ARD 608 Negotiated Studies 2 Simon Gould S19000804 Photography and Film B.A. (hons) Wrexham Glyndwr University
Laid Bare • • • • •
1: The Vegetarian, Give Peas a Chance vs The Ultimate Meat Eater, the Zombie. 2: The Animal Protector vs The Animal Hunter. 3: Horror Film Lover vs Detective Film Hater 4: Genuine Depression vs Fake Happiness 5: Good Book Lover vs Bad Film Adaptations
Laid Bare is a series of ten photographs, making five paired images, exploring ego and alter ego of myself. The black and white, or limited colour shots, are an exaggerated representation of the real me. The full colour images are what I hate in life. Some of the subjects are more serious than others because I did not want the series to be too heavy and I also wanted to inject a bit of fun into it. This did bring me out of my comfort zone a little, especially dressing as a clown. Also having a bucket of peas thrown over me in front of a whole group of other students. However,we all suffer to achieve the art we need to create. It also felt good seeing the work that came out of these experiences and it made me want to do more. The effects were achieved in several ways. Some are straight in camera photographs where the time was spent in setting the lighting and poses, using minimal aftereffects. Others were created using a lot of photomanipulation. Many of the original shots were done in photoshop. As I gained in confidence with the project, and sitting in front of the camera, some were redone as photographs and the results worked better. I found this such an interesting project that I intend to continue with it. The time for it was a twelveweek semester. It is not long enough to fully explore this subject. I want to get deeper into it and deeper into my own psyche. I am more confident in being my own model and I am looking to setup more elaborate and detailed images. Also, I do not want to rely on spending time manipulating the images. I want to do more in camera work and learn how to get the image that is in my mind straight to the camera. Finally, thank you for reading this and looking at my photographs, which, even if you did not like them, I hope they made you think.
Simon Good – Good Photography
Self Portraits. The idea of the artist using themselves as the model is as old as art itself. Some do it to record their aging. Some do it to record important stages of their lives. However, in a lot of cases they do it because they couldn’t afford to pay a professional model. Taking it further and creating surreal images is a more limited area. Artists like Salvador Dali is one of the most well known. Andy Warhol and Cindy Shearman are still recognizable however there are modern surrealists like Dora Maar, Rachel Baran and Flora Borsi. Self-portrait photography is a form of portrait photography where the photographer is the artist and the subject. The photographer is taking a picture of themselves. Today most people are familiar with the selfie. They are all-over social media. You take your smart phone and snap a picture of yourself. However, is a selfie a self-portrait? Not really. You are the photographer and the subject, but the self-portrait is more than a quick snap of your face. It’s not just about getting the most flattering angle. They are often telling a story or being experimental. They can develop alter egos, pretending to be someone they are not, or an exaggeration of one’s own personality. Clark Kent was a mild mannered, quiet person but his alter ego was Superman. Superman was still Clark Kent only a more powerful and hyped-up version of him. The triangle of selfportrait, photography and surrealism is quite a rare combination. Most artists, both photography and graphic go through at least a brief period of self-analysis. In the case of many artists, it would also be a financial decision. They could not afford to pay for a model. There is surreal photography, looking at the world from a different perspective. And of course, the surreal artists. Dali being one of the most obvious and well know. The reason for being your own model has two elements. For some who knows you better than you? The photographer doesn’t have to spend time building up a relationship with a model because they are working alone. The second is an exploration of oneself. What do we really know about ourselves? By documenting ourselves over a passage of time we see things that we miss when glancing in the mirror. It gives something solid to study and scrutinize. It is also a way of experimenting with new looks or having a way to express feelings or passions.
This project was a chance to look at both who and what I am and also what I hate about myself. It was very personal and quite revealing. I know, or thought I knew who I was, but what is the opposite of it? I am a passionate animal rights protector. The idea of hurting and hunting an animal is totally against my whole being. So, creating an image as myself as the caught and preserved victim I hope is shocking. I want at least one person to look at it through my eyes and say “No, this is wrong”. I am a vegetarian and have been for over thirty years. The absolute opposite in my mind was being a zombie and eating human flesh. This image was made in a completely over the top way as to remove a level of horror from it. Some ideas came easily, and others took more thought. Although I love the Matrix films, the image represents computer gaming and on-line personas. For me getting lost in a book and your own imagination is much more satisfying than sitting at a computer for hours in a fantasy world. Or perhaps that is more about my age. The image which is me is a more monochrome representation. The alter-ego is coloured. The extra images each try to include an extra aspect from modules done through my time at Glyndwr.
