richard clarkson
Richard Clarkson Extended Photographics Project Portfolio
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Introduction
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“...so what’s actually real in this photo?”
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The refrigerator always keeps cold.
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Holga Stereography
Introduction
My process, technique and concepts for each image and set are explained in more depth in the coming pages.
richard clarkson
This project portfolio is a representation of my work for DSDN244 Extended photographics. It consists of three different sets, the first a project on digital Identity and representation, I explored how we can take digital ideas and methods and apply them in to a physical outcome. In the next set I looked at photographic fantasies and the relationship between the camera and a weapon, I used these comparisons as very subtle messages behind a very strong Noir influenced set. In the last series I was introduced to film photography, specifically medium format Lomographic photography. As my form of remediation for this set I used Stereography (3-D imaging) and presented both a stereoscope and a 3-D screening of my images. I drew upon the relationship of the old and new techniques of viewing stereograms and how this relationship is similar to that between film photography and digital photography. In this final set my photos are as much about the process learning about and experimenting with Lomography and Stereography as the content itself.
“...so what’s actually real in this photo?” an exploration of the growing mistrust of the digital everyday image and applied identity
Proposal I view my personality and identity as being shaped by experiences and interactions with people. How I display my identity also depends on who I am presenting myself to. My photo set will be a realization of this statement: “We are but blank canvases and clay, to be shaped and painted by those who we love and hate.” I will use clay, paint, chalk, cut & paste and projection to deliver my messages for each identity. I will develop a common theme of each photo featuring me in a neutral pose and expression with feeling, personality and experience applied on-top of that. The digital age and the introduction of the “fake Photoshoped image,” has become so common as to cause people to distrust photos of amazing or unreal things. I want to make people question “how I did that in photoshop?” Then realize its actually done in real life, giving back some of the ‘realness’ of a photo and helping people to think about their own digital identity in a new light.
richard clarkson Clay Identity
Clay is the most basic form signifying an on-line users birth in the digital realm were a new user is easily manipulated by examples set by defaults and others. This image is an example of a users digital eyes first being opened and everything is bright and overwhelming until they adjust and grow accustomed to the digital realm.
richard clarkson Projected Identity
This image represents a users digital identity as a reflection or projection of themselves, The image points out that the digital can never fully represent ones self as something is always lost in the translation from physical to digital. The image has been purposely focused and cropped on the digital projection to emphasis that it has in some ways taken over importance, a user is more concerned with their digital image than their physical one.
richard clarkson Paint Identity
A representation of the fantasy phase were a user puts forward an image of themselves that is not really themselves but a fantasy version. This image has connotations of the detrimental effects of this digital fantasy on ones self, shown through creating a dangerous extra layer in between the user and reality. This image was inspired by precedent Alexa Meade who works a lot in this style of painting directly on the body of a model then photographing him/her.
richard clarkson Chalk Identity
The chalk is a digital rebirth and is the phase in which a user is most themselves. The fantasy phase has worn off and the digital realm starts to have positive effects on our identity. The knowledge available on the internet can start to be accessed in this phase, as represented by the chalk, exposure to this knowledge will help shape both the physical and digital personalities of the user.
richard clarkson Pixilated Identity
This is a representation of the lossy compression a users identity undergoes when passing though the digital portal. Sometimes a user may find themselves swallowed up by pixels, becoming trapped in 2D as they lose touch of the other dimensions in which they actually exist. In modern day it seems we can be represented as pixels better than any other medium, though the quality of some of these images are often low resolution and bad quality, the Pixelated identity is an expression of this. When someone becomes obsessed with photos on facebook and other sites its not difficult to be absorbed completely by the pixels, so much so that it reaches the point where its all that matters.
