MDP Supporting Materials 2

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Contents Proposal

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Contacting the Global Seedbank

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Seedbank Research

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Contacting Kew

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Dornith Doherty

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Samuel Zeller

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Beyond the Gardens: The Fungarium

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Herbarium

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The Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Museum of Natural History 20 Contacting the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity

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Planning

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Risk Assessment

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Project Proposal (revised)

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Shoot 1 – Herbarium

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Contact sheets 1-10/16 Herbarium

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Contact sheets 11-16/16 Herbarium

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Editing

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Herbarium 38 image edit

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Edit Evaluation

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Taryn Simon

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Anna Atkins

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Updates

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Paper edit Thomas Struth Candida Hofer Book ideas Herbarium & Fungarium further research Bridget Smith Simon Norfolk Shoot 2 – Fungarium Contact sheets 1-6/12 Fungarium Contact sheets 7-12/12 Fungarium Fungarium Edit Fungarium 30 image edit (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE)

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2 (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) Back-up Idea Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 1-6/11 Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 7-11/11

3 Lisa Richards AD6800 Major Documentary Project

Proposal My initial intentions for this project were to photograph the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, situated in Norway. The seed bank acts as an insurance seed bank for all of the minor ones in the world, it is being referred to as the ‘Doomsday Seed bank’ and globally is the largest and most important. The purpose of a seed bank is to collect and store as many strains of plant possible for emergency use or in case of extinctions. I have contacted them about visiting on the off chance of getting a positive response, however so far I have been told I would only be allowed access to the outside of the vault, I am very doubtful any situation will change this as access is restricted, and for me next to impossible. Aside from access being an issue, the travel costs and planning would be extremely difficult to accommodate. But, it did give me the idea of looking into seed and plant conservation, DNA specimen conservation, botanical documentation, and other seed banks around the world. I want to use this project to show the importance of conserving plants and DNA, and give a behind the scenes look at something I feel many people are not aware of and document the work that goes into producing these collections. It is often represented in traditional documentary the beginning of this process, going to other countries to collect the specimens etc. but I want to focus on the work that goes on once the specimens reach their location, deriving back to the idea that inspired me about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Each seed or DNA specimen has come from somewhere different to be protected and stored all in one place, they are back up specimens and undisputedly a living document, which form a collection. I want to photograph this and anything to do with the process, to produce a series of uncommonly seen images about the final destination of these seeds and specimens.

This project is quite broad currently and can expand to include other conservational means surrounding this idea or it can narrow down to only focus on one aspect of either the seed bank, DNA bank, or other botanical conservations.

I have contacted KEW Botanical Gardens in London about photographing their work for the Millennium Seed Bank, DNA and Tissue Bank, Herbarium and Fungarium. I believe any of these would be great access for my project and help develop my idea into a more constructed format, as I’d have a further insight into what I am photographing. I plan to begin shooting the project as soon as I get approval for access.

My intended outcome for this project is to produce a book, either hand bound or a collection of prints, which I will then get bound. I’d like to produce a book because I think it is a good way of displaying images and allows for the use of text or other documents in conjunction to the images. I am also interested in publishing and selfpublishing photo books and I feel the research I am doing for my dissertation surrounding photo books would also be beneficial to the final outcome of my major project. I think this would tie in well with my interests, alongside show casing the work in the way I feel would look the best. I plan to shoot the entire project digitally, however I will consider after an initial shoot using colour medium format, as I prefer

4 using these cameras and feel the images produced are of a nicer quality than digital.

For shooting experimental shooting on medium format I will use a Hasselblad as I am comfortable and familiar using them, and I think the square format as well as the quality of image would work well in the presentation of this project. This will depend entirely on how the first shoot goes and if I feel it is right for this project, the access I have, and the time permitted. Primarily and initially, I will be shooting digitally but experiment with film if the subject is permitting.

Contacting the Global Seed bank

5 I first contacted the global seed bank in Norway. I didn’t expect to be allowed access however on the off change that I would be granted access I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity, as travel and expenses could be figured out accordingly.

Unfortunately, in the response I received I was told I’d only be allowed access to the outside of the seed bank, which for me would not be enough for the project and not worth the journey. They however replied very quickly and were very nice about trying to accommodate me. They also gave me access to some of their images and videos that I can use for research.

Seed bank research The link that the global seed bank provided me was to their main site featuring all of the work the organization does which you can see here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/croptrust/albums In the videos you can see the outside of the seed bank and the inside, featuring shelves of plants encased by snow and ice in a very desolate area of Norway.

You can view them here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/91cz90p90inz0ul/AAC7kRRuoN5gj1OhVDU9Pjka/SGSV%20Video?dl=0 Tumblr user ohsoromanov (source: http://www.truthersonly.com/2015/07/02/svalbard-global-seed-vault-sgsv-thedoomsday-seed-vault/) posted: “In an effort to ensure global food security, 10,000 new varieties of crops from around the world are being added to the ‘doomsday’ seed vault in the Arctic.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, on an island off Norway’s northern coast, already stores 825,000 samples of seeds, which represent 13,000 years of agricultural history. The vault provides a back-up to the network of seed banks around the world, which store seeds but can be threatened by war, accidents and natural disasters.

