colour pinhole photography

I have decided to take my black and white pinhole photography to another level and started to work with colour paper instead. I have just developed my first two prints, each holds an orange glow, with one sharp spot of green. I like how they still hold the same ghostly qualities of a black and white pinhole photograph yet have varying hues of colour. From my research into colour paper I think different types of colour paper hold varying hues of colour, for example some will process with a blue hue instead of orange. However, I would like to try using colour filters over the front of my pinhole to see what effect this would have on the image, can I create another hue?

The search is on...

After a long search around the bottom floor of my university building it has become apparent that there are not many suitable rooms that can be turned into a camera obscura, due to many being either offices or workshops. There is one option to work with a room on the first floor, which has a lower ceiling and would not incur the use of a ladder to black out the room, however more problems have now occurred again due to health and safety procedures. Due to the windows in the university having a seal on them to stop the glass smashing if it is hit, it is not possible to attach anything to the windows, therefore my technique of using boards to black out the room will not be allowed, so it is back to the drawing room....

Room 203 disappointment

After being told I could take over room 203 at the university for a day, health and safety problems have occurred.  Due to the room being quite tall I would have to use ladders to reach the top of the windows in the blacking out process, however due to the room being on the second floor it is against the univeristy health and safety rules to take a ladder up the stairs, so therefore I would be unable to black out the window and create a camera obscura. The only option was to therefore look for another room in the university, but this took away the connection of the building site and students relationship to it, basically the whole point of the project. But, I am still interested in students interaction with any camera obscura so I will have to look for another room.

Room 203

Currently my university is under going some changes, one of these includes a building being knocked down and a new one replacing it. This building site is next to my studio and during the building process it has become rather noisy and disturbed our year group meetings. So much to the extent that people started to resent the new building and requested to be moved to a room away from it. As a personal project I thought it would be interesting to turn this room into a camera obscura, having the building site projected into the room. I am hoping this will create a new way of experiencing the room and the building site, maybe creating a way for students to enjoy it again. I think the movement of the building site projected into the darkened room and the constant noise of the site would create a nice contrast in feelings and come together as a piece. If I am allowed to take over the room for a period of time, I would like to invite any students to come and interact with the camera obscura and see if it has changed their views of the room.

Michael Wesely - MOMA

This photograph was taken by photographer Michael Wesely, over a a 34 month period. It is one of a series of photographs which, captures the destruction and reconstruction of MOMA over this period using a long exposure.

Wesely's photographic practice involves his invention and refining of his techniques for his unusually long exposures, some lasting for more than three years. He uses this unusual approach to photography to capture some ghostly and stimulating photographs of the construction of urban sites. One of these being the rebuilding of Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. As buildings are knocked down and then reconstructed it leaves a path of past and present, making it hard to distinguish the two.

MOMA invited Wesely to take a series of his long exposures during the destruction and reconstruction of their site from 2001 to June 2004, he used 4 different site locations to create his eight photographs. The overlaid images allow for an in-depth and unusual history of the site to be relayed within one image. The second photograph, of the ones shown above, is one of my favourites. It holds the same qualities of a solargraphy photograph as the movement of the sun can be seen within the image, giving the photograph a soft finish. It is also given so much depth due to the horizontal lines forming a mask of the construction of MOMA. The surrounding buildings stand solid and unchanged in the constant change of the surrounding area.

Darren Almond - Moons of the Lapatus Ocean

My tutor introduced me to Darren Alomnd's work recently, he works in a variety of mediums, including photography and film, using these mediums to "explore the effects of time on the individual."1 The photographs of his which, intrigued me the most are from a series called 'Moons of the Lapatus Ocean'. The series includes two different bodies of work: "Fullmoon photographs that incorporate new images and key earlier images from around the British Isles and new large-scale photographs taken in Tibet."2 His moonlight photographs interest me the most, as I wish to start to photograph using my pinhole cameras at night. My aim is to use the moon as my only light source, for this I will have to use very long exposures, although I am unsure how long. Almond also uses a long exposure however, he uses a digital camera instead of a pinhole camera, therefore his exposures don't need to be as long. Although, the photographs created still hold a ghostly effect like pinhole photographs, due to the hazy moonlight which turns the night into a murky day. I feel Brian Dillon describes Almonds photographs well in his catalogue essay, 'a kind of fog of knowing and unknowing, revealing and concealing.'  The moonlight seems to bring other aspects of the landscape alive compared to what a photograph taken during the day would, you notice different qualities of the landscape. Photographing at night links back to my experience in Finland where I had little sunlight during the first half of my stay. Photographing at night will bring back the circumstances of Finland. It is also a way for me to form an identity with my environment, which at present I feel I have little identity with. These feelings have stemmed from my experience of Finland and the identity the locals have with their harsh environment.