THE REFRIGERATOR ALWAYS KEEPS COLD.
richard clarkson
PHOTOGRAPHIC FANTASIES
THE REFRIGERATOR ALWAYS KEEPS COLD. a noir adventure with a subtle twist
This set is a Noir inspired detective story with a deep subtle meaning. As the audience reads both the images and the accompanying text they are confronted by a familiar Noir theme (detective, darkness, unknown threat, and so on) and a secondary reading of the statement “the camera is like a weapon.” I have used expressive low key lighting and high and low camera angles and framing as well as costumes, props and setting to express this Noir element and subtle hints to reveal the camera as a weapon theme such as using a camera in place of a gun.
richard clarkson
From the very beginning I wanted to create a set that epitomized “the camera as a weapon” and at first found difficulty fitting this concept to a technical outcome. I played with referencing army similarities with photography and camera similarities with guns. However these approaches where not phrasing my message in the way I wanted. I then started to play with shadows and creating fake shadows in photoshop and this was closer to what I wanted but I still felt it was missing a driving technical element. After some research I found the classic film Noir style to be the perfect for what I wanted to accomplish. As my set developed its Noir style so too the narrative became driven by Noir inspirations. As it stands now the set is predominantly a noir shoot, it is only upon very careful inspection to the details of the images and wording used in the “voice over” (accompanying text) dose the camera as a weapon theme come through. Never once is the word gun used instead phases like “bright flash... makes a familiar sound” and “watching down the barrel.” Throughout the text there is also subtle hints at photographic themes such as “frozen in time” and”watched as if recorded.” In the images upon second glace one may see that the ominous man holds a camera and in the end shot it is the shadow of a camera held in such a way that it looks like a gun (the camera strap is a give away). Although these hints are subtle there are intentionally subtle. I want the reader to read this set with a gun in mind then realize the twist is that there is more to it than that, what was a gun is now a camera. I want the audience to realize the implications of this relationship between the similarities of cameras and guns.
richard clarkson
I was driving down the empty road, headlights on full beam, my partner was talking next to me but for some reason I wasn’t listing to the words. I had something on my mind, but I couldn’t work out what it was. It was like focusing on an object in the dark, it was there, you knew it was there but you cant quite make it out. Forget it, its probably nothing. But I couldn’t. We where driving this road because we needed to not because we wanted to, I’m a detective see, and we’d just been on a case way out in the county. I’m a city boy, born and raised, the county isn’t my element, maybe that’s what it was.
richard clarkson
As the middle of the journey came near the uneasy feeling became worse, it changed, almost like I wasn’t the one focusing on it anymore and it was now focusing on me. I didn’t like it. I subconsciously slowed down and the sound of the motor slowing startled me, woke me up from my thoughts. There was something up ahead, dam these roads, don’t know what’s real and what’s not. We come to a stop not far form whatever it is that’s in the middle of the road, still to dark to make it out. Drive forward slowly, gravel crunching under the tires, should be able to see, the night is clear but dark at the same time. Then the light hits it.
richard clarkson
I can tell my partners nervous, its the way he holds his cigarette. It takes awhile for either of us to move or say anything. We both see the refrigerator and we both come to the same questions, quick minds from working so long in the detective game. Questions are dangerous ask the wrong ones and you end up in a back ally shot dead, ask the right ones and sometimes you end up there regardless. Both of us realize something’s not right, this is no household refrigerator. Some sort of unknown Nuclear object is where our minds jump to, always predict the worst because its usually right.
richard clarkson
I’m the first to speak, “I’ll check it out, you stay with the car and cover me if anything happens.” A nod states he understands perfectly, a routine repeated a hundred times. The smell of wet grass and earth thick in the air mixing with my breath in the cold. I feel vulnerable as I get out of the car, small and insignificant in the middle of the gravel road. I approach the refrigerator with caution each step slower than the last. I near the menacing object. Standing directly in front of it I can hear the noise of its motor, though no sign of a power cable. Footsteps behind me but that’s just my partner coming to have a closer look, Dam him I told him to stay in the car. As I reach for the handle and feel the cold metal, it opens as if pushed from the inside by a bright flash and makes a familiar sound I wouldn’t have expected from a refrigerator.
richard clarkson
As I gaze into the fridge its like nothing I’ve ever seen before or ever will see. I can’t take my eyes away, and it paralyses me to the spot. All of a sudden my ears hear what my eyes couldn’t, it wasn’t my partner coming closer to me it was someone else coming closer to my partner. I hear the unmistakable heavy breaths of a punctured lung. Dam, he was a good partner. I feel guilt and push against my paralysis harder but I cant move. I shout inside my head but no words come out. Its an unusual feeling being trapped in a body that won’t move. I try again against the invisible ropes holding me, but nothing.