Since 2008, the Svalbard seed vault and its guardians have been entrusted by the world’s governments with the safekeeping of the most prized varieties of crops on which human civilization was raised.”

And posted with the following pictures:

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I think these images are exemplary of what I could have shot if I had chosen to shoot just the outside of the building and they do show I could achieve a variety of images from this, however I feel the narrative alone isn’t strong enough to constitute a project and the time and money put into it wouldn’t be worth it. I am researching the vault however to show what I’ve looked at prior to receiving my response and to inspire me for further ideas. This is also evidence of the images being stronger in a sequence with the aid of text.

These images which accompany an article on mic.com (which you can view here: http://mic.com/articles/124859/norway-s-underground-seed-vault-could-savehumanity-fromextinction?utm_source=policymicTBLR&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=social#. w2IaWvOWi) are far more the style I’d like to be shooting. I feel the insider images are far stronger and have a better narrative; they are presented as more scientific and act as an aid to the article rather than the typical images. I feel even with a small amount of text they would work well. The article also includes a diagram of what the inside of the bank looks like which is very informative and I think this collaboration of mixed media, i.e. the photographs, text and illustration work together very well to produce an informed and easy to digest narrative.

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10 “Norway is storing 860,000 seed samples underground in case of a global catastrophe In the frozen tundra of the Svalbard archipelago, near an abandoned coal mine, the Norwegian government has assembled one of the most comprehensive “seed vaults” in the world. Jutting out against the forbidding Arctic landscape, the vault serves as a reference library of last resort, that should we need it, could save humanity one day. “ In another article on wired.com entitled ‘Seedbank Vaults Hedge Against Apocalypse’ (http://www.wired.com/2011/10/dornith-doherty/) they include another set of images by Dornith Doherty, which I think would work well in a narrative about the global seed bank, as well as including other images from different storage banks.

I really like these images as a set and I would be extremely happy if could produce a series of images to this style. So, although it will be lacking in the isolated feel, I a m going to be approaching smaller seed banks and genetic researchers to see if I can gain the same access I was asking for the global seed vault. I’d like to be able to produce a series documenting the environment of this research and storage, and photograph the working conditions. I think showing this will make people think about the things we really rely on and the amount of effort put in by researchers and scientists to keep the specimens we have safe. I also want to make to series intriguing to look at so that I can accompany them with text, which will hopefully give people a greater understanding of the impotence of this work.

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Contacting KEW

I first contacted KEW in London asking for access the Millennium seed vault or DNA bank. I also included that access to the Herbarium and Fungarium would be desired too since they are also of interest. I however didn’t receive a response for some time, which resulted in a few phone calls, and a follow up email, so I’ve chosen only to include the first email since correspondence will not be easy to understand. The result of this is that I am allowed access to the Herbarium only, since they are understaffed and will not be able to accommodate me. I will have to consider through further research if just shooting the Herbarium will make for a strong enough project and outcome, and if I should continue with his idea or develop a new one.

Dornith Doherty I’ve previously looked at Doherty’s work when researching the seed vault, however after discovering their website and their projects I am revisiting the photographer.

The images I looked at before and that were used in the article are from the series ‘Achieving Eden’ which consists of two sets of photographs: The Vaults, and a set of images made from x-rays showing pigments of plant specimens. I find this very interesting that they’ve gone down both routes on approach to this project and not used them together. These images are from a variety of seed banks across the world, including KEW London, which I hope to photograph. I think the images alone are very strong and I’ve included below a few, which I have not yet used. I think above all the edit of these pictures; use of colour and composure along with accompanying text is what makes the project strong, which is something I will have to consider well whilst shooting. http://dornithdoherty.com/gallery/vault/

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14 “Spurred by the impending completion of the Svarlbard Global Seed Vault, I initiated Archiving Eden: the Vaults in 2008 to explore the role of seed banks and their preservation efforts in the face of climate change, the extinction of natural species, and decreased agricultural diversity. Serving as a global botanical backup system, these privately and publicly funded institutions assure the opportunity for reintroduction of species should a catastrophic event or civil strife affect a key ecosystem somewhere in the world.

Taken at the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections including the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado; the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place in Sussex, England; the N.I. Vavilov Institute for Plant Industry in Russia; and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, these photographs trace in precise detail the spaces and technology of involved in this important effort.

