Second Film

My second film was based on the idea of creating Stephanie Gonot inspired photographs. I wanted these photos to be a development from my first film so I kept with the idea of using grotesque foods. To be in-keeping with the theme of inside outside in between I arranged the food to look like it was coming out of different foods so that you can see the outside, inside and in between in the composition. I photographed a container of foods that go into a compost bin. This represents the outside, the finished product being the soil, the inside being the contents that goes into it and the in between being the stages between the two from when it is waste to decomposing. 

Below is the different compositions that I photographed. I experimented with putting the foods of black fabric and tin foil. The tin foil didn't work that well as the folds with reflections are a distraction from the main subject matter. The black fabric worked well as you can see the different objects placed on top of it. The compositions I photographed were: 

1. Strips of raw meat, pomegranate on fish skin.

2. Chicken bones, raw meat and flowers on fabric.

3. pepper, cabbage leaves and flowers on tea leaves. 

4. Banana skin with raw meat and red onion peel on fabric.

5. Fish skin, cabbage leaves, olives and red onion skin on banana skin on fabric.

Number 3 is one of my favourite compositions because I used different foods to create a realistic composition, it looks like a flower bed. This is how I put my own ideas into Stephanie Gonot's work as by changing it round by instead of using sweet foods and making them look grotesque, my 'flower bed' uses grotesque foods to look pretty. 

Inspired Digital Photographs

Inspired by Stephanie Gonot, I recreated by own series of 'Edibles'. I used a range of different foods such as bananas, pepper, raw meat and fish. I set up a small studio to take my photographs in, I placed some black card on the table and then some black fabric. I had a side lamp to light up the images. For the first images I used two bananas, raw meat and red onion skin. I arranged the raw meat onto the banana skins and put some pieces of foil around the meat to act as gold leaf like Helen Chadwick uses. 

 I cut open some used tea bags and sprinkled it on tin foil to act as soil, then I placed some pepper seeds on the soil to look like flowers then  pushed cabbage leaves into the tea to look like leaves.

 I placed the banana skins onto black fabric then layered on top fish skin, cabbage leaves, olives and red onion.

Exam Trip

The exam trip took place on the 13th March 2013. I met with a group of friends at East Croydon at 9.30 then got the train to London Bridge then got the train to Charing Cross. We met with the rest of the classes and teachers then went to the ICA. At the ICA I looked at the Juergen Teller exhibition:Woo. After lunch we went to the National Portrait Gallery  to view Man Ray Portraits exhibition. 

Jeurgen Teller

Jeurgen Teller is one of the most important photographers of our time. The exhibition shows a journey through his work, presenting iconic images of celebrities such as Lily Cole, Kurt Cobain, and Vivienne Westwood. Also exhibited are more recent series such as Irene im Wald and Keys to the House, which reveal the photographer's more personal world in his hometown in Germany and his family home. 

Cerith, Suffolk 2011 is a photograph from the series The Key to the House. The name of the photograph doesn't really tell you anything about the image which leaves it up to the viewer to make the connection. To me I can only think that it may be the name of the man lying in bed. In the photograph is a man in yellow clothing lying in bed with helium balloons floating from the bed and a cake with candles placed onto the bed covers. From this image there is no immediate obvious meaning to it so it is open to interpretation. I think this image is quite controversial as I see it as a man that has passed away lying in bed and the cake and balloons representing his life, where as others may see it as someone celebrating his death. As his eyes are open and he is laying there so still I would assume that he has passed away and that the balloons and cake are a celebration of his life. Also the balloons could symbolise lifting his spirit to heaven. The subject matter is realistic as it hasn't been enhanced, distorted, abstracted or digitally manipulated. I like that it is realistic as you get to see it in its purest form without being tampered with. The original quality of it gives it a sense of purpose. This image links to my exam theme of Inside,Outside, In Between as I would interpret it as showing  the celebration of life but behind the outward appearance the feelings and emotions are hidden from the viewer to see. As the image is in colour it makes it more of a happy image as the balloons and the clothing is brightly coloured, whereas if it was in black and white it may symbolise the feelings of family members and the feel of the subject matter itself. This photograph makes me feel on edge because I don't know what the meaning behind it is and whether or not the man is alive. I feel for the family if he is dead but from the image you cannot tell what they are feeling or what is going on behind the camera. It makes me think twice about death, everyone sees it as a sad time and a time for people to mourn over loved ones, but from looking at this image it makes me think why not make it a more happy time by celebrating the life of the person. 