richard clarkson
Anger and frustration build but I still cant look away form the refrigerator, its bright light is like a vacuum of both body and mind. More footsteps, closer this time. Instinct tells me who ever it is has something carefully aimed at me, a feeling I’d had all day now stronger. I was still stuck in place, literally frozen in time. The very slightest movement took the greatest of effort and every detail of that moment was watched as if recorded by the man walking towards me.
richard clarkson
I think back to how this could have happened, picturing where this man must have been hiding in the shadows, watching us like a sniper though the scope. What does he want? Who is he? Why is he doing this? Those are the wrong questions, the ones that get you killed faster. I know better. I can still hear my partners laboured breaths made louder by the unnaturally silent night. Good he’s still alive, but I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to hang on. If only I could break this trance I’m stuck in. Its like honey mixed with cement, I don’t know weather I’m nearing the surface or being pulled deeper under.
richard clarkson
I can move my eyes now but not my body, I’m breaking this hold whatever it is. The man behind me waits, watching down the barrel. I look as far left as I can straining my eyes cause my head still won’t turn. I see some sort of shed, I hadn’t seen it before because I was focused on the refrigerator.. Dam I’m getting slack, I wouldn’t have missed that any other day, but that’s just the thing, this isn’t a normal day. Dam the countryside, I hate it now more than ever. An exhaled breath from the man behind me and my chest relaxes slightly. Something clicks. The hold on me breaks so powerfully that I fall to the ground. The gravel grazes me but I don’t feel the pain. I spin around uncoordinated and unbalanced. My vision blurs and as I refocus my eyes I see what the man is holding. The flash of it is the last thing I see.
richard clarkson
An exploration of Lomography and stereography
HOLGA STEREOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHIC PROPOSAL Single Sentence Proposal: “I will combine Lomography with Stereography!” I will combine the lomo aesthetic, the knowledge gained from the experimental roll of film I shot earlier and research into Stereography and 3-D imaging into an original photographic set. In order to create a physical object I will design and make a stereoscope and stereogram cards. Throughout the process I will document my work into both the lomographic and stereographic aspects of the project. In terms of taking the images will make a jig in which to hold two Holga 120’s together with the lenses eye distance (on average 63mm) apart from centre to centre. For the last few images I will take the holga’s off the jig and experiment with other distances and “toe in” (making the cameras not as parallel). In terms of my content I will be shooting in true lomo style, taking my camera(’s) on an adventure experimenting with doubles, light leaks and some other remediation techniques.
LOMOGRAPHY AND THE HOLGA 120: “Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, “happy accidents,” and alternative film processing are often considered part of the “Lomographic Technique.” “While most professional medium format cameras are very expensive, some inexpensive plastic imports, such as the Chinese Diana and Holga, are gaining in popularity, particularly with toy camera enthusiasts. Due to the poor quality of the cameras, the exact image captured on the negative is somewhat random in nature. These cameras often have plastic lenses that offer poor or uneven focus, light leaks that oddly colorize an image, extreme vignetting, and a multitude of other “flaws” that are generally undesirable to photographers. While these elements certainly are “flaws” in camera design, they can produce interesting, artistic, or enjoyable results. Because of the popularity of lomography and toy camera culture, medium-format photography has seen a resurgence with amateur photographers.” The images featured on this page are from my first experimental roll with a Holga camera. I loved taking these images and had a lot of fun experimenting with the camera and the aesthetic that goes with lomo. Out of 12 images 6 came out showing that a little experimentation is needed to really get the hang of film cameras. I experimented with light leaks, doubling and shooting from the hip. As mentioned in the quote the interesting ways of remediation the images plays a large part in the lomo aesthetic. I will be making stereograms and a stereoscope as my form of remediation. Source: Lomography website.