Since 2008 I’ve worked in an ongoing collaboration with renowned biologists the most comprehensive international seed banks in the world: the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service’s National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Colorado, the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in England; and PlantBank, Threatened Flora Centre, and Kings Park Botanic Gardens in Australia. In this era of climate change and declining biodiversity, by collecting, researching seed biology, and storing seeds in secure vaults, seed banks play a vital role in ensuring the survival of genetic diversity in wild and agricultural species. Utilizing the archives’ on-site x-ray equipment that is routinely used for viability assessments of accessioned seeds, I document and subsequently collage the seeds and tissue samples stored in these crucial collections. The amazing visual power of magnified x-ray images, which

15 springs from the technology’s ability to record what is invisible to the human eye, illuminates my considerations not only of the complex philosophical, anthropological, and ecological issues surrounding the role of science and human agency in relation to gene banking, but also of the poetic questions about life and time on a macro and micro scale. I am struck by the power of these tiny plantlets and seeds (many are the size of a grain of sand) to generate life and to endure the time span central to the process of seed banking, which seeks to make these sparks last for two hundred years or more.

Use of the color delft/indigo blue evokes references not only to the process of cryogenic preservation, central to the methodology of saving seeds, but also to the intersection of east and west, trade, cultural exchange, and migration. Lenticular animations created from the collages present still-life images of an archive that appears to change color or move when viewed from different angles. This tension between stillness and change reflects my focus on the elusive goal of stopping time in relation to living materials, which at some moment, we may all like to do.”

Samuel Zeller Zeller’s series ‘Botanical’ has been described by ‘Another Place mag’ (http://anotherplacemag.tumblr.com) as: “a modern photographic reinterpretation of the classical botanical illustrations produced between the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Reality is refracted by the greenhouse’s ground glass and reminds me of the paper used in watercolour paintings. The colors are subtle and sophisticated, they mirror the tones found in these kind of illustrations.

The whole idea was to reproduce preserved nature in the style of botanical illustrations.”

And ‘It’s nice that’ has commented this about the project: “Samuel Zeller’s series Botanical captures the serenity and quietness found in some of the world’s greenest, man-made corners. In a photographic interpretation of classical botanical illustrations from the 18th to 20th Century, Samuel explores the refracted reality caught in the greenhouse’s translucent glass. “It reminded me of the paper used in watercolour paintings,” Samuel explains. “The colours are subtle and sophisticated, and they mirror the tones found in this kind of illustrations.”Blurry outlines of pink and green fauna appear softly pixelated and are framed by the simple, faded metal bars of the greenhouse. Taken at the botanical gardens in Geneva, Switzerland, Samuel feels the series is photographically preserving these glimpses of nature. The whole series feels beautifully romantic and the dreamy contrast of the smooth, blue sky with the bobbled, greenhouse glass only adds to the charm.” (http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/samuel-zeller) Whilst his images are more conceptually artistic that documentary and they imitate paintings there is still a strong undertone of documentary and of serious nature, while his images are ‘pretty’ they show the conditions of these rare plants and their conservation and bring to light the need to conserve natural beauty. This is another approach I could take to photographing the Herbarium, although it is not preferable.

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17 Beyond the Gardens: The Fungarium (by LONELYLEAP) Most people know Kew Gardens as home of the world’s largest living plant collection but are not aware that it is also the location of an internationally important botanical research and educational institution.

I found this video about the Fungarium at Kew, which gave me a further insight on what to expect to shoot if I got access to here. From this video I think I could make a good project if I were able to shoot on multiple occasions in order to develop my work.

Watchable here: https://vimeo.com/36422624 And I also found one on the Botanical Gardens, here: https://vimeo.com/36421901

Herbarium “Kew's Herbarium houses over seven million specimens and plays a central role in research into plant biodiversity on Earth”

(http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/collections/herbarium) “Herbaria are collections of preserved specimens that document the identity of plants. They represent reference collections with many functions including identification, research and education. At Kew, the Herbarium has a central role for research on plant biodiversity, with seven million specimens, including approximately 350,000 type specimens. The collection at Kew is still growing with a yearly addition of around 30,000 new specimens through a programme of joint work with overseas colleagues, expeditions, gifts and exchanges with other institutes at home and abroad. The care of the collections, or curation, is undertaken with great precision.

When studied in the herbarium, specimens sometimes prove to be previously unknown species, which in due course will be described and named as new to science. Other specimens, once examined and determined, will provide essential

18 research material for in-depth studies of systematics, micromorphology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics. The Herbarium is also the repository of many voucher specimens. Such specimens are the only tangible record by which species used in experimental research can be compared.”

I’ve been given access to photograph the Herbarium at KEW following confirmation from my tutors that the images will not be used commercially.

I’ve found a video filmed inside the Herbarium which gave me a good idea of what to expect to be able to shoot in preperation. You can view it here: https://youtu.be/QT8Q22rVvuE I’ve been looking at what exactly there is in the Herbarium and what will be most important to shoot. Although I will decided most of this on the day and circumstance, I have decided that it would make the best photographs and narrative by capturing a variety of shots, e.g general views of inside the Herbarium, plant specimens, scientist and researchers, and the equipment they use. I want to shoot these as clinically and clean as possible and to allow for the most light I will be using a tripod. This video was particularly important for showing the significance of the plant collection at KEW which is something I’d like to bring forth to my images, and the video includes photography which is exemplary to the work I could produce so I’ve included some screenshots.

