Feeling particularly restless today so task of the day to go see the 'Fresh Faces' exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery. I've already been researching it online and some of the work looks really interesting:

MARIA KAPAJEVA:

Again, there is something very personal about this image, there's that pure honesty and drowsiness just as one wakes up. Kapajeva photographed people close to her just as they were waking up in this series of work, this was my favourite. I also keep musing at the textures in this image particularly on the blanket and her top in the foreground.

BRIONY CAMPBELL:
There is something so genuine and sensitive about this image, the gentle release of a dying patient. I Campbell was shooting her dying father and trying to be a good daughter and trying not to be overwhelmed by her own grief. I found after reading the background of her work, the image became so personal I felt intrusive looking at it for too long.

SIMON KOCH:

I love this because she looks like a dead bird, there's that same pathetic gentleness.

NEIL KRUG AND JONI HARBECK:
The colour scheme, the tangling bodies, the process, and the fresh glowingness of the models' skin.
I just liked the idea of this process, I'd like to figure out how it was done. I also seem to find appeal in destroyed photographs, it just seems to make looking at the image more interesting a personal.
I love the cinematic feel of this image. There were several versions of this woman sitting in the car but I felt that this was the least contrived of Krug and Harbeck's series, it's as if the woman has taken a break, let her gun droop, and is staring at something through the window. I also loved the shadow cast across the sun burned seat and the tension in her jaw.

GUIDO ARGENTINI:

I love the subject's expression, the glaring and mistrusting glare. I felt that she had been the one to ruin the binds or window in order to look out or perhaps to be seen? There is something intriguing about the ripped blinds or smashed window and her protective body language, as if if she did it then felt exposed. I also cannot stop looking at all the different textures across the composition. I like the frustration I feel that all I can see is the window I want to stretch the format of the image and see what she is looking at or where she is, I would love to create the frustration in my own images.

CONCLUSION/ REFLECTION: I am now finishing this stage of my blog, the clear format has helped me to think clearly and select images, the feedback from others has been interesting. It has been a place I can write my reflections and ideas along side my sketchbook and reflective journal. I am pleased with my progress and the span of my research and ideas, I wish I had had more time to really delve into each character, but that could have been a year long project. Seeing my ideas develop and the presentation of my photographs I feel I have pushed myself too look at concepts and subjects in new and different ways. The rest I will leave for my evaluation. This is my last post for this series of work.

REFLECTION: Today I choose all of my images finally, reformatted some, printed and mounted them. I had never personally used a large format printer nor had I ever done this type of mounting it was quite daunting. I really had to take into account display and ignore my temptation to try and print large, I have several ideas in my sketchbook however I eventually choose to print 5/6 A5 size images with a lot of surrounding wall space. I kept referring back to a Jim Goldberg's exhibition I saw a few months ago at the photographer's gallery and thinking about putting photos in corners or on the floor however I eventually decided small images although simpler, made my ideas more effective. I feel it will make a viewer look into it, like personal slips of the voyeur's vision. I saw more of Chelsea than I have the whole year studios and printing and mounting workshops.

It very intimidating finishing this series of work, it has become almost an addiction. Today after having printed and mounted everything I went to the photocopier and photocopied my silhouette image, decided it look much better and had to start all over again. But hopefully everything will be wrapped up and finished this evening.

EXPERIMENT/ REFLECTION: This was just another experiment, I liked it but for a different reason it seems darker and the subject no longer seems to be a victim but violent. It would also not go with the other photographs from the 'stalker' series.

REFLECTION: I spent time last week reading about schizophrenia, the diagnosis, systems, cases, and asking what people's perception of the disease was. what I found interesting is that the disease is still very much a mystery and seems to be very person. This made it difficult to form a base to build off of in terms of imagining and becoming a character. I picked up on some key generalizations and used my artistic license. I liked the idea of portraying the feeling isolation, and the fear one must feel when not being able to tell the difference between reality and delusions or fantasies. So instead when shooting my concept became more complex I was trying to be someone who was present but was trying not to be. I didn't want to shoot with anything in the foreground to ensure that my selection was varied and not repetitive, I think that I achieved this.

Another concept that I considered was that this character was reliving a memory, I wanted the blurriness to look as if it could be either a delusion or reality. The image I choose to use from this series could almost be how the voyeur sees themselves, with this idea this may in fact appear physically possible, as some patients suffer from both multiple personality disorder and delusions. This almost appears as if some phantom character or thought is speaking to the subject.

I much prefer these after photocopying them. The contrast is much starker and the quality appears more grainy, personal, and destroyed.

REFLECTION/ COMMENTS:I found this series of paintings by Daniel Egneus which has the kind of mood and movement I wanted.

When shooting I was reminded of this Christian Boltanksi piece, the idea of shadows and silhouettes surrounding or haunting you.

I love the shadow in this image, it doesn't really do I want but I like the lighting and composition with her arched back directing the eye to the shadows of the window.There is something almost defensive in this image, as if the subject is blocking something.Her I like the transparent bell shape of the skirt, sense of movement, and the sense of thin material being stretched out. I think that two people in the image appears to be more effective and captures my idea of confusion and deliberate rejection of the view by the voyeur.
I love the quality of the sheet over the face in this, it's almost frothy or foamy. It reminds me of the robes of old florentine patronage statues.

This was just another lighting, there is something interesting there, not for this project but I like this lighting and texture, although it is a different type of photograph, not irritating, confusing or intriguing.

REFLECTION: some of these images also reminds me of James Pyman's illustrations from his Dracula series. The idea that he has caught just after the event, here there is still an ember in the wick and the smoke is streaming into the air. In these images I imagined someone had just pulled or pushed the subject and she was still falling or pulling away just after the voyeur has pulled out of the frames.

