new project, however at this current moment in time I’m still vague on what It is am exactly wanting to produce, and how the imagery will form my portfolio and start career within the world of photography. I consider that Sontags point ties closely with an ongoing personal achieve I had been producing, since beginning university education. The ‘Bookmark Blog’ is my online research blog, its a compilation of artists who work without and with the photographic medium, as well as quotations and passages of texts. The criteria of the blog is anything of interest to me, whether this is be contextually, aesthetically or psychologically, when posted it gives the facility of everything being easily accessible as well as allowing me to add and update the blog at anytime and from anywhere. The blog is extremely visual and works as a giant mind map, the reason for this is as an aid to help my study, being dyslexic I find it very hard to evaluated imagery when its laid out around or is based from text, this is why the website is very simplistic as I worked more efficiently this way. Initially, the concept for the project ‘Data’ was born when looking through Adam Broomberg’s and Oliver Chanarin’s publication ‘Holy Bible’, I was struck by the idea of using the ‘Bookmark Blog’ as a tool to produce image rather than solely for reflection. The publication arouse questions of how the placement of an image can radically effect how is perceived and understood, Broomberg’s and Chanarin’s use of Adi Ophir’s essay ‘Divine Violence’, the
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‘That experience is the key thing for me, that moment when an image is showing itself not in terms of its relationship with the everyday world, its context, but showing in its mysterious other aspect. That’s what I try and follow, that quality. I don’t quite know what it’s about. It’s not choosing the image, it’s what the image is finding in me. Or rather, it’s impersonal – I enter into an impersonal realm. . . JOHN STEZAKER’
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bible as a context for the images to be viewed, together with the images of Modern Conflict in the form of a Brecht-ian collage brings forward issues of authorship and appropriation as well as the how context in which photography is viewed can alter an images intent dramatically. I the process of developing the ‘Bookmark Blog’, I have also created a second blog that is used as reference and record point for inspiration. This new blog named ‘Paperporn’ focus on print, looking at publication, pages spreads, styles of typography, styles of binding and so on. Unlike The ‘Bookmark Blog’ the second blog doesn’t not solely inform my practice rather it is used a pool of inspiration when I’m struggling for ideas. A theme of which I would like to continue to explore further in with final major portfolio is how photography is in a continuous cycle of being researched and reiterated in order to further develop my own understanding and placement of how the digital archive via the use photography sharing platforms i.e. ‘tumblr’, ‘flickr’ or ‘intsagrm’ effect the value of the printed image. I feel that with the past project I only touched upon ideas of the photographic archive, which I found immensely interesting therefore I would like to read more into areas for this current task ahead. To begin this project I think it would be wise to read ‘the big archive’ written by Sven Spieker in 2008 in order to develop understanding of the archive and also to inform my own practice. Something that is defiant for final major portfolio is that I intend to produce several magazine publications, as this is an area that I have great interest in and also potentially an area
I would like to work in the near future. As it stands at the moment I would like to produce a research journal named ‘Bookmark’, which will consist of essays, artist, exhibitions, articles and festivals that have inspired or influenced me in some shape or form. The second publication named ‘sketch’ is in basics my work book, this will hold only my own imagery and texts, this magazine will be used in a similar manner to the ‘bookmark’ it is an exercise of developing my design skills, however the second magazine is a way of me questioning the voyeurism of my imagery, question where it should be in a the art world and wherever it should be seen in a gallery/book/online. The two magazine would be presented as separately printed magazine but held together in one package, as ‘bookmark’ is what informs ‘sketch’ so I feel that needs to be shown by holding both together, similar to the form ‘Foam’ uses for their talent issues, where there are several separate publication for on issue, It is my aim to produce 3-4 publications as the project develops. Along side the production of the magazine, I will also reflecting the publications on two on an online blogs, named the same as the magazines, of which I have already begin to put into place.
I’m making much more fundamental point – all property is theft. I’m stealing. I see my work as that, it’s important to be clear about it. Appropriation sounds much too official. A young student once asked me that, ‘Why do you call it appropriation?’ and I said ‘I don’t, I far prefer theft. . . JOHN STEZAKER’
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uch like the previous shoot, this shoot also was for experimental purposes. However, I now have a stronger direction for my practice, exploring themes of escapism. Since the last shoot I have begun to consider my own thoughts of escapism, for me during my time in Falmouth I find myself longing to escape and back home in the city. This thought resulted in missing my home back in the midlands, I began to think about physical things that I miss, such as the warmth of the home, the rough texture of my bed cover, or the feel of the wooden floor on my bare feet. These are elements that I subconsciously associate with what makes home, home. I wanted to quickly document these feelings, especially after reading Gaston Bachelard’s ‘The Poetics of Space’. I found most of the book to be engaging, however what stood out to me is that “We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams; we are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.” I became interested with what memories we place into our own corners of the world, the places we feel safe and how these memories resurface from a simple trigger, for example the sound of my old creaky bedroom door opening.
