Image lab 5- Large Format

In this image lab me and the group I was in, researched online to find a concept for our still life photo. A member of my group suggested we recreated a renaissance painting. We wanted to recreate the 'Vanitas' painting by Bruyn, Barthel the Elder but using objects from our day. I then suggested if we were going to use a skull and recreate this painting, we could use objects which make us feel human. The skull which we were able to get hold of was black and we agreed this was a good thing- because it's not the original colour (or even real), that could represent that fact that in this day and age there isn't a lotof stuff that's natural about us these days. 



In this painting there seems to be quite random objects and some of them even religious and to me it links to the skull being human and all these different things that fill our lives and make us who we are.

On week 10 we all brought in objects with our own significance. This week we learnt how to set up the large format camera on the tripod or studio stand. We also learnt about the lighting and flash set-up with Peter and then how to process and scan in the negative on the Hasselblad scanner. With these scanners we can get an amazing quality, very large image. 

So because there was so much to take in this week, my group and I weren't able to get a photo taken of our still life.

In week 11 we knew the process and were able to complete our still life image, get it processed and scanned in. I then edited the image of Photoshop to rid the image of any blemishes.

(Below is our final image)

Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome. Though the skull was supposed to be the central focus, it was a very good first attempt and the concept works very well.

Image lab 4- Time and The Image

I was shown a programme from a BBC 4 series where three photographers were each given a different form of digital camera where they went off and took images using the latest form of digital at the time. 


I went on to do some research into using different digital forms and I came across this online article, where Katherine Rose tested the iPhone 4S camera with the Canon 5D mkii. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gallery/2011/dec/04/photography-iphone-v-professional-camera#/?picture=382744493&index=0
I also looked at Aperture issue 158 photography and time. In this magazine I really liked the work of Stephen Ayling (Westminster), Edward Fox (Elm in Summer and Winter). I also liked Paul Caponigro's, Stonehenge, where he said "the effect is to silence one with wonder". 
 
I looked at the way a historic building could be static whilst everything around it is going under considderable changes. So I researched the work of some photographers who worked with time and the image. I read through a book I ordered by Charlotte Cotton titled, 'The Photograph as Contemporary Art'. In this book I found a photograph taken by John Riddy. In the photo he tried to show history (the old building) and the present (with the train going through). I liked this idea of bringing two forms of time together. 

 I also looked at the work of idres khan and the way he layers images on top of each other. For example he layered the many images of Hilla Bernd Bechers gas holders and created a static image which showed how the gas tank was still with everything around it which seemed to be like faint figures. Khan’s work explores the history of photography and literature, the beauty of repetition and the anxieties of authorship. “it’s obviously not about re-photographing the photographs to make exact copies, but to intervene and bring a spectrum of feelings – warmth, humour, anxiety – to what might otherwise be considered cool aloof image.  You can see the illusion of my hand in the layering.  It looks like a drawing.  It’s not systematic or uniform.  The opacity of every layer is a different fallible, human decision”


http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/idris_khan_becher_gas.htm


I am looking at photographing the clock in Southampton because I am going to capture to different times. It's very tall and stands out alone while there is refurbishment going on below it with scaffolding all over the place and also cars and pedestrians passing by all the time.

So this is my final image. I tried different things such as layering many images but this didn't work very well for me because the clock tower wasn't static when I layered all the photos.
I'm quite happy with the final image although when it came to printing, the image didn't come out full A3