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20 The Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Museum of Natural History I visited the Natural History Museum and discovered the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, I took some photos for research regarding their herb and plant specimens. I thought this could work well with my project and have contacted the centre to try and gain access to the labs and archives. My project is now leaning towards the preservation of plant specimens and the researchers/the environments behind the collections. Because of this I have requested to take images of the research spaces and archived collections of herbs and fungi in the museum as well as my images for my shoot at KEW of the Herbarium and Fungarium.

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Contacting the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at The Museum of Natural History I recently visited the Natural History Museum and discovered the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, I took some photos for research regarding their herb and plant specimens. I thought this could work well with my project and have contacted the centre to try and gain access to the labs and archives. My project is now leaning

25 towards the preservation of plant specimens and the researchers/their environments behind the collections. Because of this I have requested to take images of the research spaces and archived collections of plants, herbs and fungi in the natural history museum as well as my images for my planned shoot at KEW of the Herbarium and Fungarium.

I recently contacted the Natural History Museum to follow up on my research about their plant and herb collections and photographing the labs, however I have emailed again since due to the long wait for a reply and still have not been contacted. I am going to call them in the next few days as i’m concerned I have not properly

26 explained what I would like to photograph, and aim to shoot in the next couple of weeks.

Planning

I have been granted access the Herbarium and Fungarium at KEW on 21st March. I have been given 40 minute to shoot during a guided tour of the Herbarium followed by time in the Fungarium. I will need to be sure of what I need to shoot and have all of the equipment ready to be able to shoot enough and good quality images in this time. From my research into the Herbarium I know that there are a multitude of wing each built at different time periods and on different levels so hopefully this will mean a variety of different looking settings and light. In the case of bad lighting i will be bringing a tripod to get the best use out of my camera, and due to the short notice of the shoot I will have to use my own camera which has a fixed 35mm lens. Whilst I am confident that I will be capable of producing very high quality images and shooting at low light I am concerned about using this lens as it may be too wide for some of the interior shots and distort the images slightly. As it is Easter I am unable

27 to borrow a different camera so i will have to use this regardless, however in the future i will be more prepared and borrow a different camera with a few different lenses. To get the Herbarium in time I have found where it is in relation to KEW botanical gardens and calculated a route that will get me there with time to spare using the london underground, which I can get from victoria station near the coach station I arrive into. The coach that will get me into London in time leaves at 5.15am and arrives at 8.45, leaving me time to account for late arrival or problems on the tube. I will then catch the next train to KEW gardens on the district line. I do not anticipate having any issues with the travel other than time delays as I have done the route before and know my way around London well.

Risk Assessment Location: KEW Botanical Gardens Herbarium & Fungarium Activity/Task Assessed: Photographing inside the Herbarium & Fungarium Assessment Date: 20/03/2016 Hazard Descripti on

Sev erity (wit hout cont rol mea sure s)

Public Transport (coach and London tube)

High

Travel to unfamiliar place

Low

Insufficien t access to first aid and

Low

Pers ons exp ose d (em ploy ees, stud ents etc Mys elf and othe r pass enge rs Mys elf

Mys elf

Risk Control Measures Currently in place

Likelih ood

Risk Level

(with control measu res)

Emergency procedures in place

Not likely

Medium

Maps, phone and internet access, planned route

Not likely

Very low

Qualified first aiders are in the Gardens at all times in the event of an emergency. Qualified first aiders in

Not likely

Very low

Further Action Requir ed – if any

Actio n Comp leted (date and signa ture)

28 medicatio n Low

Mys elf and belo ning s

High

All visit ors and staff

Medi um

Mys elf

Medi um

Mys elf

Harm or theft due to lack of security

Fire/other causes for evacuatio n

Slips, trips and falls, falls from height – Climbing trees

Water courses – lakes, water features, ponds -

Constabulary are also trained in Paediatric First Aid RBG Kew Constabulary based in the Gardens.

RBG Kew Constabulary periodically drive / walkthrough / cycle around the Gardens. CCTV strategically sited within the Gardens. CCTV monitored by RGB Kew Constabulary 24/7.

Emergency evacuation procedures are in place in all buildings. RBG Kew staff and RBG Kew based contractors are familiar with and regularly practice emergency evacuations.

Emergency notices are posted within the site and in all buildings.

Dedicated assembly points are indicated on the evacuation notices.

Access and egress routes (footpaths and driveways) around Gardens maintained.

Moss and lichen removed from walkways / paved areas as required to help prevent slips trips and falls.