1. Bed Textile 01, 2014. Still Image (previous page) 2. Bed Textile 02, 2014. Still Image
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3 Bed Textile 03, 2014. Still Image
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I like Bachelards theory of how ‘the house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.’ I personally dream in black and white, this gave me the idea to shot in monochrome and warm beige colours, as I thought this would capture a home feeling, and the safety I associate with the place I call home. However, again I feel these images fit more to a site like Alamy, rather than having a place in my portfolio, as they lack depth. I feel a disconnection with this imagery; I consider that although yes, the home is a safe place, upon further contemplation I long not for home comforts, but for the culture of the being in the city. I am filled with the exhilaration and fantasy a city gives, more specifically I am excited by the city at night, how the streetlights have the ability to turn a street into a stage. I consider then my next steps are to begin to create imagery around my love of the darkness of night, documenting how the impression of a space shifts as it moves tonight and the feel of a single space can change so drastically, for me it’s my time to go out an play, its the time that
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feels right to me for creating imagery.
G Bachelard, 1994 - Beacon Press. 4. Bed Textile 04, 2014. Still Image
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This shoot was to break my yearlong dry spell of not using a studio. I wanted to begin experimenting with portraiture, as this is an area I have only touched upon in my last project, however it is something I enjoy. I feel that the direction of the project has moved away from the naturally lit landscape, to now a fascination with controlled lighting. I’ve found that looking back through my online research journal the imagery what has stood out and been archived are those that have been constructed either by light or the composition of scene of which is being photographed/filmed. Recently I’m finding myself very drawn to a sort of pop youth culture scene, attached to films such as drive, lost highway, that unique cinematic style, a ‘Lynchian’ style of where it is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound design. Danish-born filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn also shares this similar style in the 2011 film ‘Drive’. The film drive is both an accurate view of southern California’s intoxicating sleaze and
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glamour and the filtering of it through a European sensibility, what I enjoyed most from film was it’s dark, crisp clean neon aesthetic, the aesthetic has a distinct aura and to me extremely sublime, thus I wanted to begin experimenting with replicating this aesthetic. I began by using the gels to shift the lighting to this ‘neon youth culture’ style I wanted to produce, I found using colours such as red, blue and green to work best, I think is due to the ideology of Hollywood/Las Vegas stereotypical neon signs. I wanted to try and construct the imagery as if the individual was outside roaming the street at night with the imagery as if they’re standing next to a neon sign at a dinner, resulting in the colours reflecting onto their skin. I feel like I didn’t achieve what I initially set out to accomplish for this set of imagery, I think the photographs look very studio based, with little illusion of an outside presence, I also need to think further, analyzing what it is I am wanting to convey to the
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viewer and what it is I am trying to state. For now the images are just a set of ‘pretty’ portraits, if I’m going to examine and portray the ideologies and stereotype of youth culture I need to be more specific, am I questing the cult around it? or am I looking to convey narratives? I consider these to be questions that are unanswered, resulting in the imagery becoming weak and lost. I consider that the next steps I need to take with the imagery is to experiment with taking the lighting outside, as I feel this would give the imagery a completely different dimension. My only concern if location scouting as Cornwall doesn’t have the urban style I’m searching for, in order to get the best results I believe that I need to be shooting in a city. I plan to travel back the midlands and spend some time in Birmingham, possibly just observing a night in order to inspire, I also consider that the used of people in this shoot could also be an area of contemplation. My stronger imagery in the past has been those of close detail, or with just a human presence, this leaves me wanting to take more of a Rut Blees Luxemburg’s approach. Luxemburg’s technique is to take photographs at night, mostly exploring the urban landscape, She employs long exposures to allows her to use the light emanating from the street only, for instance from office blocks or street lights in her photos. To take elements of Luxemburgs technique and mix it with added controlled flash, I feel would work more fluently in the production of imagery as apposed to working with models.
