Level 4 techniques

Level 4 Techniques linked to Human Existence

Contents Ink staining photos before printing and after printing Combined blended layers on Photoshop to show depth, scale and fantasy worlds.

Scratching into photos using compass, nail to create textures, mood, atmosphere.

360 panorama. scrunching up a photograph and then unravelling it. fill in a section of the photograph with black marker pen.

Pinhole camera Photograms Box brownies Leaf Printing Cynanotypes

1. Ink staining photos before printing and after printing Before...

Ink staining photos before printing and after printing In these photographs I have shown a black and white dark room pictures with different coloured ink over certain areas of the photograph. I did this so that I can emphasize the particular areas of the photograph that I liked and so that I could experiment with different ideas to see what works well and what doesn’t. In the top left image I showed a photograph that shows a model looking through a doorway, over this photograph I dripped pink ink along the top and blew downwards on it to create a dripping effect. I did this so that I could show colour slowly moving through the picture. It also creates an eerie photograph as the dripping lines create an old and creepy look. This photograph links to human existence as I am showing the relationship between a person and their environment and their body language towards that environment. The drips of ink help to emphasize the body language as they show crooked lines, making it seem a bit uneasy, which is just as the model is acting. In the image on the bottom left, I have shown a very similar technique, however here I wanted to experiment more with the idea of the drips on the photograph. I was interested to see whether using more than one colour ink would work. I have shown two different colours of ink on this picture, however the two colours have merged together to create a blue colour on the top of the image.

I liked this technique and using darker colours of ink as I felt that this made the photograph more mysterious and made it harder to figure out what the photograph was of, which makes the audience think more about what they are looking at. I chose to have the drips going all the way down the photograph this time as I wanted to see if this made any difference to having the photograph stopping half way down. The top right image shows a picture with ink splattered all over it. To do this I put ink on a paint brush and run my finger across it in a quick motion to form a splatter effect. I chose to do this to this photograph as the models body language suggests that he is trying to stop something, therefore I thought that this may work well as it could represent the idea that he is trying to stop the ink splattering onto the page. The bottom right picture shows different colours of ink all merged together to create a sort of cloud formation on the photograph. I did this as I wanted to see whether I could create my own colour picture from a black and white image. I left the corner of the photograph normal as I wanted to show a difference between what the photograph looked like before and after the ink was used. I like how the ink changes the perspective of the photograph and adds confusion as it becomes less clear what the photograph is of, however I like how this will make the audience think more about the image and will show how I have experimented with my work to create different effects.

I felt that I could link the ink effect to my theme of human existence as I can show the link between colour and the model. I can symbolically show how the two link together and how different colours can create different ideas and thoughts to help emphasize the idea of my chosen theme.

Combined blended layers on Photoshop to show depth, scale and fantasy worlds.

Combined blended layers on Photoshop to show depth, scale and fantasy worlds.

In these edits I have overlayed photographs onto each other. I wanted to see if this effect would allow me to create a new feel to the composition and to link the two photographs together in a way that I can show meaning to the composition. By overlaying the photographs, I am able to create new textures to the composition and am able to link things together to create a clearer narrative to the composition.

On one of the photographs, I have been able to overlay an image of broken glass onto a picture, this has allowed me to link the broken glass and the posture of the model together, to suggest a completely new idea to the photograph and to tell a different narrative than if the images were seen separately.

In these overlays, I have used images of landscape and a person.

This allowed me to link both nature and human existence together.

The original idea was to link the human existence and the location in which they have grown up. I have blended the two together to show a connection between both photographs. I wanted to show the location as a part of the person as I felt that I wanted to show them linked together clearly, so that the audience can easily understand why they are blended together.

In one of the edits, I have edited further to create a colour overlay on an inverted image. I felt that this created a stronger image as neither the location nor the model are clear aspects of the photograph, so they are shown together to create one composition.