Climbing trees is not permitted. (Refer to RBG Kew regulations). Active tree management programme in place Buoyancy aids provided as required and regularly checked. Grassed/paved areas adjacent to water maintained. Areas considered high risk, due

Not likely

Very low

Not likely

Medium

Not likely

Low

Not likely

Low

29 Drowning Slips, trip and falls

Moving plant/equi pment Vehicular traffic – tractors, grass cutters, electric buggies, bicycles etc Work equipmen t – chain saws, strimmers , trimmers, vegetation shredders etc

Medi um

Mys elf and othe r visit ors

to uneven surface, bad cracking etc. fenced off by use of temporary barriers installed until area made safe.

Garden speed restriction of 10 mph in force.

Movement of all nongardening related vehicles is restricted to a minimum during the Gardens opening hours.

Vehicle access restricted to specific routes. Only authorised RBG Kew staff operate horticultural vehicles. Safe working procedures in place to monitor drivers/vehicle movement within the Gardens. In the event of an emergency, nongardening vehicles are provided with escorts (RBG Kew Constabulary or pedestrian). All equipment maintained to comply with health and safety PUWER (Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations) legislation.

Keys removed from ignition switches. Work equipment removed upon completion of work.

RBG Kew staff and contractors competent to undertake tasks. Ongoing supervision provided. RBG Kew staff identifiable by branded clothing and photo security passes. RBG Kew (on site) contractors identifiable by their company branded

Not likely

Low

30

Hazardou s substance s

Medi um

Mys elf

clothing. Specific risk assessments and method statements in place prior to work commencing. All equipment maintained to comply with health and safety legislation.

Warning signage (as appropriate) displayed prior to work commencing. Barriers installed to prohibit access to unauthorised person in the working area. No work equipment left unattended. Keys removed from ignition switches. Work equipment removed upon completion of work.

RBG Kew staff and contractors competent to undertake tasks. Ongoing supervision provided. All RBG Kew staff and contractors wear high visibility clothing and personal protective equipment.

Specific risk assessments and method statements in place prior to work commencing.

Use of hazardous substances is only undertaken by competent persons.

Hazardous substances are kept in secure environments.

Appropriate signage is displayed

Not Likely

Low

31 Project Proposal (Revised) Lisa Richards AD6800 Major Documentary Project Proposal My initial intentions for this project were to photograph the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, situated in Norway. The seed bank acts as an insurance seed bank for all of the minor ones in the world, it is being referred to as the ‘Doomsday Seedbank’ and globally is the largest and most important. The purpose of a seed bank is to collect and store as many strains of plant possible for emergency use or in case of extinctions. I have contacted them about visiting on the off chance of getting a positive response, however so far I have been told I would only be allowed access to the outside of the vault, I am very doubtful any situation will change this as access is restricted, and for me next to impossible. Aside from access being an issue, the travel costs and planning would be extremely difficult to accommodate. But, it did give me the idea of looking into seed and plant conservation, DNA specimen conservation, botanical documentation, and other seedbanks around the world. I want to use this project to show the importance of conserving plants and DNA, and give a behind the scenes look at something I feel many people are not aware of and document the work that goes into producing these collections. It is often represented in traditional documentary the beginning of this process, going to other countries to collect the specimens etc. but I want to focus on the work that goes on once the specimens reach their location, deriving back to the idea that inspired me about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Each seed or DNA specimen has come from somewhere different to be protected and stored all in one place, they are back up specimens and undisputedly a living document, which form a collection. I want to photograph this and anything to do with the process, to produce a series of uncommonly seen images about the final destination of these seeds and specimens.

This project is quite broad currently and can expand to include other conservational means surrounding this idea or it can narrow down to only focus on one aspect of either the seed bank, DNA bank, or other botanical conservations. After looking at the work of Dornith Doherty I’ve decided that I am especially interested in photographing the equipment the researchers use and the spaces within the banks.

I have contacted KEW Botanical Gardens in London about photographing their work for the Millennium Seed Bank, DNA and Tissue Bank, Herbarium and Fungarium, as well as the biodiversity centre and Angela Marmont centre at the Museum of Natural History. I believe any of these would be great access for my project and help develop my idea into a more constructed format, as I’d have a further insight into what I am photographing. I have currently been given acess to shoot the Herbarium and Fungarium on Monday 20th March and I plan to be shooting the project as soon as I get approval for access to the other places or arrange a reshoot at KEW. My intended outcome for this project is to produce a book, either hand bound or a collection of prints which I will then get bound. I’d like to produce a book because I think it is a good way of displaying images and allows for the use of text or other

32 documents in conjunction to the images. I am also interested in publishing and selfpublishing photo books and I feel the research I am doing for my dissertation surrounding photo books would also be beneficial to the final outcome of my major project. I think this would tie in well with my interests, alongside show casing the work in the way I feel would look the best. I plan to shoot the entire project digitally, however I will consider after an initial shoot using colour medium format, as I prefer using these cameras and feel the images produced are of a nicer quality than digital.