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Rosie 01, 2014. Still Image Rosie 02, 2014. Still Image Sarah 01, 2014. Still Image Rosie 03, 2014. Still Image
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he imagery shown on this page are a failed attempts of looking at landscapes, the imagery just doesn’t work, it’s just filled with nothingness, which is how I’m currently feeling towards my photographic practice. The imagery, The colour balance is all out due to photographing on out of date film, which has resulting in not only the imagery capturing the lovely green nature but also having a horrible green overcast. One upside to this shoot gave me idea that follows on from the previous shoot, looking at spaces in the darkness, how they shift in feel as the sun goes down. In the last shoot I considered that the use of people was where I had gone wrong, and that my stronger imagery in the past has been those of details not a full scene. Thus I can up with the idea of photographing nature at night, similar to Sophy Ricketts imagery, the idea stuck me like lighting, shooting the scene at night with a harsh flash to which would defamiliarize the landscape, giving it a strange and spooky presence. The image on the following page is a reaction to some found imagery. I happened to be sent a few seaside post cards from some close relatives. I was
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interested in the picturesque quality of them, the imagery on the card were so stereotypically bad that I came to like them, much like my feelings on Martin Parr’s imagery. From this I had the idea to capture an element within a landscape that would signify the seaside, rather that just photographing the stereotypical and sickening sandy beach and ocean scene. The imagery that I produced like this are quite of course from what I’m trying to accomplish and what I have produced so far, however I felt it necessary as a photographic exercise to step back every now and then in order to allow the work to be looked at with a fresh set of eyes. I’m finding it very difficult to work to produce imagery for this project, as I feel I am more investing in create the magazines, especially the ‘Bookmark magazine’, which is my research journal. I think this disconnection with the photographic image is becoming extremely evident in my photographic work and practice, but I’m unsure as to how I get out of this lost feeling and produce work that I’m engaged with.
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litch art is the aestheticization of digital or analog errors, such as artifacts and other “bugs”, by either corrupting digital code/data or by physically manipulating electronic devices (for example by circuit bending). The art takes temporary pixelations, interruptions and glitches and turns them into visually arresting pieces, questioning the forms and traditions of art using digital techniques. ‘Mathieu St-Pierre, a Canadian artist, uses computer programmes and analogue video signals to create his images, drawing on electronic malfunctions as a creative element. His “abstraction” pieces created in 2012 are kaleidoscopic colourscapes with the familiar glow of digital glitches. However, St-Pierre has used the digital faults to create saturated pieces with wavering, repetitive lines like brushstrokes in a reflective sea of colour. Taking this concept further, Phillip Stearns of Glitch Textiles brings together fabrics with digital art, launching his crowd-sourced project in 2011. Patterns sourced from shortcircuited cameras and malfunctioning hardware are transformed into tactile wool weaves and soft fabrics with bright algorithmic patterns. ‘Another artist, the London-based Quayola, used video installation at Palais de Beaux Arts in Lille in
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October 2011, to pixelate the classic paintings of Rubens and Van Dyck in the Flemish collection. A precise computerised process splits up sections of the painting and turns them into blocks and 3D shapes. Smooth canvas is broken up and interrupted into various shapes like folds of origami paper, creating a fresh new interpretation of traditional works using new technologies.’ – Guardian.com I wanted to briefly experiment with glitch art, as I felt that it fitted in with an idea that I enjoyed exploring in my previous project, of how imagery is becoming more and more viewed on a digital screen, rather than a gallery wall. Also, with the last shoot I was trying to contemplate what exactly I was trying to capture or state with youth culture, I consider that our generation and the generation below us are becoming completely digitalized. Spending most of our times staring at our phone screen, or laptop screens, yes if you’re looking for something specific then the internet is a fantastic thing to how, it’s something I’m sure people of my age group spend a large amount time doing. I wanted to try and reflect this by creating glitch artwork, questioning what happens to an image when it has been completely messed up in the coding. Does it become something annoying to observe as we are trying to make
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sense of what we are seeing, trying to figure out what the original was, or by glitching the imagery does it shift to become something else entirely. Something that I found interesting about the glitching process is how easy it is to do, I only had to type glitch into the google search bar, to have ten glitch converter sites appear. While briefly researching I found two glitch artist that stood out to me, without me seeing their work as overly gimmicky. The first, Cory Arcangel, an artist who works across media with different forms of technology, often exploits bugs in machines to make his conceptual projects. Such a piece is Super Mario Clouds, a Super Nintendo cartridge hacked until that’s all that’s left in the game. Another example is his Two Key-Stoned Projectors, a minimalist projection of the empty screens left over when two VCRs are left without tapes in them. The empty screen isn’t a prominent feature of the technology, but Arcangel makes it the focus of his piece. The second, Glitchbot that artist Ben BakerSmith’s automated, Flickr-based glitch robot. It chooses one image a day from Flickr’s open-source Creative Commons pool and glitches it, then reposts it to the same service. Baker-Smith explains, “GlitchBot is an imperfect machine built to create imperfections.”However I think what engaged me about the artists are not the work they produced by the process and concepts behind the art work, particularly the art made by ‘GlitchBot’, what I like about glitch artwork is question ideas of authorship. However although I enjoy the
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process, the work doesn’t didn’t work in the way i wanted, it’s not of my own photographic style and I felt very disconnected with the imagery I produced, so although I am glad I explore this avenue I think this is a direction that I don’t want to follow with my imagery.