The exhibition in general was bizarre, from the title of the exhibition to the arrangement of photographs. In each room the size of the photographs changed dramatically. The first photographs you see when you enter the exhibition is a huge print of a kitten staring into the camera, the cat draws the eye but the focus in the first gallery becomes the triptych of large portraits of Vivienne Westwood lying naken and luxuriating on a Louis XIV style sofa. Having posed on both sides of her body, she sits up, laughing and parts her legs. This room sets you up to know what is later to come in the gallery. As you walk through the first room the images change from the kitten to nude photographs to more personal images of family members walking through the woods. In the second room the mood completely changes, being filled with small photographs and magazine pages of naked people in many different settings and styles. I like the way Teller had invaded and captured the celebrities personal space in urban locations which we don't expect to see people in the nude. Teller’s fascination with nudity reveals an intimate trust between subject and photographer. Growing up in Germany, where nudism and naturism are popular, could explain his profusion of naked self-portraits. The most surprising and mature work on show is a series of small prints arranged like a storyboard. Text and images document the photographer’s childhood and his relationships with his parents, particularly his mother, Irene. Irene im Wald reveals many details of her life and her son unfolds stories as she walks through the woods. This revealing new work has no need for exposing himself through nakedness but reveals a serious, emotional character. I think the purpose of this exhibition was to explore a variety of lifestyles and backgrounds from celebrities to family members. I like the way he has arranged the photographs by placing two completely different images in subject matter next to one another, the initial feeling to the gallery is shocking but as I went through it my feelings changed and made me see the differences in lifestyles and the trust between the subject and photographer. 

Man Ray Portraits

The National Portrait Gallery showcased 150 photographs and vintage prints from Man Rays career during the years of 1916-1968. The portraits celebrate his contemporaries as he photographs friends, lovers and members of his highly esteemed social circle.

Two of his most well known photographs that caught my eye as well as many others were his Solarised portrait of Lee Miller and Le Violon d'Ingres.

 Inspired by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's La Grande Baigneuse, Ray used Kiki de Montparnasse wearing a turban as a model for this piece. He transformed the female body into a musical instrument by painting sound-holes on her back, playing with the idea of objectification of an animate body. This image caught my eye as I was confused as to why she had sound holes on her back, I didn't know whether this image is realistic or whether it had been manipulated. Having painted the sound holes onto the print it gives the illusion of a violin, the curves of the back follow the curves of a violin. Solarised Lee Miller is also other image that caught my eye.The name of the photograph tells you who the image is of so it does not allow the viewer to interpret the photograph in their own way. The photograph of Lee Miller has been enhanced by solarisation. The photograph was taken of Lee miller then started to develop but interrupted by exposure to more light to develop further then fixed. This allows the image to become inverted by light areas becoming dark and dark areas becoming light, it gives the image an overall silver look to it like embossing.

 

Combination prints with Body Parts

Using the photographs of body parts I exposed them for the correct settings of exposure 12, aperture 16, filter 5. Using a dodging tool I dodged the part of the body I wanted to expose the meat to. I then changed the negative and lined it up with where I wanted to expose the image. I cut a circle out of black card and moved it in circles above the photographic paper while the image is being exposed so that the image would only appear in the section I wanted it to. I then put in it the develop until it was fully developed then moved it into the stop, then into the fix then into the wash. 

The first image did not work that well because the circle I cut out of black card was too large so it exposed to a larger area. Taking this on board I cut out a smaller circle out of black card and exposed the image through it. This worked better the second time and looks like you can see through the leg. This is the effect I wanted to achieve. I then tried with different parts of the body such as stomach and head. The stomach worked well as I had a larger area to expose in. Also the way the liver is shaped makes it look like insides. I exposed minced meat into the forehead to make it look like a brain. This didn't work particularly well because the minced meat is the wrong way round for it to look more natural. 