For shooting experimental shooting on medium format I will use a Hasselblad as I am comfortable and familiar using them, and I think the square format as well as the quality of image would work well in the presentation of this project. This will depend entirely on how the first shoot goes and if I feel it is right for this project, the access I have, and the time permitted. Primarily and initially, I will be shooting digitally which will require a tripod but experiment with film if the subject is permitting.

Shoot 1 - Herbarium The shoot at the Herbarium went very well, I was able to arrive at the location on time with no issues and was as best prepared as I could be. I shot on RAW and jpeg to ensure the maximum use of my images, and used a tripod the entire time whilst shooting in the Herbarium. The lowest ISO I could use without the images being too dark, using a too narrow aperture or a shutter speed too low (as I was on a time limit and didn’t want to risk shaky images even with a tripod) was 200, which for the intended use of these images and the file types shouldn’t be an issue in editing or producing noise. I am happy with the amount of images I shot in the time frame, which was an hour extended from 40 mins, and I think I definitely got a lot of usable good quality images. I wasn’t able to shoot the researchers or any people, however i’m happy with the type of images I was able to shoot. I think I got a variety of different settings, equipment and work spaces which will form an aesthetically pleasing and coherent narrative sequence about the Herbarium. I am going to be writing up the information I found out on this visit as well as further research which will hopefully firm a body of informational text about the significance of these spaces within the Herbarium which can accompany the images in the format of a book.

Since I shot raw I have selected one image from each of the similar looking images from looking at the contact sheet, which I will use to find the set of images to open up in photoshop and pick the best one for further editing. This enables me to disregard sets of images I don’t think work well or are technically not good much easier than looking at each image individually.

33 Contact sheets 1-10/16 Herbarium

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43 Contact sheets 11-16/16 Herbarium

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48 Editing After looking through the contact sheets from the Herbarium I was able to select the RAW files and view them in photoshop. I then selected an images from each set of similar images to edit further, checking for camera shake and sharpness mostly. In further editing I tried to keep it simple and clean so only changed in each image the levels, straightened out the images and cropped them, and adjusted the color balance if necessary. A lot of the images were hard to straighten out as the lens was wide but I think the images work well regardless, and if necessary I will put more work into selected images and use the lens correction and perspective tools on photoshop. Ideally for the next shoot I will use a different lens, however I found during this shoot it was often beneficial using a smaller camera with a wider lens as a lot of the room only had narrow spaces to shoot in and It would have been very difficult to shoot anything but close ups if my lens weren’t as wide. I really like the light I got on most of the images as although the Herbarium as a whole was quite dark, a lot of the shots still make use of natural light. In post-production on the RAW files I was able to reduce the highlights in a lot of the images which was extremely useful for those which have windows in as I could get a better overall exposure and reduce shadows/blown out windows. Having shot each shoot more than once also allowed for me to view the images side by side and zoom in to evaluate which image I should use which in a lot of cases proved beneficial as some were not as sharp as the other, or had different composure. Since I cannot shoot all that often during this project I am very happy that I was able to shoot so many images during this shoot and was able to shoot in RAW format and take multiple shots of each shot, this allows for the most use out of the shoot and a much larger edit to select final images from and refine my images.

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Edit evaluation I think there are a lot of images within this 38 images edit that compliment each other and I’m very happy with the way the images turned out, in particular I like the images which make the most use of natural light, and those involving work stations. I think the images once narrowed down will produce a really interesting series and look aesthetically good as well as technically. In this edit I was careful to only use sharp

60 images although I am going to edit out some of the images further. The images from this shoot remind me of the similar images I looked at in research however I think they are of different style. From the 38 image edit I can see I will need to narrow it down and edit out the similar images and weaker ones as well as deciding which work well together and could work sequentially in a book or series of prints. To do this i will do a paper edit as it’s easier to compare the image and order them when I don’t have to use a screen and have access to all of the images at once. For this I am going to do a large edit of my second shoot and then print both large edits to make use of all my images. For the large edit of the second shoot I will use the same process as before and view each image of a similar set to pick the strongest. I think this shoot differs from the next mostly in lighting and the content of the images, where this one uses a lot of natural light and architectural images the next uses only artificial lighting and mainly consists of close ups and detail shots. I think both shoots will come together well to produce a coherent record of the buildings and their purpose, however i need to make a tighter edit and consider the use of text and narrative.