Bitsynthesis.com/glitchbot/
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Image caption one: floor image caption two: tree
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1&2 Tehidy 01, 2014 Still Image. Blur 01, 2014 Still Image. (Previous Page) 3. Tehidy 02, 2014
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efore indulging further into shooting for the night call idea, I wanted to briefly explore landscapes in the daylight. Firstly, to see if I could catch the same of feeling of blissful solitude, secondly, to see how the imagery would place next to the night landscapes imagery, when juxtaposed in a diptych. My key influence from this shoot came from reading Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Robert’s 2011 book ‘Edgelands’, below are is a section that stood out to me:
with a moment of silence; they capture them short forgotten moments of joy, where one is completely content. It was my intention to capture moments of where I became content, were I experience the blissfulness of solitude and peace. Upon studying the imagery I find that I am mistake, although I find excitement in the wondering, the exploration, rather spending time in the woodlands allowed contemplation of what I’m looking to state with these landscape, the problem occurred to me that I’m not stating anything, these images do not have a deep contextual ground, rather they are just simply a documentation of what I enjoy, they are part of a visual diary. To me they are just pretty pictures and nothing more. The shoots were not a complete failure though, technically I think the imagery is at a good level, there are some mistakes but on the whole the exposure are all good, the focus is right.
‘Our English woods are a complicated and sustaining myth. We yearn for traces of the original tracts of greenwood. We grow to understand that human activity in these islands had denuded the tree cover fairly significantly even during prehistory, but nonetheless we retain a strong imaginative attachment to our woods, especially as places for hiding and as places beyond the codes and authority of the day. The forest, even in the sense of a hunting ground, retains an idea of a region where different laws obtain, a place – etymologically The T-Max film is a film I intend to shoot on accuretly – outside of our everyday world.’ – for the foreseeable project. The film being a very small-grained film produces very black Edgelands p 162. high-contrast high-detail negatives. I would I was enlightened by the proposition of the like to experiment with using the film with woodland being a place that we retain an the idea for the next shoot at night as I think imaginative attachment to. They are a play to that contrast would work really well with the hide away from the loudness of the cities, to style and aesthetics of imagery I’m looking to escape, a place that encourages us to return produce. The second upside, is that the shoots to the childish state of curiosity, free thought lead me to discover that I find more peace and exploration. This thought reminded me of during the nights I spend in these spaces, how Théo Gosselin’s on the road imagery, the young darkness fell and the moonlight created new French photographer takes photographs that shapes and reflections, the white light seemed talk about freedom, youth, the love of life and to charge the places with an ambiguity. From hilarity while at the same time they are charged this I feel the need to being the idea of night call; I consider that I would be more engaged with emotion and zest. However, the path I intended to take towards and motivated with creating imagery under the the woodlands is different to that of Gosselin’s darkness of night. style of photography. Gosselin creates imagery Edgelands, 2011. based around a youthful way of life, rebellion and travel; I find that his works present me
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4. Veiw From Below, 2014 Still Image
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‘Tate cum doles eum qui alita volupta sperspe litatus sitatem quo ellab il ipsundae etur, sinti demquod entem et as consequi rerum si comni que nis ea abor aut elitatias es nullacea quat ant es modipita venienis et isition emquis autem et et facea nosam quiatiae pre maxim essi tem que re por mo te etum quid ex est as apeles alit, nonsequ aepererum qui consed utatur?