I experimented digitally on Photoshop to get the same effect of looking through the skin. I opened both images in Photoshop, drew round the image of the meat using the lasso tool, selected part of the forehead then pasted the image into the selected area. I changed the feather of the shape to make it smoother. I also created a skull effect inspired by Carsten Witte by following a tutorial on Youtube. This links to my theme quite literally of Inside, Outside, In between as you can view from the outside someones appearance, but never the inside, or in between. These images show the inside and outside of the human body. I think that the  darkroom prints look better than the digital ones as they look more realistic as it fades into the insides whereas the digital ones look like an images had been pasted straight on top. 

Experimentation

 Solarisation

Solarisation is an effect whereby the tones are partially reversed, dark areas appear light and light areas appear dark. I have previously done solarisations and really like the effect it creates and thought it would be really interesting to see what it would look like on foods.I created this effect by choosing an image with high contrast. The first step I did was expose the image for the correct exposure time, in my case it was 12 seconds, I then placed it in the develop until the image started to appear. I then quickly took it over to an enlarger with a aperture of 8 and exposed my print to the light for 2 seconds. I then placed it back into the develop tray until I was happy with the outcome. I then moved it into the stop then into the fix and lastly wash. It was quite hard to judge whether it had worked well in the darkroom, so after I had made the print I took it outside into the light to see if it had worked well. 

I particularly like the way it reacts with the fish. As the fish is quite oily it picks up on the small details of the oil,scales and pattern of the flesh. The pomegranate is also one of my favourite prints as the seeds look like maggots inside the fruit. This is what I was hoping it would look like as this is what I wanted to achieve when I was taking the photographs. I don't think the solarisation has worked well on the liver image as it has only solarised the outline of the liver instead of the liver itself, this is due to it not being exposed for long enough the second time for it to solarise. Images with high contrast tend to work better as they really show up the light and dark areas in reverse. 

Reversals

Reversals is also an experiment that I have done before in my previous work. It is a simple way to create a different effect. I placed the black and white print face down on the photographic paper and exposed it to the light for 50 seconds on aperture 16 with a filter of 5. I didn't place a piece of glass on top to hold the paper down as I wanted it to have a blurry edge to give it more a focus point on the centre of the image. The reversal of the fish worked best because of the high contrast in the original image. The liver did not work as well due to the print mainly being dark coloured. 

First Film

I shot a series of photographs for my first film relating to my starting points and what I wish to carry out and develop further for this project. I wanted to keep to the theme of foods, particularly grotesque foods. I chose foods that looked quite fleshy and raw. I also took a few photographs of body parts so that I could super impose the meat onto the body to look like you can see through the skin. 

In the darkroom I did a contact sheet of the negatives to see which images came out well. Next I did a test strip of a print to see what the correct exposure time will be. For most of the prints it stayed the same at 12 seconds, filter 5, aperture 16. 

The first set of prints below did not come out as well as I had hoped to, this was because of poor lighting when I was taking the photographs. The idea behind these photographs was to show the inside, outside and in between of the foods, to literally relate it to the theme. 

I thought about how I could incorporate an artists influence on my photographs. Following the idea from Helen Chadwick using meat and organs, I used the same sort of concept.

Digital Enhancements

On Photoshop I edited the contrast, highlight and shadows and colour to enhance the images to make them look more gruesome. I particularly like the second one as it looks like organs and covered in blood.

Digital Photographs

In-keeping with my theme of using food relating to the 5 senses I took some digital photographs of a pomegranate and raw minced meat. I chose these two foods as up close they look gruesome, the pomegranate looks like maggots and the minced meat looks like organs. 

Shooting Plan

My shooting plan is a rough guide of what I am going to take pictures of for my film and also what experiments to consider after I have processed the prints. My shooting plan is based round the same sort of idea of looking at foods or the insides of foods as it links clearly with the exam theme of inside,outside, in between. 