Taryn Simon - The Picture Collection

“The Picture Collection On the third floor of the Mid-Manhattan Library on 5th Avenue at 40th Street are housed 1.29 million prints, postcards, posters, and images carefully clipped from books and magazines. Organized by a complex cataloguing system of over 12,000 subject headings, it is the largest circulating picture library in the world. Since its inception in 1915, The Picture Collection has been an important resource for writers, historians, artists, filmmakers, designers, and

61 advertising agencies. Diego Rivera, who made use of it for his Rockefeller Center mural, “Man at the Crossroads” (1934), noted that the scope of this image archive might go on to shape contemporary visions of America—suggesting that today’s “accidents” might be the basis for tomorrow’s collective understanding. Andy Warhol was also a frequent user of the collection, with a particular interest in advertising images—many of which were never returned. The Picture Collection’s content and categories follow a crude algorithm, reactive to the happenstance of image donations over time, the interests of librarians, and the specific requests of library users. The collection serves as a space where images that are historically inscribed and validated exist beside those that are not. This flattening of hierarchies positions generic advertising pictures next to photographs by Weegee or Steichen, and a Rauschenberg or Malevich reproduction next to a travel postcard or an anonymous artist’s work. Romana Javitz, head of the collection from 1929 to 1968, recruited 40 artists through the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s to help clip, cull, and catalogue the collection. In the 1940s, Roy Stryker of the Farm Security Administration donated nearly 40,000 photographic prints to the collection, concerned for the images’ safety in the face of a Congress that might disapprove of their content. Only during the mid-1990s were these pictures, including works by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, removed from The Picture Collection’s public folders and placed under the protection of the Division of Arts, Prints and Photographs, in direct response to rising market prices for the artists.

In The Picture Collection (2013), Taryn Simon highlights the impulse to archive and organize visual information, and points to the invisible hands behind seemingly neutral systems of image gathering. Simon sees this extensive archive of images as a precursor to Internet search engines. Such an unlikely futurity in the past is at the core of The Picture Collection. The digital is foreshadowed in the analog, at the same time that history—its classifications, its contents—seems the stuff of projection.” http://tarynsimon.com/works/picture_collection/#1 Above I’ve highlighted from the introduction of Simon’s series ‘The Picture Collection’ some key information. Here Simon is documenting archives, in particular the largest picture collection in the world. In itself she is recording records which is conceptually similarly to my work where I am documenting the largest [collection of plant species in the world. Interestingly her work almost mocks this human instinct to archive and record in way which is ironic given her method of doing so. Her photographs organise and present sections of the picture archives and are presented in exhibition.

Interestingly the way she has presented them and labeled them seems archival. This is a very different approach than I have been shooting in documenting archives as she is focused on the concept and the impact of these archives whereas I am more concerned with the housing of the archives. However, from this i have decided that in my next shoot I should as well as documenting the buildings, work stations and equipment I should also document the specimens that have been archived. I avoided this during the first shoot as I didn’t see the purpose of recording records and felt it more important to document the ‘behind the scene’ per say of the record keeping involved in the largest plant specimen collection in the world, however when used alongside my other images I think they could provide more information as well as if presented in the format of a book aesthetically compliment the text. For this I also have to option to use scans of the specimens, similarly to Anna Atkins cyanotypes.

Anna Atkins - Cyanotypes of British Algae

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(From Anna Atkins, 1843-1854, Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions & Anna Atkins, 1854, Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns) “The substance to be recorded is laid on paper impregnated with ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. When exposed to sunlight and then washed in plain water the uncovered areas of the paper turn a rich deep blue. Atkins employed cyanotype to record all the specimens of algae found in the British Isles. The first part of her work, entitled British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, appeared in 1843, and by 1850 she had produced 12 additional parts. During the next three years Atkins completed the publication with 389 captioned photograms and several pages of text, of which a dozen copies are known. In 1854 Atkins, possibly collaborating with her friend Anne Dixon, produced an album entitled Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns. Despite the simplicity of her means, Atkins’s project was the first sustained effort to demonstrate that the medium of photography could be both scientifically useful and aesthetically pleasing.” http://www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-Atkins Atkins was notably one of the first photographers to use photographs for scientific purposes as well as introducing the photo book, she formed an archive documenting british algae in the form of the first photo book by creating photographic cyanotypes.

This process involves creating prints of the plants and it arguably is not a traditional photograph. Nevertheless, the purpose of the book was to document scientifically the algae and make an archive. Although I will not be doing this process, a more modern and digitalised version of this would be to scan in the plants rather than photograph them or create photograms. This could be more effective in a book because of the scientific and clean nature ego scans, they would be on a clean white background and have all details visible which may not be as accurate if i were just to photograph them. However I am not the one creating a record of these plants, just photographing the archives which already exist, so the purpose of this would be purely aesthetic.

Updates Since I’ve been keeping a blog I’ve decided to also output my research as a word doc with a contents table which can be uploaded to issuu.com to be viewed as a book, I think this will be the easiest way to print my research and access it for referral, especially with the use of page numbers. I’ve also decided to keep running

66 the blog along side it as its easier for sliceable links, enlarging images and updating quickly. Since I will be keeping both I’ve decided to post my progress now, before the paper edit. Each update to my research will now be posted on my blog and updated on my word doc, viewable on issue. The same information is aces sable on both.

