Image Lab – Blog
Week 1 and 2 - Pinhole Photography
And so it was we were introduced to guest lecturer Justin Quinnell who in turn introduced us to beer and pinhole photography - in that order. Justin - seen in action here - is a world- famous exponent of the art of making pictures without lenses or cameras – or at least not cameras as most of the world know them. He has his own website (17 Oct 2011) with multiple examples
but for the purposes of his lecture to us we were given instructions on how to make a “camera” out of an empty beer can using a lot of black tape, black card and a pin. It took about half an hour. We then inserted some negative photographic paper into the can (this took place in the dark room) and ventured onto the campus, beer can at the ready (see below) to take some photos under the guidance and encouragement of Justin.
It was an extremely sunny day and shutter time (or the time the black tape is pulled away from the pinhole in the side of the can) was about 5 seconds. In week 2 when further images were made under cloudy conditions the time the exposure time was around 11 seconds. We then returned to the darkroom to unload the cans and develop the prints which in turn had to be inverted in photoshop to give the images you see on the opposite page.
Justin then continued the lecture showing us examples of his work which included taking photos from inside his mouth to attaching a pinhole camera to some helium balloons (examples can be seen on his website).
Another example is the attachment of cans or similar objects to lamp posts or fences or bridges and letting the shutter open for periods of up to 6 months to capture the movement of the sun. At this juncture Justin admitted to being arrested on more than one occasion.
Pinhole Photography is a very basic form of image making but it can be both stunning and remarkably high in quality with its limitless depth-of-field and its ability to capture extreme wide angled images.
Me, turning a complete 360 degrees with a beer can (empty apart from photographic paper) above my head. In all exposure was about 5 seconds on a very sunny (and hot) day. I am moving in tune with the can, but the buildings are fuzzy due to the movement.
Finally a bike………plenty of these at Solent University.
The wide angle and 100% depth of field is very evident.
An exhibition of Year One’s pinhole mastery was arranged (curated by Justin) and attracted much admiration and envy by students on other photography courses. An afternoon viewing was conducted and hosted by Kristianne and Stephen, but no wine was provided. We talked about the need to think carefully about the number of images to display and other gallery display skills in conjunction with what we learnt from our scavenger exhibition.
OVERHEARD COMMENTS AT EXHIBITION
“some of this stuff is first class, I particularly like Duncan’s work” - Justin Quinnell
“who left all that bluetack on the floor” – irate university cleaner
An example of contemporary photographers utilising the pinhole camera for their work can be seen on Tom Hunter’s website (Nov 2011). Hunter is a Hackney based, much published photographer who in a recent project photographing the inside of churches found the pinhole camera not only the most apt but also the most aesthetically pleasing. His website is here
In Portfolio magazine issue nos 52, p 58 Magdalene Keaney analyses the work under the heading "Prayer Places"
Conclusion – the scope to pinhole photography is vast from simple home made devices to sophisticated cameras that van turn out high quality work – the class particularly enjoyed this lesson and it made a good start to the course as it teaches about basic photography and yet it hugely satisfying too. Pinhole photography remains a contemporary art, and something i had previously been interested in. Here is a shot I took a couple of years ago, in Bournemouth, with a purpose built Holga 120 pinhole camera using 120 fim but at 6x9.
Week 3 - The Work of Gilbert and George
17th October – Kristianne introduced a 25minute video involving an interview conducted in 2004 with the 2 “artists” Gilbert and George. I had seen them interviewed on a talk show about a year ago and not knowing who they were or what they did (and having joined the programme half way through) I thought they were a pair of “fruit-cakes”, but whilst they can’t be 100% sane there is some talent there although it may be on the wane in terms of artistic innovation. Their early work using black and white film mixed with red art work is visually attractive although their message and politics is a little confused or contrived. They like to make statements in most things they do but their more recent output suggests to me they are running out of things to say, with one or two exceptions (The 2005 London bombings one example). Nevertheless visually their (digital) work remains visually stimulating as can be seen by Gink (below).