I wanted to achieve the sense of struggle, portraying the subject's sense of panic. I am worried about the 'prettinesss' of some of these images. I like that some of them seem painterly however perhaps they are too blurred and non-sensicle. I referred to Tichy a bit when shooting.

REFLECTION: What I like about the top one is how the image on the phone seems to undress the subject in the background, it's as if the voyeur's thoughts have been imprinted on it. In the image below there is almost an opposite effect, it is as if the subject in the background is covering themselves up. I was looking at the framing of some of Philip Lorca diCorcia's images, the idea of a double image, a photograph of a photograph, there is something more elusive and personal about it because you are seeing what the voyeur chose to capture. The image on the bottom I liked for the cold lighting and the oblivion of the subject, however I feel it's too obvious. I am finding it difficult to choose and have any perspective on my images at this point. I am also finding the more my work develops the more each idea seems to overlap and merge, which is both frustrating and convenient.

REFLECTION: I was satisfied with this shoot because I felt I achieved what I wanted, a rare occurrence for me, usually I lose my focus and my vision changed however here with the exception of editing and choosing I am happy. I particularly like second image down, there is something so strange and demure about it to me, there seems to be this strange sense of elegance. I think that this may come from the gentleness of the hands which appear to be fading away. The bottom two are playful, I am trying to choose between them, I like seeing more of the body yet at the same time I like the hand in the very bottom one, in both I love the sense of movement, even though, from the voyeur's point of the view, the subject is alien and estranged, there is still a distinctive playful, almost childish mood that can be empathized with.

For some reason the use of a mask in these images triggered a whole set of references and inspirations: it reminded me of Anna Fox's image (seen in my sketchbook) of a girl dressed as a cat in a green kitchen which I saw at the D.B. exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery Some of my more close up images reminded me of Marcel Dzama's styled photographs and illustrations (also seen in sketchbook), although these photographs are a side note and may not be using I think they are important to note in my development. Similarly I was reminded of Sarah Moon's older black and white work.

On the note of Sarah Moon I was given 'Master Photographers' and instantly I flicked through to read about Moon's technique which I found very similar to my own, this has helped me become more relaxed when shooting. She explains that she styles a shoot and 'if you put people into situations, eventually they will respond to the mood' therefore she waits for the subjects natural reactions and happy accidents.

Also when reading this I found a quote by Ansel Adams which also inspired me about fortune favouring the prepared mind, as so much of my work for this project and beyond has been a combination of waiting for the right moment or light and having a styled situation or scene prepared, I have come to accept that much of my best work comes from not being in complete control.

NOTE: finding top one to edit difficult this is another variation on it. As much as I personally like this image, partly for the slightly childish sense of dress up, I think I'll have to eliminate it as it may look hokey and take the seriousness away from the other images it is presented with.

Plan: some inspiration for final 'other world' character inspired by this image. the lighting, the structure added to the form of the face. Using tights and mask??

FOUND: Reminded me reflective effect. Found on another blog, not my own. Although this is very 'pretty' the idea is still related. Is has that similar mysterious blurriness to shooting through my glass object.REFLECTION: I was trying to shoot as if through a spying glass. ' A new species has been spotted'. I am unsure whether I like the ambiguity of the blurred figure in the background, as this also may become repetitive through out the body of work so I also shot without it. Unsure about colour balance. The blue was taken very early and seems more sci-fi like. But I am not sure if I like that it also may appear false. It seems that I have been most successful when testing different time of day ie twilight, night time, dawn, mid morning. Still have lot's of choosing and editing to do.

Reminds me of KOHEI YOSHIYUKI. I shot it from within the grass as if the voyeur was spying at some mysterious other creature . I like how the face is blocked out by some mysterious light.

REFLECTION/ FOUND: Whilst I have been looking at this voyeur or subject from another world. I found this image on a blog from 'Numero', I am not sure who shot it. It opened me up to the concept that the subject, the alien human, may appear beautiful not just a strange mystery. I love the softness of the blurred face, the gentle hand movement, closed eyes, and hair that merges into the background. I have been more interested in the background and the surroundings or circumstances but this photograph opens my mind to the subject itself. Maybe I should develop this more and give this character subject and/or voyeur more of a definitive identity throughout the images. This also reminded me of the Tichy photographs I saw in his exhibition.

REFLECTION: Ambiguous and foreign. I like how the magnifying object fits into the negative space surrounding the subject's body. The light at this time of day was really strange too.

REFLECTION: this weekend I shot in two different locations. I went back to the place I shot the photograph of legs in a field ( written about previously on this blog), I shot both a dusk and at dawn. The light in the morning was effective, I shot by a lake and shot through this portal glass object I found recently at a market. I shot through it to manipulate the form and experimented holding in at different places in each photograph's composition. This series was concentrating on the 'other world' voyeur or presence. I was thinking about eventually displaying it in this glass and metal object to make it appear more foreign and strange to the viewers.

FOUND: I found this old daguerreotype in a spanish market. I left the marks and fingers on it when I scanned it in intentionally for the final presentation of one of my photographs I would be interested in doing this to further emphasize the presence of the voyeur.

REFLECTION: This goes back to the Alisdair McLellan image I wrote about previously on 14/4/2010. I was looking at what this stalker/pervert character would see and concentrate on- legs. By shooting with in the grass it appears the voyeur is hiding. For this reason I also shot at night.I love the shape of the figure in this image. I was trying to achieve a grainy, textured appearance by shooting with a high ISO to make it appear more strange and foreign to the voyeur and view however, I think it was too much in this particular image.