REMEDIATION TECHNIQUE: STEREOGRAPHY & STEREOSCOPE For me the stereogram story begins at a very young age, In my room I had wallpaper that had a generic pattern on it and after staring at it for long enough the pattern seemed to come away from the wall, little did I know that I was training my eyes to see with Parallel vision. I had always been fascinated with “Magic Eye” Puzzles (also known as autostereograms). I was amazed by being able see a 3-D shape from a 2-D image with the naked eye. The technique for viewing these puzzles is what I mentioned above, parallel vision and is something that must be learnt. The stereogram was discovered by Charles Wheatstone in 1838 and was very popular thought the 19th Century. Stereogram’s use the same principals as the magic eye puzzles and work the same way our eyes do. As predators humans capture two images side by side and align in the brain to create a depth perception for judging distance to prey. The trick for stereograms is to force the two images to align correctly in our brains while still allowing the eye to focus on the image. After researching into stereograms I decided to create my own. This result is to the left. This is taken with my digital camera in the “cha cha” method (take one image and shift camera to one side about 1/30th of the distance from the camera to the closest image and take the second image). This was extremely easy to create and helped me to work where to go next. Source 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stereogram_Tut_Random_ Dot_Shark.png Source 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:XEyeStCdNYCSmall.jpg
The cha cha method would not be suitable for my set as I wanted to take some images of moving objects, so I decided to use two Identical Holga 120’s and rig them together. After additional research I found the optimal distance (IDP) to be 63mm apart from center to center. For half the images I would use this jig then for the other half I would experiment with larger distances apart and “toe in� (making the cameras not as parallel). As I mentioned earlier some people can use parallel vision to view stereograms but this can be difficult for some and can take time to master. The use of a stereoscope or stereogram Viewer can make the process much easier and sometimes more effective. There are endless different types of stereograms which can be categorized into: Holmes Style, Mirrored, Lensless and Slideviewer. I created a mock up of each to experiment with and found the Holmes style stereoscope to be the most interesting .and effective.
HOLMES STYLE STEREOSCOPE I, II & III This style stereoscope has been around for centuries and variations of it are still sold under its name today. My design will be inspired from it, taking the best elements and attributes into a 21st century design. Important aspects are folding or removable handle, adjustable focal length and center stabilized design. The lenses used are often 4-7 inch focal length and have a magnification value of between 2 and 4. This is my template to be lazer cut into 1mm thick PETG (clear flexible plastic). I wanted my stereo viewer to be made to “pack flat� and mass producible but at the same time reduce wastage and be functional. There is no tape or glue required as I have designed it to hold together strongly with tabs and folds. The template itself could be made 3 times over from a standard sheet of 600 x 600 plastic and has the potential to be made from recycled plastics or even card. Source: http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/3d/stereo/3dgallery3.htm
PRINTING ONTO ACETATE: The medium I chose to print onto was Acetate as the imperfections in the film used suit the lomo aesthetic very well. Also the clear nature of acetate means that when used with my clear plastic stereoscope the user could be able to see beyond the image. The effect from this is rather uncanny as it creates two depth perceptions for the viewer, especially if they walk around while using the viewer. I stumbled upon this experience while using my viewer and wanted to enhance and implement it into the design of my stereogram cards and stereoscope. If the viewer wants to see the images on a plain while background all that is required is inserting the white card that comes with the stereoscope. There is also a diffusing card if the user wants a diffused backlit experience.
3-D STEREOENVIRONMENT As my project has two levels of presentations a physical and a digital I wanted those not using my built stereoscope to still share in the experience. To do this I will be using a 3-D stereoenvironment that uses a system similar to that of modern day 3-D cinemas. It works under the same principal as any stereogram viewer in that it tricks the eye into seeing two different images. In this case the environment I will be using uses polarizing lenses on two different projectors, the projectors are thus polarized in two different directions that correlate with the polarization in the lenses of the glasses the viewer wears. To aid in the reflectiveness of the polarization a purpose build silver screen is used. In using this method for presentation the viewer may, in essence, view stereograms in a then and now style. The physical stereoscope is very similar to how the earliest 3-D images where viewed and the digital stereoenvironment is an example of where 3-D imaging is currently at, such as in movies like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. This look at where stereography has come to where it is now ties in very nicely to the ideas behind the resurgence in Lomography and in film. In shooting with the Holga we are given a window into what photography was and can compare it to what it has become. The resulting knowledge tells us that there is room for both in the world of photography and stereography and that perhaps the past, the present and the future of the two art forms need representation from all tenses to truly flourish.
FINAL IMAGES: Some of the things I took into consideration in taking the images was trying to get a large range of depths, such as near and far objects. Overlapping objects proved to be very effective and also fast moving objects or flying birds created a frozen 3-D moment. Other than that I immersed myself into lomo culture and snapped whatever I came across on my adventures around town. The images I have created are as much about the process of lomography and stereography as the content of the images themselves, in this way you can feel the depth and aesthetic of each of the images without necessarily viewing them with a stereoscope.
richard clarkson