In these photographs, I have extended my knowledge in overlaying and have cut out a model from one image and placed him onto another. I have done this to make it seem as if there are two people in the image, however it is the same model, so the audience can see the edit that I have done. I have also overlayed random objects onto some of the photographs to make it seem abstract and to attract attention to the photograph as the audience can begin to think why that has been done. My favourite edit is the top middle photograph. I feel that the colour burn edit that I have used on the original photograph really stands out and creates lots of detail and texture to the photograph, with the extra model added onto the page, creates a stronger composition and creates a finished look.

Scratching into photos using compass, nail to create textures, mood, atmosphere

Scratching into photos using compass, nail to create textures, mood, atmosphere Scratching into my photographs using objects such as keys, compasses and other objects allowed me to outline areas of the photograph that I wanted to draw attention to. They also allowed me to take out areas of the photographs, such as taking out the face and placing the photograph over black card. I felt that this technique worked really well as it allowed me to experiment with different objects and allowed me to create different ideas on how I can draw attention to particular areas of an image.

360 Panorama

The use of 360 panoramas experiment with how much photograph. i have used d experiment further into how different aspects into a pho 360 panorama allowed me of different aspects to hum locations in which we exist in different locations.

360 Panorama

s has allowed me to h i can include into a different locqations to w i can show so many otograph. i felt that the e to show a wide scene man existence, such as and our actual existence

Scrunching up a photograph and then unravelling it Scrunching up photographs allows me to show texture and layer in my photographs. The scrunching up gives more detail to the photographs and creates random textures which give the photograph an old feel and a more personal atmosphere as we can see they have been hand scrunched, so we can link the photograph to the person who scrunched them up.

The textures create patterns that we cannot control which gives off the idea that the manual edit creates a completely new composition by itself. The scrunching up distorts the photograph which suggests to the audience that there is a specific idea behind why the photograph has been distorted. The audience begin to think more about the photograph and the meaning behind the edits.

Scrunching up a photograph and then unravelling it I felt that this manual edit allowed me to express my own feelings into the photograph and has allowed me to incorporate my feelings into my work and to show my emotions through my manual edits.

In one of my edits, the photograph ripped.

I felt that this created a good aspect to the photograph as it suggests that I did this unintentionally. The rip creates a stronger aspect to the photograph as the rip emphasises the scrunching up of the paper.

fill in a section of the photograph with black marker pen Filling in certain areas of the photograph with a black marker pen allows me to take out certain areas of the photograph which may be deemed more important or less important to the composition.

I have chosen to black out the models face as I feel that this allows me to show the importance of their face as it draws attention to the model. The black markings act as a question, the audience can begin to ask themselves why this has been done and it creates more enthusiasm towards the piece as the audience can think more depth into the photograph and look closer into the detail shown. I have shown the black markings in different places over different photographs, however I have found that it works most effective when over the face and otherwise it looks as if there is something wrong with the photograph and that it has not been done purposefully.

fill in a section of the photograph with black marker pen I chose to do this as a technique as I felt that this would allow me to experiment with how I could show human existence and how I could emphasize particular areas by drawing attention to the main aspects of the photograph, such as the face. I found that this technique works best over black and white photographs as it links much better with the colours, I felt that with the coloured photograph, there was too much happening and it was more difficult to focus in on the black marking.

I have experimented with different sized markings, however i have stuck with the box idea as i did not want to show random markings that would attack the photograph, i wanted to keep a sense of repetition.

Pinhole

Pinhole

In my edits, I have used the colour overlay and the invert effect. This allowed me to show a huge difference in the photograph and allowed me to show completely different compositions from the original photographs. On the black and white page, I have shown the original photograph that I took using the pinhole camera and then showed the inverted version of this photograph. I have shown the inverted version as the inverted version shows the photograph much more clearly and so that we can see much better what the photograph is actually of.