1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Almond
2.http://www.whitecube.com/exhibitions/da_wc_hs/

http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/home,mhg,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,michael_hoppen_gallery.html

Some interesting photography work to look at...

Miroslav Tichy - homemade cameras

Miroslav Tichy

The work of Tichy has recently been brought to my attention, he is a new 'find' of unknown artists working in the world photography. He became obsessed with the female form and photographed in streets, shops, parks and swimming pools with his home made cameras. He made his cameras from junk left on the street, just as I have made many of my cameras. His photographs hold an intimate and delicate feel which are magical, even though the photographs are presented in a rather casual way. However, I think this adds to the effect of this poetic intimacy.

first snow!!

Although I left Finland five months ago I still have a connection to the place and have recently become obsessed with webcam images of the areas I was so familiar with earlier this year. I have started to copy an image each day of a few sites in Rovaniemi via webcam which, have been set up around the city. I was delighted this morning when I saw that they had had their first snow! Even though I am so far away I have a feeling of excitement, and wish i could be back there.

third year

We have now all made it to third year! Although, I am mainly feeling scared about the process of third year, there is also the feeling of elevation and excitement for the future and where I will be this time next year! One thing is for sure the time has gone so so fast...

painting

I decided to continue painting and chose to work on a larger canvas, (180cm x 100cm). I took inspiration from a Finnish artist lithographs I had looked at during my visit to Lapland.

Portrait

I have never done any portrait painting before so I decided I would start a portrait painting during the summer. I decided to take an abstract approach and enjoyed the freedom of painting again. 

Missed opportunity

I feel have a missed a big opportunity by not documenting the changes that occur here in more detail, I some ways I don't think I was prepared for the changes to be so drastic and sudden. It just doesn't happen in the UK. If I was to do this trip again I would create a project around the changes, probably documenting them in a photographic way. I think it could have been a very interesting opportunity and defiantly a missed opportunity. I think I allowed this to happen as I got swept along with my new surroundings and new life where everything is so different to home.

Sudden Change

As I walked out of my apartment this morning there was a change in the air, it reminded me of home. Damp, dew and wet leaves hung in the air, as it started to rain in Rovaniemi! After so many days of constant snow I was shocked to see rain drops falling, and even more surprised at how suddenly things had started to melt. The roads and paths have been turned to slush and everything now has a brown tinge to it, not a nice change. I wish I had started a project when I arrived so that I could see these sudden changes in photographs, you sometimes miss the changes when you are here.

Camera obscura in Rovaniemi

Turing my room into a camera obscura seems to have caught on in some of the photography department here at the University of Lapland, which is great! During a meeting with Michael Jacob's we turned the class room into a camera obscura, we got some great results after much work to try and make the room as light tight as possible. Although, little colour could be seen in the projection, lots could be seen in the images taken. We went on to experiment with long exposures and light on the projections. The ideas have given me a lot to think about for my own work.

I went into university the next day and found out that some of Michael Jacob's other photography students had seen out experiment and decided to turn their rooms into camera obscuras! I have never created such a rush for people to do things before and it has given me great excitement to continue with my work and let as many people as possible become involved.

Photography assignment

We have been set an assignment from Michael Jacobs for our photography course. We have to take two photographs, one on the subject of love and the other beauty. My two photographs are shown above. I used the photograph of the pram for love; I saw the pram on its own next to a children's playground with no one around it thought it nicely juxtaposed the context of love. The second defines beauty, this was taken on a river which I walked across in Helsinki and for me defines beauty.

My first camera obscura room

I have wanted to create a camera obscura in my room for a long time, and have just got around to actually making it. I blocked up my window yesterday and created a pinhole in the centre. Although, I couldn't see if this was actually working due to it being a completely grey day. I liked this though as the weather forecast said today was going to be sunny and I wanted the element of surprise I love so much with pinhole photography. When I woke up this morning I was delighted with what I sore. My first camera obscura had worked! I had seen images of others artists camera obscuras however, I was still amazed at my own. It is like the feeling you get when you develop your first pinhole photograph, just better. My first photos are not quite in focus due to a lack of tripod but, I am going to keep my camera obscura and document and changes.

Presentation for tea bag project...

I have been using tea bags as a form of documentation of my time here in Rovaniemi, each one representing a different day. I wanted to be able to display these but, I wasn't sure what form to use. I have contemplated using a book but, this never appealed to me much. However, I have been looking at work by Tatjana Bergelt, who uses diary paper in her work which she then paints onto. I have taken inspiration from this particular image, as I liked the aesthetics of the staining, text and drawings. I will incorporate these into aspects into versions which I will use as a backing for my tea bags.