Initially they struck me as being artists who gain attention by shocking, using nudity, blasphemy and words that are offensive such as “fuck” and “cunt” and while there must be an element of truth in that the class debate proved that it no longer shocks the majority of viewers – although at the time they started out (late60s) it certainly did and could in fact get you locked up. Their work was viewed the next day in the visit to Southampton Art Gallery (see Orientation work book). Below – an example of their earlier work (1977).
1977 saw street violence of an unprecedented scale at the Notting Hill Carnival and the race issue was at the forefront of the country’s conscience. It was less than 10 years since Enoch Powell’s inflammatory “rivers of blood speech” and the National Front were a prominent visible presence on the national political scene. G and G are posing a question – but to who? Presumably the black youths who rioted. They are asking “did you riot because you are angry” or “was it because you were bored” – a pertinent question in the light of the riots in England only 6 weeks ago.
Photos from Gilbert and George: Major Exhibition Tate Modern by Jan Debbaut (pub by Tate Publishing 1 Feb 2007)
Week 3 and 4
Week 4 - Flat bed scanning (A3)
How to scan and how to create and refine an image using photoshop. We were encouraged to bring in pieces of ephemera, post cards, old photos, things found on the street etc to scan into some sort of one quality image narrative. The work was then hung and a discussion was held into the “whys and wherefores”. Quite a few of the images were of an autobiographical nature, including mine. Whereas I was rather formal with my choice of imagery using old and new passport images of me and my family other student’s work was more imaginative (see the Cornwall to Southampton drive).
I decided to make my image contemporary, using photos and pictures that represent me today (Solent University photo, wine, old camera, football ticket, Bargate) with some other items that have been “the reason” as to why and where I am now (children, wife, last job, newspaper cuttings). In the discussion afterwards we talked how that could alter over a period of time.
I initially tried to copy a little of Gilbert and George’s compartment or grid methods with the Bargate picture as it is a style that is symmetric and that appeals to me as does a picture within a picture.
Conclusion
Some of the images displayed in the gallery were quite dark or obtuse, while others were very visual without too much meaning. The interpretation was thus varied and stimulating, especially listening to each student’s thought process.
The grid system is something worth further research (see Jim Goldberg later on)
Week 5 – the Narrative
The lecture this week surrounded the creation of a narrative through photographs and we discussed the ways of defining a storyline. Very often photographers will either manipulate the photographs or the actual subject matter to enhance or exaggerate the story. Wegee was one such famous photographer who specialised in taking the photo of violent crime scenes in New York and as he often arrived at the place where the crime was committed before the police he was not averse to rearranging the evidence to suit his interpretation of what he was pointing his camera at. For more info on Weegee
There are many ways however to lead the viewer into seeing and imagining what you the photographer wants and two contemporary photographers use actual words superimposed onto photographs that have been taken by someone else. Her name is Barbara Kruger, a conceptual American artists who studied under Dianne Arbus who initially worked as a designer for book covers on political texts. The words she emblazens across the images are pithy and aggressive that not only involves the viewer but also challenges or questions them. It is a unique and provocative style.
Her website can be found here (November 14 2011)
http://www.barbarakruger.com/art.shtml
Further research into narrative styles – especially ones that include words on the photos (a la Kruger) led me to the work of Jim Goldberg. I was initially attracted to his work due to a 2010 exhibition of his in Amsterdam which was called “Proof” (Foam Fotografiemuseum). The exhibition set out a large number of his portraits of refugees and political prisoners but it was done in a grid style very much like a contact sheet. (please see Magnum Contact Sheets by Kristen Lubben published by Thames and Hudson Nov 2011 p498). Attracted and intrigued by his images and he way he wrote or annotated on his photos, I purchased the work that pre-empted the exhibition.
(Open See” - Jim Goldberg pub by Steidl).When he took photos of the refugees - usually a polaroid – he then asked the subject to write something directly on the print which tells the viewer something about their life. The effect is dramatic, moving and as can be seen is a narrative in itself.
