Methodology.

Year 2 - Methodology

Initial ideas

Self-portraiture - Isolation, sadness, loss of self, struggle. These are a few things that are going through my mind at this point in time, these are also things that I feel I will be able to show in self portraiture and possibly any work that I start. These feelings are mainly due to the area I live in and the people I see within this area. There doesn't seem to be any aspiration to become more, to actually try, there is a fear that if they try they will fail and so they don't do anything apart from exist.

Fashion - Fashion is something that I am very interested by and gives me an outlet to be somewhat  creative. But these images are not something that I want to progress at the moment as for me they do not show the unhappiness that I feel.

Workshops
Computer Generated Image Day 1

This workshop was broken down into 2 separate days over 2 weeks, this made sense after the first hour or so as there was so much information to take in. We had an interesting talk from Florian who worked in advertising for car companies. He showed us a lot of his work that got him his internship and then job at Saddington Baynes.

After all the explanations of what we were going to do, we were sent out to find a location that we wanted to place our 3D object into. We went out in small groups and photographed the HDRI and backplate. The High Dynamic Range Image is how we get the lighting for the 3D object, we shot a 360degree panoramic of our space while also taking several exposures of each area to do this.

Once we had taken the 360 HDRI we had to stitch it using software called Peter Gui. This technique was pretty helpful as we got to use a specific tripod head designed for the 8mm fisheye lens, this meant that the panoramic would take a lot less time to make and it would be very accurate.

We also had to take an image that the 3D object would be placed into.

Computer Generated Image Day 2

This day was about getting the lighting and placement of the 3D object correct and as you can see we went out over the two week period to get our own images to use. My group went to Bluewater and found an empty car park around about midnight. (Permission is needed). We weren't there too long but we did end up shooting two full HDRI panoramas and 3 different backplates as we thought it would be better to have more imagery than not.
If was another day of trying to take in a lot of information as CGI is kind of difficult to learn in a few hours. But I feel that we made quite a successful image and am happy with the output, would have been great to have done this using a 3D model of an Aston Martin or something, maybe another time.

Image Transfer

A rather simple work shop but something that can look rather good. Print an image onto acetate backing and then place on printer paper, the two little 'smudges' are basically the signature of this process. We found that images with greater contrast would come out much better and also depending on what paper you pressed the transfer onto would also make a difference to the final outcome.

Photoshop Advanced masking and paths

We were shown how to use the pen tool in photoshop, something that I have used before but always find it interesting to go to these workshops as I end up finding out shortcuts I didn't know before. We also sometimes show our tutor different ways of doing things that he shows us and basically swap photoshop knowledge. This is always helpful as I think it is good to know more ways of doing something than not.

So below I have made a simple selection around the model and then created a mask from the selection and easily changed the colour of the background. I went for a bright colour just purely to show the selection.

 Advanced lighting

We were shown several different studio set ups, all of which can be set up quickly and are a mutation of the previous set up. Basically another chapter of set ups was added to our repertoire in which we are able to expand upon and get more from our time spent in the studio.

Research

Michal Karcz - Parallel Worlds

An image made from a composite of several images and manipulated within photoshop so that the entire scene looks to be real. The majority of Karcz work has a kind of end of the world feel to it, this is something that I seem to be really drawn to.


Romantically Apocalyptic is also something else that interested me due to the backgrounds that are made and how this is potentially how the world could look if we blew it up.

http://romanticallyapocalyptic.com/

Post Apocalyptic films

28 Days Later

Gives you a very strong idea and feel of isolation in the first 15 mins or so, very weird thing to see parts of London completely empty.

I am Legend

Another post apocalyptic type of film that really does show quite a lot of destruction and how over a period of time nature will end up taking back the cities.

The Matrix

This is far more sci-fi than I really want to look at but the second image of the cityscape is rather interesting, there is an idea of abandonment as if you have seen the film you will know that the people had to move down into the ground to stay warm and protected.

Concept art

 

http://www.leelh.com/forum/topic?id=7617 

Working with composites is something that has interested me for quite a while now, especially when I started my essay on Bjorn Veno and his series Mann. Veno's images are not as surreal as Karcz images in the way of creating another world but he did shoot several images of the same scene but changed the lighting. This enhanced the overall scene and created images that were far more cinematic than they would have been as we can see below:

This image is made up of 4-5 images, the reason for this is because Veno had a limited amount of lights he was able to use so he had to build up the one image by lighting certain parts of the scene in different frames.

The thought of the end of the world and what may happen after was on my mind quite a bit at the beginning of this project and because of this I wanted to create what I thought this might look like. The second image is more how I think the world would look after some sort of armageddon, but the process of creating a landscape that doesn't actually exist was something that interested me a lot. The only problem was that I couldn't find a way to progress from just making 'pretty pictures'. There wasn't much of a concept and the only thing I could think of to bring these together was write a diary of a character who was new to this world, but I think I was verging on ripping off Fallout 3.

James Casebere

Creates a series of images in which the lighting gives quite a weird surreal feeling, almost creates an uneasy atmosphere to the images. So from looking at them in this sense, I should be able to take an image that will be shot in sunlight and use the shadows and highlights that hit the ground to create the atmosphere that I want to show.

Gregory Crewdson

Again a photographer who is able to create an amazing atmosphere within an image, his images are always very cinematic as well. For me this isn't really a direct reference but it is something that I have looked at to try and get a better understanding of how to create atmosphere.

At this address
http://idealistrevolution.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/30-abandoned-places-that-look-truly.html?m=1 there is a post that someone has made about boat wrecks and abandoned buildings around the world which is pretty interesting. The tag line from this post reads: "Take a tour of the world’s apparently robust supply of statues, buildings, and temples–and witness the surprising grandeur of dilapidation."
So abandonment is a worldwide thing, not just localised to being here, which is a sad thought. The photographs used in this post are more touristy than I am wanting to show in my own work, but then the places that are photographed are far nicer (even though wrecks and abandonments) than here.