Stephanie Gonot Analysis

Stephanie Gonot is a Los Angeles based photographer and curator. She created a series of artworks called 'Edibles'. The edible series are of the theme of everyday still life, she uses everyday foods in her photographs as she replaces the normal still like objects with grotesque vs sweet. Most of the images combine a grotesque object/food with something sweet. I think the meaning behind this is to watch what you eat. It may be implying that what we think is on our food may not actually be the case, for example processed foods. The idea of the on going concerns about bad food or junk food comes to mine, the idea of it being unhealthy, although it may look appetising. In Stephanie Gonot's  photographs she puts a spin on it by photographing appetising foods in a grotesque way. She also takes it further by not only exploring bad foods but exploring bad habits such as smoking. By pushing the cigarettes into a pink substance and having a pink backdrop gives the sense of it being okay to smoke as pink is seen as female, calming and sometimes a healthy colour, to have the contrast between the two creates an interesting effect to the viewer. 

The photograph of the banana with the jelly around it is a contradicting photograph. Bananas are a healthy food and calm down your nervous system and reduce hyperactive qualities whereas jelly is high in sugar which makes you more hyperactive. Jelly is a sweet tasty food that often looks pretty in different moulds and in a range of colours but being mashed and placed next to the banana it makes it look grotesque and non edible. You can almost feel the slim and squidginess of the jelly from the photograph. She has framed the picture so that it is a close up of the foods which makes it seem like it is close enough to touch. This has a bigger impact than having the foods far away as it makes you feel like you have to be close to it. It reminds me of one of her other photographs of a melted ice cream in a hand, the picture is taken really close to the objects that it makes you feel like you're the one with the ice cream in your hand, to me it makes me agitated as I feel like I need to wash my hands seeing it drip down the hand and in-between the fingers soon to dry and be sticky. I think the composition of the photograph has been planned as she has laid the banana down that way and put the jelly on and around the banana, if it was random then the jelly would not be that close to the banana. Arranging the objects makes the photograph have more of a purpose, as there has been some thought into the design and arrangement rather than just throwing the objects down and taking a picture. You can work out the scale of the photograph as we all know the size of a banana and jelly cubes, however the photograph may have been enlarged or scaled down. To me having an image like this would have more of an impact being of a large scale as it feels more close up and as if the grotesque nature of it is taking over. 

The work has inspired me as it is an original, diverse and contemporary way of exploring the idea of still life. The objects used may be simple but simple is more effective sometimes than having a busy photograph. I would like to explore the idea of grotesque and sweet foods either in the same photograph or as a set of two to show the contrast between the two. I would have different foods where I could expose the insides and have fillings oozing out from the foods.

Helen Chadwick Analysis

Helen Chadwick was an English sculptor, photographer and installation artist. Chadwick was born in May 1953, she lived in Hackney and studied at Croydon college or Art, The faculty of Arts and Architecture Brighton Polytechnic and then went on to study at Chelsea School of Art. Chadwick's work often featured a rich variety of materials such as flesh, flowers, chocolate and fur. Her contribution to contemporary art was original and intensely personal characterised by the use of her own body as both subject and object.Few artists of the time embraced modern technology such as the photocopier, light projection, computer and microscope. After leaving art school she began tp make soft, organic objects based on parts of her body. Later more complex installations comprised of photocopied images of her body suspended in a sea of organic forms, emphasising  the sensuality and physical pleasure. 

 This project is called 'Meat Abstracts'. The work has been structured by using raw meat and fabrics which have been overlapped with each other and adorned with features such as gold leaf. The folding of the fabric hides the edges of the meat/organs to give it a more softer feel. Meat and fabric are not usually combined so to have these two elements together it could give a nerving perspective on the work. The meat is seem to be a gruesome object and fabric is seem as a feminine element but combined together it softens the meat and makes the fabric to be seem as the gruesome object. The heightened colour makes the detail on the organs and meat stand out such as the texture and lines.

The photograph has been planned and has a thought out composition to make it look complete but at the same time look like the objects have fallen into place. The materials, tools, techniques and process that the artist has used in terms of the composition is the incorporation of including fabrics with the organs to make the gory organs look appealing, using a photocopier to capture the nature of the raw meat/ organs by using ambient lighting and a sharp contrast.