Goldberg’s website (Nov 14 2011)
http://www.jimgoldberg.com/another artist using a similar style is Clarissa Sligh (see below)
Conclusion – there are many ways then to produce a narrative into a series of photographs or even a single image, from actually writing the story on the print, to changing the subject matter being photographed to shouting a message on someone else’s image, but it is up to the person conveying the story how it is done and how much the narrative should be left to the viewer’s imagination. Finally some artists use photos to make notes about their subject. A good expample is featured in Aperture magazine nos 193 (Winter 2008) in an article by John Berger on Susan Meiselas's Nicaragua. She had produced a book on the Somoza regime but then 10 years later returned to see what had become of the people she photographed. Tracking them down she annotated all the informatiion on the photos of her book which Berger has used for his article. The photos with he subsequent findings make the images all the more compelling. The article can be viewed here.
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.44
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.44
Week 6 - Paris
The lecturers were off on a “jolly” in gay Paris, so we all had a lie down, recharged batteries and attended Rosie’s cyanotype workshop – well those that didn’t go to France anyway.
Week 7 – The Process Image
With everyone safely back from Paris and no one from the “keep the home fires burning” stay behind group inhaling anything toxic during Rosie’s cyanotype workshop we all convened in the digital suite to prepare for the “process image” project ready for printing next week. Here are 2 of my cyanotypes from the workshop. We then had to choose an image write about the process and the concept behind it and then print it out A3 size for an exhibition.
The Exhibition
Week 8 – Time
Now the excitement of Paris and the cyanotype workshop was over it was time to get back to basics and Stephen gave a lecture on the concept of time and its relationship with photography both still and moving. One of the artists mentioned was David Claerbout who specialises in depicting a moment in time in different ways. One example is his Sections of a Happy Moment (2007) where he dissects a moment in the life of a Chinese family or group who are gathered around and facing upwards on a ball that is in the air. The scene - a happy one judging by the faces that can be seen - is photographed from many different angles (just 3 examples below) enabling the viewer to be able to analyse this one moment over a longer period of time with ever changing perspectives. Thus one fleeting moment captured by several cameras actually takes that much more time to be viewed. Having the moving ball frozen magnifies the feeling that this is just a nano second in time and yet it takes time to view all the photos - a classic interpretation of time frozen versus current time.
Another overview of this work can be found on this website (Nov 2011)
The project then set for the week was to make a digital print that "engages" with time. Doing something similar to Claerbout would have been nice but time and budget constraints precluded that idea. I considered using a long exposure photo , like the one below taken with a pinhole camera with a 13 second shutter time, to give the impression of movement over a period of time but that idea, upon reflection, was cliched and not really conceptual enough.
The week this project took shape coincided with my son, Alfie turning 18 while my father, Rob turned 79. More than 60 years in age difference...... that is a lot of "time" - when my father turned Alfie's age the 20th century was still only half way through and the 2nd World War a very recent memory.
Life has changed but the genes are the same and the camera is still being used to record the ageing process. Larry Sultan was an American photographer who made a project out of photographing his elderly parents. His father's thoughts make interesting reading.
Below is a portrait of both my son and father taken the week of their birthdays. I deliberately took a black and white image of my Dad as when he was his grandson's age there was generally little colour photography around. The change into colour and the old and young faces represent the passing of time. "Time waits for no man" is an adage and is the title of this work.
Week 10
The term is concluding with a lesson on large format/5x4 cameras and after Stephen showed us how to drop a lens safely we went to work creating a still life negative. After producing a negative I made some quick notes for future us as a reminder of how the equipment etc is prepared
The image above was created by a group of us and then scanned by two of our group. There is, in the States, a magazine that is totally dedicated to large format photography called "View Camera"
and contained within it's website is an ideal article on getting started in large format picking out the pitfalls and benefits I am considering one day in acquiring a large format camera and the article found here I have printed off for future reference.
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