ego
noun
\ ˈē-(ˌ)gō also ˈe- \ plural egos Definition of ego
alter ego noun
al·ter ego | \ ˌȯl-tər-ˈē-(ˌ)gō also -ˈe(ˌ)gō \ plural alter egos
1: the self especially as contrasted with Definition of alter ego another self or the world 1: a second self or different version of oneself: such as a: a trusted friend b: the opposite side of a personality 3: the one of the three divisions of the Clark Kent and his alter ego Superman psyche in psychoanalytic theory that c: COUNTERPART SENSE 3a fictional serves as the organized conscious character that is the author's alter ego mediator between the person and reality especially by functioning both in 2:law : a person or entity vicariously the perception of and adaptation to liable for another (such as an agent)… reality— compare ID, SUPEREGO because the Cuban bank had not
2a: EGOTISM SENSE 2 b: SELF-ESTEEM SENSE 1
physically participated in the expropriation, it could not be considered an alter ego of the Government in the context of the Citibank case.— The New York Times
The five pairs of images.
Vegetarianism Give Peas a Chance
The Ultimate Flesh Eater
The Animal Protector
The Hunter
Horror Film Lover (borrowed images)
And I would never want to watch a 1950’s detective film.
Genuine Depression
Fake Happiness
Book Lover
Bad Film Adaptations
And how they work together
Images that didn’t make the final selection, but I still like.
The Watcher
Andy Warhol Influenced
Madness
Gustave Courbet
Making a poster
Solarization
I have never watched a 1950’s detective film
Personal Statement
Self Portrait
The use of green screen.
Oblique Strategies.
The Future ?
To quote the late Mike Yarwood, “ And this is me”.
Conclusion. At the beginning of this project, I was looking for artists that would tell me how to do this work, then I found Flora Borsi. Her work just screamed out at me. She was the first person I had found who seemed to be creating the same style of work that I wanted to achieve. I had already created a few images similar to her style. Her mixture of in camera and postproduction was just what I was attempting. However rather than copy her ideas she inspired me to do my own thing. The mixing of herself with animals was a project I tried before. In fact, my avatar on social media is similar. Having seen her work has shown me a better way of reattempting it. I have been a portrait photographer, on and off, for the last 35 years but I have never really done any self-portraiture. We touched on it in the first semester and I completely missed out on the opportunity during a year of lockdown. It is a fascinating subject and the images possible are only limited by your imagination. It is an art form that allows one to express themselves in any way they want. It can be massively over the top or very subtle. I have enjoyed this project so much that this I am going to continue working on it. I am going to keep trying new ideas and new images. When I have several pieces, I would like to approach a gallery and a publisher to see if there is any interest in having these pieces displayed or published. I have found a way, as an artist to express what is going round my mind. It is a way of understanding myself and to vent my spleen at all the things in life that wind me up. This is a style of image making that will not be for everyone. It is hard to look within yourself because sometimes you will not like what you see. It must be approached with a sense of humor too. You cannot take yourself too seriously. A lot of the images were produced postproduction using photoshop, but I am looking to produce some images using different techniques of printing. I would like to produce the Andy Warhol Influence and the Good Shepherd as screen-prints. It will be interesting to compare the difference between a photo manipulated image and an actual print. Driving into university and running late I was thinking about the project and it coming to an end. It is not finished. 12 weeks is not long enough for self-portrait. Artists spend their whole lives studying their faces and trying to understand their psyche. I am wanting to explore this subject both personally and as part of my Masters’ next year. I feel I can take this idea much further. This is an ongoing project. The final words,
Acknowledgements
Thank you as always to Glyndwr University for help and guidance. Thank you to Nathan for usually being the first to see a new idea when it is a mock-up and either giving me the encouragement to carry on or to move me in a better direction. Thank you to Dave and Simon for helping me polish the rough work into a shinning gem. Special thanks to Stephen King for helping me pull the idea from inside my mind and making it a reality. Also, most importantly, to my long-suffering partner, Jenny, for living with an artist who is never quite in sync with the rest of life.