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imilar to the shoots I create for chapter 6, I wanted to briefly have a second attempt at the landscapes in the daylight, to see if I could catch the same of feeling contented feeling I have in the darkness of the night. Taking the style of how I shoot the Night call imagery, where I focus on a single detail in the landscape rather than the landscape as a whole. Also again I wanted to see how the imagery would place next to the night imagery, see if it fits, if it shifts the context of the imagery, if so, why does it? The shoot was also used as a location-scouting tool to go back to in the night, as it’s quite difficult to these places in the darkness of night. Along with the detail images, I also captured some full landscapes. I’ve always been interesting in the open spaces of nature, I don’t know why I am drawn to them, but throughout the last year I have always captured imagery where I have been at peace. With the past few series I have created during my time at university I feel that I have worked objectively, well as objectively
as one can work with photography. The series have always been based around themes and studies, for example colour theory or how the digital age is changing the way we view imagery. However on contemplating what I’m looking to capture for this project, I feel the work has been very subjective, a reflection or of myself, documenting places where I am contented, places that I am drawn do. I feel the biggest theme of the work is isolation, this is not in a negative manner, in fact I find develop great anxiety when in situation with a large group of people or a crowded place. I seek to escape to these empty open places and find peace, and so this is what I have been capturing, I have been more invested in the imagery I have been producing in this style. A small portion of the imagery created for this chapter worked well compositionally, however technically the imagery is in poor form. I made the mistake of using 35mm film, and after using large and medium format my mindset was still with the same resolution, I made the mistake of not
1. Land, 2014. Still Image (previous page) 2. To The Lakes, 2014. Still Image
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3. Lizard 01, 2014. Still Image
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4. Lizard 02, 2014. Still Image
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thinking this through. Contributing to the poor form were the problems I had with focusing, resulting in some of the imagery being blurred. The imagery is also quite noisy, however this is a problem that I can’t work about as I shoot on 200 ISO and scanned in at a high resolution. Although I enjoyed creating the imagery for this chapter, I feel that the work is a separate series from the night call idea, I feel that this is a project I need to work on after the completion of this current project, also the imagery are very similar to the landscapes I created for my
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portfolio development project, resulting in my being concerned with the lack of growth and development in my photographic practice. What is good that has come from this project is this idea to combine the urban night landscapes I have been creating, with rural landscapes at night; I would like to experiment with when juxtaposing the imagery in a diptych. 5. Home Road, 2014. Still Image 6. Newington, 2014. Still Image
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1 Security, 2014 Still Image 2 Closing time, 2014 Still Image 3 Home land, 2014 Still Image
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Portfolio Night Call : Part One
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ince beginning this project I have become heavily influenced by the 2001 exhibition ‘We Are No Longer Ourselves’. The exhibition comprises photographic work that examines the enigmatic subject of the nocturnal city. It brings these three artists together for the first time in a unique perspective of the city through female eyes, as they inhabit the streets, exploring the way urban life is transformed after dark. The city by day is a crowded and lively place. By night, empty corners and dark shadows can suggest sinister possibilities and create a highly-charged atmosphere. Yet it is the freedom and temptations
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offered by these night-time streets that fascinate the artists who immerse themselves in its mysterious essence. Whilst some would argue that omnipresent street lights are evidence of an urban paranoia, Blees Luxemburg, Paleologou and Rickett use the artificial light in different ways, exploiting the sometimes acidic, sometimes golden, light to create other worldly atmospheres. From studying this exhibition it lead me to discover ‘Street Haunting: A London Adventure’, and essay written by Virginia Woolf. Although written in 1927 I feel the parts of the story still express the same senses
of the present modern day city, what engaged and inspired me most about Woolf’s essay is how she talks of the night, how we shift as individuals as darkness casts over us “We step out of the house on a fine evening… we shed the self our friends know us by, and become part of that vast republican army of anonymous trampers, whose society is so agreeable after the solitude of one’s room.” Along with this inspiration, I also became fascinated with constructing narratives from the lyrics of Kavinsky’s song ‘Nightcall’. The main section in the song is as follows ‘I’m giving you a night call
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1 Lost, 2014 Still Image 2&3 Keep Out, 2014 Still Image and Heading Home, 2014 Still Image
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4. Rainny Night, 2014. Still Image
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5. In The Garden, 2014. Still Image
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To tell you how I feel, I’m gonna drive you through the night, Down the hills, I’m gonna tell you something you don’t want to hear, I’m gonna show you where it’s dumped, But have no fear. For me the song come with a semantic quality reminding me of a recent relationship break up, to me the lyrics expressed the post breakup feeling of long to go back to a loved one to and ask of them to take you back. From this I came up with a narrative based for the imagery, I wanted to have the literally sense of travel, of leaving one’s home in the darkness of night to travel to a lost love one, possibly trying to find themselves. I wanted the imagery to reflect a feeling of isolation and solitude, a documentation of a youthful contemplation as the walk through the streets a night. I wanted my imagery to have elements of romanticism, similar to that of Rickett’s, paleologou’s and Luxemburg’s imagery, Outlying areas which are merely passed through but never habited and exploring notions of ‘urban streets as gendered spaces’, their work all present the viewer with a poetic view of the city, which is very softly lit, beautifully aestheticized and composed. I wanted my imagery to have the same underlying feeling/ presence but with a very different aesthetic. The aesthetic I aimed to produce is similar to that of Jack Davison, Peter Watkins & Arnau Blanch, that stark black and white punchy contrast. I feel that I am beging to achieve my aim with these shoots, there needs to be more explored and experienced with further, also the narrative needs to be edited
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as for now the story is still lost.