View word here: http://issuu.com/snappography/docs/mdp/1 View blog here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ad6800

Paper Edit

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74 After printing off all of the images from the Herbarium and Fungarium edit which made an edit of 64 images (after taking 4 from the edit because they were technically worse than other similar photos), I arranged the similar looking images into sections photographed above. I intend to make an edit of 40 images to begin using in my book design, so I need to edit out 24 images. To do this I will begin by picking between the similar looking images if they would serve no purpose of having multiple images in the book. For example, I am not editing out any of the map images even though they are similar because I think they could be useful in the book, however I will be editing out similar images of the staircases/rails because I don’t think using multiples of these that look similar would be effective.

The 64 image edit in sections.

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Editing out 16 similar images of the 64, leaving 48

The 48 image edit rearranged for further editing

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4 images removed from the 48 image edit, leaving a 44 image edit.

I now need to edit out a further 4 images but I am not finding it difficult to pick between the images. Laying them out like this made it easier to compare the similar images and pick the strongest but now I think each image has merit and am going to take a different approach to the edit.

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From the 44 image edit I decided to pick from it the image which i particularly like and think will work well in the book, and together. I’ve chosen 15 images from the 44, and will use these to begin ordering a narrative. From this i will be adding back in images from the 44 image edit until I have an edit of 30-40 images, which I can then critique and narrow down once more. I think by doing it this way rather than eliminating images from the 44 I will be able to see if they fit in with the narrative better and my choices will be more informed. Once a narrative begins to form I will also be able to see if I need to add in any previously dismissed images.

I’ve added back in a few more pictures, now making this a 23 image edit. I’ve put in the rest of the map images because I think this will work well in my book edit, and a couple of detail shots because the edit was lacking. I intend on putting back in a lot more images from the previous 44 image edit but from this I’ve gotten a few ideas for structuring my book, so am going to be continuing the edit whilst designing the book.

I think the addition of text will really help me with the edit.

78 Thomas Struth Struth’s ‘New pictures from paradise’ display a level of complexity, depth and detail which is hard to explain. Each picture has a certain flatness, never allowing your eyes to settle on just one detail and forcing you to pervasive the image as a whole.

The large format for this concept works really well allowing you to see small details of the image, this gave me the idea to print my book large rather than small. If i am going to focus on a labyrinth theme small details of the image are important and my images having an impact is even more so. Here in Struth’s images each picture connects to the next whilst being utterly different, each has a sense of familiarity and is immersive. I think for my images to work together to make a subtle yet intriguing and effective narrative about the herbarium, and even come across as elusive, they will have to be presented in a similar way.

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82 Candida Hofer

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(SPACE) book ideas Labyrinth concept- a structured narrative which reveals more about the context as the book progresses, images are intriguing and text is subtle

(SPACE) Herbarium & Fungarium further research Bridget Smith Simon Norfolk Shoot 2 – Fungarium Shooting in the Fungarium was more challenging than the Herbarium as there was no natural light and for shooting things on the desk I often had to go hand held as there was no space for the tripod. A lot of the images aren’t how I wanted them to be due to the light and lack of space. There were also only two rooms to shoot in opposed to the herbarium where I was constantly moving through different wings.

Through looking at the contact sheet i’ve selected some to edit and retouch, i’m not as happy with this shoot as the last but I think I still have managed to get enough images for a 20 images edit due to the amour I shot. This should allow for a more concise and critical final edit.

NOTE: fungarium edit posted late but was completed before the previous posts regarding the 68 image edit from both herbarium and fungarium shoots.

89 Contact sheets 1-6/12 Fungarium

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95 Contact sheets 7-12/12 Fungarium

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Fungarium Edit To narrow these down I selected on the contact sheets one image from each set of similar looking images and opened each set’s raw files in photoshop. From that I picked the strongest image of the set or disregarded the set, and opened the

101 remaining files to retouch. To retouch I adjusted levels and crop, however these mages were harder to retouch because a lot of them were too shaky or dark, or not sharp enough. I picked from the remaining pictures a 30 images edit which still includes some similar looking images and some which I feel are not as strong, however I’ve decided to keep them in for the paper edit so that I can compare them and select them against each other and the previous shoot rather than just on screen. I am very pleased with the 30 image edit as I was not expecting to get many images from this shoot and although I feel the previous shoot was stronger there are definitely some important images in here that will work well with the edit from the previous shoot. I am trying to schedule a reshoot at KEW in the next couple of weeks before the deadline in the hopes of getting some more varied images and better quality Fungarium images, however I have been told I will not be contacted for the next week as the staff are out of office. I am concerned this will mean I am not able to reshoot in time, however I am still looking into other plant archives I can shoot in. If I am not able to shoot again I am still certain I can make a critical edit from the 68 images I have so far, and for print outcome I will not need as many images which means I am able to be more selective with my images.

NOTE: fungarium edit posted late but was completed before the previous posts regarding the 68 image edit from both herbarium and fungarium shoots.

Fungarium 30 image edit

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(SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE) (SPACE)

117 (SPACE) Back-up Idea Kew Botanical Gardens

Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 1-6/11

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Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 7-11/11

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