My favourite edit using the colour overlay was the ‘colour burn’. I liked this effect as this showed a great level of detail into the photograph. You can see details as small as the fingerprints and the way the chemicals have worked on the photograph. I also liked this effect as it shows a bold statement of a particular colour that I have chosen to use. This creates a whole new perception on the photograph and accents certain areas of the photograph that have shown to be the lightest areas.

These photographs above show my favourite edits of my pinhole camera photographs. I like these photographs as they show a very different but very new composition. They help to create different themes and ideas and give a new taste to what the viewer is seeing. The two on the right I have placed together as I feel that they contradict each other very well as they show a new looking edit and a very old looking edit. These edits and photographs have helped me with my theme as I feel that they have given me an idea of what colours and effects work well with different settings. They have also shown me how I can create different themes and atmospheres into a photograph in order to change the composition entirely.

How the pinhole camera works

All of these photographs shown in the last three pages have been taken using a pinhole camera.

For this I used a tin can. I took off the lid of the can using a can opener and then created a black removable lid so that no light could get into the can. I then pricked a small hole into a certain area of the can. I put photographic paper inside the can with the shiny side facing the hole. When the lid is removed, light is let in through only the small hole that I had made. I showed this hole for a period of around 6 seconds when outside. I then closed the lid and processed the photograph in the dark room. This involved me putting the photograph into the developer chemical for a minute, then I placed it into the stopper chemical, the fixer chemical and then into the water. This process develops the photograph that has been taken and shows different outcomes depending on how many seconds the hole was exposed for. The pinhole camera works by only letting in a few light rays that hit the photographic paper which then develops into a photograph.

In these photographs I have shown the use of solarography. This is when you have a tiny little pod about as long as my pinky finger and as wide as two fingers. This process is very similar to the pinhole camera, however creates a slightly different piece.

The little pod is kept from being exposed to any light until properly set up. There is a small piece of photographic paper inside the little pod ( with the shiny side facing the little hole) so that the light exposed will create an image. When the hole in the little pod is exposed, light gets trapped into the little pod and over time takes a photograph. The pod must be left out for a few days so that it is able to trap lots of light in order to create a strong photograph.

When the pod had been out for a few days the hole must be covered back up until you can begin to process it in a dark room. Then using the same process as you would for pinhole work, you process the photograph using chemicals.

Below I have shown an edited version of my solargram. In this edit I made it so that the image is much clearer, so that the audience can make out what the photograph is actually of.

In the photograph we can see there is a very faint outline of what the hole was facing, and then there is a very strong line going up and then back down. This line shows the movement of the sun. As the sun moves throughout the day it creates a stronger image onto the photographic paper and so we can see how the sun moves throughout the day.

The pink photograph at the top of the page shows the original solargram of my garden. This image shows to be very faint although there is still an image visible. I wanted to keep the original version in my work to show what effect the solargram creates.

This page shows another example of the solargraphy attempt. I chose to do two solargrams in different places as I wanted to see whether they would show to be hugely similar or very different.

The conclusion was that they turned out to be very similar, both showing a strong trail of the sun with the remaining areas of the photograph being shown to be very faint.

i left both of the solargraphs taped to posts in my garden for 5 days and felt that they worked very well, however they may have been affected by the weather conditions as during this week the weather showed to be quite gloomy and very dull, which could have affected the outcome of the solargrams.

Box Brownie To experiment with my work I have used the box brownie camera to create an old fashioned atmosphere to my photographs and to experiment the use of old fashioned style further. I have already experimented with pinhole and solargraphy, so I felt that experimenting with box brownie would also allow me to develop my skills further.

When taking a picture using the box brownie camera, I used people as I wanted to be able to link them to my theme of human existence. I wanted to experiment to see whether using people and a box brownie camera would work well.

I found that using people with a box brownie camera was unsuccessful as I found it difficult to be able to capture the details in the people, such as face structure and posture.