6. Grass, 2014. Still Image 7. The Crossing, 2014. Still Image
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1. Veins 2. The Thorns 3. Blossom
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‘The evening hour, too, gives us the irresponsibility which darkness and lamp-light bestow. We are no longer ourselves. As we step out of the house. . .we shed the self our friends know us by and become part of that vast repubican army of anonymous trampers, whose society is so agreeable after the solitude of one’s own room.’ - Virginia Wolf, 1943.
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A
fter reading virgina’s wolf short story ‘A London street haunting’ I was inspired to take my idea of night call further. In this essay by English novelist Virginia Woolf, the quest to buy a pencil serves as an occasion to contrast “street sauntering,” with its sense of carefree wandering, with “street haunting,” which hints at the more disturbing aspects of walking in the city. The instant she steps out the door the narrator begins a journey that takes her through queries, self-analysis and finally; the ultimate realization – the true nature of the self. As I have said previously what engaged and inspired me most about Woolf’s essay is how she talks of the night, how we shift as individuals as darkness casts over us “We step out of the house on a fine evening… we shed the self our friends know us by, and become part of that vast republican army of anonymous trampers, whose society is so agreeable after the solitude of one’s room.” I wanted to replicate this journey obviously not to find a pencil, but about the journey of oneself as you wonder through the street in the darkness of night. What you hear, what you smell, what you feel and what you imagine, are things that I wanted to capture along the way. For me the imagery is about isolation, the peace found in lone wondering. Throughout this project there have been underlying themes of segregation and detachment, I feel as if the project is a great reflection of my current self, however not in a negative sense. By this I mean not that I’m shutting myself away in rooms and feeling greatly depressed and lonely. For me it is in a positive sense, how when you are alone for short periods of time, whether that be while walking through the street or sitting under the stars It allows for contemplation, the short escape for me it provides tranquility, I share the feeling that ‘to escape is the greatest of pleasures’ and this is the context of which I produced this imagery. I find this tranquility most at night; this imagery is a documentation of this. I’m drawn to the darkness at night, it excites me how a space can shift so radically as the sunsets and the streetlights stage the landscapes. The streets by day are a crowded and lively place. By night, empty corners and dark shadows can suggest sinister possibilities and create a highly-charged
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atmosphere. Yet it is the freedom and temptations offered by these night-time streets that fascinate me as I immerse myself in its mysterious essence. Whilst some would argue that omnipresent street lights are evidence of an urban paranoia, Blees Luxemburg, Paleologou and Rickett use the artificial light in different ways, exploiting the sometimes acidic, sometimes golden, light to create other worldly atmospheres. Similar to the practitioners I have mentions I inquisitive as to how the spaces defamiliarize as darkness falls. How something as ordinary as a fence moves from the banal to an object more suited as a still life piece as the light spills from a street lamps or the headlights of a car onto it, to me it is sublime. As I have said in chapter 7 I wanted my imagery to have elements of romanticism, similar to that of Rickett’s, paleologou’s and Luxemburg’s imagery, Outlying areas which are merely passed through but never habited and exploring notions of ‘urban streets as gendered spaces’, their work all present the viewer with a poetic view of the city, which is very softly lit, beautifully aestheticized and composed. I wanted my imagery to have the same underlying feeling and presence but with a very different aesthetic. The aesthetic I aimed to produce is similar to that of Jack Davison, Peter Watkins & Arnau Blanch, that stark black and white punchy contrast. I feel that this second attempt at capturing these moments with this style of aesthetic, to be improvement from my previous shoots. It is my consideration that this style, theme and practice is a direction I wish to continue with to create my final photographic portfolio. Technically, I consider the imagery to be at an adequate level. While shooting for this chapter there were several technically problems with syncing the flashgun to the Bronica Etrsi speed grip, this resulted in the flash gun not triggering in some frames and in other unexpectedly triggering. I found that using my old National Pe-200 Camera Flash rather than the Canon speed lite 430 EXII flashgun to give better results surprisingly. In some of the frames I had a problem with distance, as I wanted to shot a fuller scene ye the flash sync cable was not long enough to permit the lighting I require, resulting in the lighting falling short before reacting the Portfolio Development