Rut Blees Luxemburg

I knew that I wanted to manipulate my images within photoshop but this idea of making my own world at this time is not the path to take. So I will have to rack my brains and see if I can come up with something else.

I like to try and better myself in photoshop etc so I spend quite a bit of time searching for tutorials on Youtube, I came across this advanced lighting tutorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvxQqsa97K8
It taught me how to take a simple well exposed image and turn it into a night scene basically, I was then able to take what I had learnt from this and create images that had a bit more of the end of the world or post apocalyptic feel that I wanted.

I was quite fortunate with the weather on the day I found the lighting tutorial, so I decided to go and find some areas to photograph, that I thought would work using this. At this point I was thinking about a zombie apocalypse and how it would likely start here.

Exhibition research

As I would like to exhibit my work I am looking into how to light it within a space. So below I have put in a few images from some exhibitions I have been too that I feel would work with my images.

I like how these two images are placed on a bare wall and lit with a single light, it gives it a harsh atmosphere. 

Tim Walker

Not all of these images are relevant to how I would exhibit my work, but I found Tim Walker's exhibition very interesting how different chapters were shown in different ways throughout the entire space.

The images below are the ones that I am most interested in when it comes to my own work and how I would exhibit them. The lighting done by spotlights is exactly how I would want mine to be lit, and I would be printing onto Lustre paper without frames or glass so there won't be any glare coming off of the glass or print.

Sally Mann at the Photographers Gallery.

Kohei Yoshiyuki - The Park

Print research

So because I want to exhibit my images I am having to think about how I want my images printed and mounted and also how I want them to be seen by potential viewers.

Firstly, I need to decide on a size to print to. As the images are landscapes and I would like to create the sense of overwhelming doom, I guess, I feel that prints at size A0 would be best for this.

Looking at prices from the print space could cost from £65 up to £92, that is just for one print. I want three prints done so if I was to get my images printed here the minimum cost would be £195, I then have to think about how I would like them mounted. 

 Concept/Ideas

I have lived in Chatham for nearly two years now; some of you may think this isn’t very long. But hopefully you will all understand that when you spend a period of time in one place, you begin to notice things. It didn’t take very long for me to notice the conditions of the town or the people that inhabited it.

I began this project with a great struggle to find any inspiration, I felt as if this place was draining me of everything, destroying me. It would seem that I have a strong dislike or maybe a great hate for this place, it is this dislike/hate that I thought I wanted to show. Though the more I travelled through the area the more isolation and waste I saw, such as waste that people had thrown out and left on the street and buildings that had been abandoned, condemned to just exist as an empty vessel, to be without a purpose. Seeing these things made me think more about the environment and how our choices are affecting this.

For the first time in history

Our planet is threatened by humans and our behavior

To such an extent that the climate

The habitat, and evolution itself may change forever

We're faced with choices

Choices that will affect all of our lives

The lives of our offspring and those to come.

Nero - Choices

Through this series of images I have focused upon condemned areas in Chatham and manipulated them to show what the future could look like if we were to turn our backs on our planet and continue to let it suffer. 

Test's and finals

Crowd funding

The text I added to my artist statement for a better description about what the pledgers to my project would get. I also put in what I would use the money for, to get prints done and mounted and to be able to secure a gallery space so I would be able to exhibit the work.

I would like money to be able to get my work printed at at-least size A0 and mounted on to foam board, this money would also be used as a means of securing an exhibition space in the summer so that I am able to exhibit the work.

People that pledge under £50 will get a postcard and invitation to the exhibition, pledges between £50 and £100 will get an invitation and a previously unreleased A3 image from the series. £100 to £200 pledges will get a postcard, invite, A3 image and will be able to book on to a photography workshop in either landscapes or fashion, all levels will be catered for (beginner, intermediate, advanced). 

I have asked for £600 and if I was to get this money then I would be able to get several more images (4-6) from the series printed and then I would have more images to exhibit which would be great if I couldn't find anyone to collaborate with for an exhibition. Which if I wanted a running theme throughout the entire exhibition might be a problem, but a few questions to other creatives should easily resolve this and creatives would be found.

Finals

Below are my three final images. This is prior to any corrections done for printing.

Printing

3 x A0 prints.

Before printing I put a curves layer on the images to brighten them up as they would have printed way too dark. So in the image below you can see one of the final images, which had just been printed. Instantly from looking at the original edit above we can see how much lighter it is. I think that this is much better that it is brighter as we are now able to see a lot more detail within the image and you get a better sense of the abandonment due to the almost surreal lighting that is happening.

 Stupidly though, as I came to print my third image I didn't colour correct it with the others on the display, so I ended up correcting it a bit too much and it looked so much different compared to the others. This obviously meant a reprint, but it also means that I won't make that mistake again.

 One of my final prints mounted onto foamboard as this means I will be able to transport the images much easier than going for a more expensive option of something like aluminium mounts etc.

Below I have made a mock up of how I would like to have my images exhibited. It is quite a basic design at the moment, but the main factors that I wanted to show in this mock up are the 50% gray walls which will make the images easier to view and more detail will be seen. The way the images work together in the set, as in the way that the left image leads into the centre, then you stop at the centre image due to the deadpan style that it was shot and then you move to the last image on the right which again leads back into the centre image. The images are mounted onto foam board for ease of manoeuvrability but also so that I can mount them straight onto the wall or onto thin blocks so that they slightly stand off the walls to get a slight shadow underneath them.

Desolatam Apocalypsis