In each experiment that I did, I found that the picture came out almost pure white with a slight outline of the people I had use, so I felt that this would not work well in my work. original

Box Brownie The process of using a box brownie camera is quite simple. Firstly you place a piece of small photographic paper inside the camera with the shiny side facing the camera hole.

You then hold down the shutter at what you want to take a picture of for however many seconds you want to expose. Once letting go of the shutter, you take the camera into the dark room and develop it in the same way you would with pinhole and photograms. You can then experiment with exposure to experiment with how clear your photograph comes out. inverted

Darkroom and Digital

Here I have edited my photographs with different photographs showing textures and surfaces and pinhole camera technique. To develop this idea further I am going to place different textures and surfaces inside my pinhole camera to see if I can create similar effects without having to use Photoshop.

By doing this I will also be able to develop my ideas and see what works and what does not. The use of different textures in my pinhole camera will show me how to use my imagination more so that I am able to see whether manual edits or digital edits work best.

In these photographs I have shown edits between one of my pinhole photographs and blended them with some photos that I took for level 1, textures and surfaces. These different blends have allowed me to experiment with different effects and different techniques in order to show how I can manipulate a photograph into a particular way. This has also helped me to link my work together and shows that I have thought about how I can link my different levels and ideas together. By linking my levels together I have been able to think more about my development in my photographs which helps me to think more about what would be a good idea for my final piece.

I can use these ideas to help with my theme of human existence. From these edits I can see how I can link the symbolic or cultural aspects of a person with the actual picture of that person. For example I have shown a sole of a shoe blended with the person whose shoe it was. By linking these edits to human existence I am able to develop my technical ideas further which can help me to create my final piece.

Leaf Printing

Leaf Printing

The leaf printing technique allowed me to experiment with different surfaces with photography and enabled me to see a greater depth into my photographs. By completing this leaf printing, it meant that I was able to understand into more depth how a photograph is produced and how the different shadows and exposed areas of a photograph are important, as they can print stronger or weaker onto a different surface, all depending on the light exposed and the time exposed for.

The process was very simple and created a very successful outcome. I chose a big green leaf from outside, and also had a photograph of mine printed onto assetate paper.. When I had taken the stem off of the leaf, I placed the assetate image over the centre of the leaf. Once I was happy with the positioning of the photograph on the leaf, I put the two into a glass frame so that they would not move out of place. The frame was then propped up against a window, so that it was exposed to a great amount of day light. This was propped up against a window for around a week, before being taken down.

When the week was over, I took the leaf print out of the frame and pulled apart the assetate image and the leaf. When I did this, I could see a very faint outline of the image that had been placed over the leaf. The faint outline of the leaf was in yellow, where the sun was unable to get to the leaf through the picture.

This meant that the deadening cells of the leaf were being created through the pattern of the image placed over the top.

Photographer Binh Danh has explored the concept of leaf printing. One summer he had observed that there was a difference in colour between grass under a water hose and the grass directly exposed to sunlight.

He experimented with combining photography with photosynthesis, and came up with what he calls “chlorophyll prints�. this is what I have explored, using leaves to print photographs onto, using the power of the sun.

I was inspired by this photographer as I felt that he had taken experimentation to the next level. I find it fascinating how he was able to experiment in different ways to enable us to be able to incorporate nature and photography into one. This helps with my work as I am trying to link both naturalistic settings and planned settings into one photograph.

Binh Danh has helped me to understand that in order to become more successful in my work, I must be willing to try new experiments in my work in order to create a new and fascinating composition.

Cyanotypes

Cyanotypes

I really liked the cyanotype effect as I think that the chemicals create such a great detail into specific areas of the photograph. For example in the picture shown above, we can more or less only see the picture of the tongue on the smart phone. The tongue has lots of detail on it such as Aztec prints, which usually are difficult to focus on as there are other detailed aspects in the photograph[h such as the bushes behind the model, however the cyanotype effect has shown the detail in the tongue to be very clear. As the tongue is in the centre of the image and is the most in focus aspect of the photograph, it creates a much stronger composition as the detail and the placement attracts the audience eye straight to the centre of the composition. From this we can then branch off of the main idea and begin to think into more depth about what the photograph is of and the meaning behind it.