Portfolio Night Call Part 2
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object, I had no luck in finding a longer sync cable, so to fix this I simply changes the lens to a different mm, the Kodak 100iso TMX film works perfectly with the aesthetic I am wanting to produce as love the stark quality to the imagery and the harsh contrast, definitely a film I intend to shoot on for the foreseeable project. This is due to the 100-speed TMax film being a very small-grained film that produces very black high-contrast high-detail negatives. However there is still need of further experimentation and development in this area as I feel the imagery could be stronger. I have been debating with ideas as to how the work with be exhibited and what is the best context for the imagery to be viewed in. As I intend for the final body of work to be a journey, similar to how Woolf’s Street Haunting reads, I think
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the imagery would work well in the context of a photo book, however the biggest problem I have with this is time, due to being close to the final hand in I’m lacking in time. From this I am faced with several problems, firstly by placing the book together in a rush I feel the end product could be messy and confusing. Secondly, after researching into publishers such as bob’s book, blurb, ex why zed and many others I have found that the sizing that I am after is not compatible with these publishers, but with the sizing I am after to be published by an independent company rockets the price higher than can afford. The size I would like the book to be is landscape but not A4 size, I want the book to be roughly 9/10 inches wide with the height of 5 inches, as I feel when holding and browsing through the book as this size would
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work best when considering human factors and ergonomics of the overall design. For page sizing I consider that this size would best for the layout of the imagery, as it would fit a nicely sized landscape image say 4.5 by 6/5.5 inch frame, which would leave 0.25 inch frame round the outsides and the gap of 3.25 from the end of the inside frame to the bind. The third problem is the turn around time of the publisher and it is likely after spending a large amount on money to get the book published there is a high chance the book would not be delivered till after. For now this leaves me with the idea of making the book myself, however this comes at another cost of time so for time being I am concentrating on prints that would be exhibited. At the moment I am torn with how to exhibit the imagery as prints, in an idea work I would like to
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exhibit 7-8 images on a large scale, however as looking at the pricing of what I want a single image would cost £120, which means that having several images is something that it out of my price range. In terms of paper and ink I think although the images would look okay on paper, due to the nature and content of the series I would like print onto metal, via dibond printing, as I feel this would give the work another dynamic as a large amount of the imagery is of metal. I would like to print on a large scale for the similar reason as to why the postwar American artist Mark Rothko painted on such large scale. The large-scale designs were used in order to overwhelm the viewer, or, in Rothko’s words, to make the viewer feel “enveloped within” the painting. However for some critics
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of Rothko’s work, the large size was an attempt to make up for a lack of substance. In retaliation, Rothko stated: “I realize that historically the function of painting large pictures is painting something very grandiose and pompous. The reason I paint them, however . . . is precisely because I want to be very intimate and human. To paint a small picture is to place yourself outside your experience, to look upon an experience as a stereopticon view or with a reducing glass. However you paint the larger picture, you are in it. I share this ideology of scaling; it is something I have never attempted before in my photographic practice, but feel the imagery would be at its foremost in large scale, my aim is for the viewer to stand before the print and be drawn into the darkness of the image, for the black and stark white details
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to fill their view and be completely, just how I am drawn to the darkness of the night.
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Virginia Wolf, Street Haunting 1943. Wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rothko
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All publications made & blogs kept for my final year hand in can be found online at:
issuu.com/lauramatthews2 lauramatthews.tumblr.com study-bookmark.tumblr.com
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