Cyanotypes have helped me to develop my photography skills further and have given me more depth of knowledge into the process of different forms of photography. They have shown me different ways in which I can present my images and have given me more experience in the development of my skills.

I have created 3 different pages of Cyanotypes which all have more than one image shown on them. I have shown two A4 pages and one A3, as i felt that i wanted to experiment in different sizes in order to help me when it comes to preparing my final piece. I wanted to be able to experiment with different sizes of paper as i wanted to be able to see which pieces worked best and what did not work. This has enabled me to understand what will work best in my composition and has helped me to gain more thought and a wider depth of ideas in my work.

The Process 1. First we cut out the pieces of paper so that they were the size we wanted/ so that they could fit our assestate photographs on in the layout that we wanted.

2. We then had to create the chemicals in which we needed to make the cyanotype. The cyanotype is made up of two solutions. Potassium ferricyanide and Ferric ammonium citrate (green) are mixed with water separately. you then mix the two together to create a substance that you will then paste onto the paper.

3. using a brush, dip into the substance and shake off any excess drips onto the brush. create a smooth coat of the piece of paper while leaving a boarder around the edge. create two equal layers on the piece of paper with smooth strokes.

4. in a dark area, dry the piece of paper so that the substance has no damp areas.

5. once dry, place your negative photographs onto the paper in the position that you would like, and then put them into a glass frame so that they do not move place.

6. either using a UV light or normal daylight, leave the frame exposed to the light. when using UV lights the photograph only needs to be up for around 15 minutes, whereas if you are using natural light, it needs to be a few days. this will allow the light to print onto the chemicals and create the photograph.

7. After exposure the piece of paper is processed by rinsing it in water.

A white print emerges on a blue background.The water removes any unexposed chemicals. Wash for at least 5 minutes, until all chemicals are removed and the water runs clear.

What does photography mean?

The term photography can mean a number of different interpretations. It seems that our own opinion is vital to photography and helps us to determine what photography actually is. Is photography just any photograph? Is it a photograph of something specific? There is no specific answer to the question.

The google definition of ‘photography’ is “the art or practice of taking and processing photographs.” From this definition we can gather the literate definition of what most people would assume.

To certify this I have asked different people what they think photography means.

1) Photography is taking a memory and putting it into print.

2) It means capturing light and putting it onto print.

3) A way to view the world from somebody else’s eyes.

All of these different definitions from different people show that it really is down to our own opinions as to what photography is. It can be determined by something as simple as what has been captured or the different forms of light that have then been produced to be printed into a photograph. Although one thing that we can gather from what different people have said and from the literal definition, it is to do with capturing something through some form of lens and printing this onto a form of paper.

From my own personal point of view, photography is the ability to capture a moment in time and being able to print that image onto various different things, whether that may be a screen or a piece of paper. The different meanings from various people from all over the world help to piece together the meaning of photography. As we can see different artist and photographers interpretations as well as our own, we can start to picture what different opinions there are and how different people can picture the art of photography. This helps us to figure what the actual meaning of photography is and how it has been manipulated and changed throughout the past decades. The process in which photography has developed also helps us to determine what photography is as the art of photography has been so dramatically developed in mid 1800s from when it was first discovered and would take as long as 8 hours to process, through to now where you can transfer photographs through computer screens within seconds.

With the theme of human existence, photography is being able to capture aspects of a life without meaning to. Or simply being able to show different areas of someone’s life. These photos to the right are some of my examples. I have taken these photographs without the model knowing or posing. This is because I wanted to make the photograph seem as natural as possible so that I was able to show clear aspects of human existence, without a clear plan or setting.