Multiple pinholes

I have turned a Cadbury's Roses tin into a pinhole camera, the shape and size of the tin has allowed me to create a pinhole camera with multiple pinholes. These photographs were taken using three different pinholes located at different points around the roses tin, giving a 360 degree photograph of one place. The is a first practice camera and as you can see some adjustment needs to be done to the positioning of the pinholes. The strip of white on the bottom photograph shows that there is a lapse in light getting to this part of the paper. The top photograph however doesn't have this strip of white because it has been exposed for longer. This does mean that other areas of the photograph have become overexposed, giving denser areas of black which block areas of detail from being seen.  Therefore, the pinholes need to be positioned closer together to enable a full 360 degree to be formed rather than expose the whole photograph for longer. 

Scanned colour pinholes

This is a self portrait created by on of my pinhole cameras, the original is the colour version at the top, where I placed colour photography paper inside of my pinhole camera and developed it. I have then gone on to scan in the original to create the bottom version. Again, scanning in a colour photograph and adjusting the colours has allowed me to discover more detail in the photograph, especially on the left eye. Now a pupil can be seen where as before you just knew it was there, due to the variations of hue in colour. Although, these are both essentially the same photograph they could maybe be mistaken for different ones. They both give me varying feeling when I see them too, when I look at the bottom self portrait I get a much more morbid and dazed feeling. This is simply due to the colour and the fact there is a sense of looking in the bottom version, where as the eyes don't seem to have much point of vision in the top, it is more like an image of a heat radar. 

Digital pinhole camera

Instead of working with my homemade pinhole cameras I decided I would adapt my digital camera into a pinhole camera. To do this I simply removed the lense and replaced it will a homemade pinhole lense. I wasn't sure as to what would happen and if the camera would actually work without a proper lense, however I found that it worked surprisingly well. I was able to gain decent amount of detail seen as a pinhole was only being used. The photos I look have a dreamy and hazy look to them, which is common in pinhole photographs. A digital pinhole camera means that I can take pinhole images much quicker, however I do feel it takes away the reason I love pinhole photography so much - the surprise of the photograph being revealed as you develop them. 

Michael Wesely - Berlin

In a past post I have written about Michael Wesely and his photographic project with MOMA. When i discovered this project I became intrigued with other projects he was involved with. One included a long exposure project his did in Berlin, at the time I was unable to find much information, but I have recently come across two images of his project. They show the urban renewal of Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. It is become of particular interest now as I will be visiting Berlin in a months time. I find the photograph below particularly eerie and interesting due the ghostly image of the reconstructed building which, is only really seen when you focus on the photograph. The old building is seen in a more solid state while the new building is faint ghostly image over the top. It shows a deep connection to the past which, can be seen more easily then the new. There is an interesting focus on change throughout Wesely's work which I want to look into further.

Scanned colour pinhole photograph

I have previously scanned in solargraphy images which, I have taken using pinhole cameras, as this is the way you process the photograph - the overexposure of light creates an inverted image of the photograph. However, I decided I would scan in my colour pinhole photograph to see what happened when I inverted the colours. I was quite shocked at the results as it allows you to see much more detail in the photograph than the original colour copy does. (the original version is shown in a post below) Although, certain areas are blurry you get an overall idea of how much more detail can be actually be seen as is hidden in the colour of the pinhole photograph. Another quality I enjoy of this scanned image is the colour of the traffic light signals, due to the long exposure a full cycle of the lights occured, therefore in one photograph you can see all colours of the signal. This is also the only definite colour which can be seen in the photograph. I think it would be quite interesting to use colour paper in city night exposures, as the strong lights of a city would hopefully come through in a scanned image. 

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.

Evaluation of Karsamaki Snow Workshop

I have never been apart of a community workshop before and wasn't sure what to expect from my first experience, especially as the children would be of Finnish nationality. However, it turned out to be a very great experience enjoyed by all. Everyone worked together on a large installation, consisting of large snow sculptures. It started with the concept of the teenagers interests, a major interest being music, this had a great influence on the final piece.

The language barrier was not a problem, with some having great English skills we were able to communicate, but I also ended up learning a few Finnish words. The main one being Vasara, which means hammer, this was an important word for the construction of the snow moulds. It was a great feeling when we finished and our sculptures were lit up at night and we had a small opening ceremony. I actually found it more satisfying that the teenagers had enjoyed themselves and the work, than I usually am when I finish my own work. I have found this to be a lovely aspect of community art, particularly when a group came up at the end especially to thank us for a great few days. I think this experience will encourage me to take part in more community art projects.

Snow sculpting at Karasmaki

After a long day of stamping down snow into moulds we are back and having a sauna, preparing for another long day tomorrow. We have made four different moulds as the start for our interactive snow space we are creating with some teenagers from a near by school. This is part of a snow sculpting competition which is currently happening here in Karasmaki. There are about 8 school students as part of this community art program, we met earlier to discuss plans then started on the production of the four moulds, which will we sculpt into tomorrow.

Darkroom call for help!

A current graphic design student at the University of Lapland is forming a community arts project based around the darkroom at the university. I have only been in my darkroom back at Manchester but, from when I first walked in I thought it was quite cluttered and messy, and I am not the only one who feels this way. The project has been created as an attempt to overcome the current issues of the darkroom.

There are about 10 students involved in this project, some foreign exchange students and some Finnish students. We are working together to create a system so that the darkroom can function in an appropriate way. Currently, there is no tutor support as students keep leaving the darkroom in such a mess, for example chemical bottles are left everywhere, which is rather hazardous. The aim of the project is to combat this by creating a community in the darkroom where people will hopefully start to work together and create a better working space.

As I will be working in the darkroom while I am here, I thought it would be a useful project to become part of, and create a better working space for myself too.

http://groups.google.com/group/darkroom-ulapland/web/a-call-for-help-project

Light!

After the shock of the Manchester buzz, I was greeted with a new shock back in Rovaniemi. Not only was it -31 as I stepped off the plane but, the amount of light I was greeted with shocked, yet pleased me. There seems to be a sudden change in light and I have only been away for a matter of days. The city and landscape have come alive with light. I was taken aback by the glow of light even at 7:15 this morning when I woke, bringing excitement for the long days which will come in the next months.

Return of the Manchester buzz

I never thought that a return to Manchester would shock as much as it actually did. Surrounded by city noise; the banging of the bus, the screeching of cars an the general city buzz was more apparent than I ever remember. Maybe I had got used to the noise when I lived there just over a month ago but, now I am acquainted with the quiet and calm of Rovaniemi it aggravates me as I make my way through the city. I long for the only noise of he crunching of the snow.

The hustle of people I have to avoid and change my path for add to the aggravation - I think I am sounding like an old man hear, as the voice of my Grandad rings in my ears.

Marja Pirila

With an hour to spare at university, a random search through the library was my chosen activity. I often like to pick up a random book in a library or second hand shops and search through them, this often leads to nothing or just something that catches my interest for a second. But, today I stumbled across a book titled 'Interior/ Exterior'. This published work by artist Marja Pirila, I hadn't heard of her before but her work caught my attention straight away. From the first image I saw I could tell she used camera obscura, and couldn't wait to see more. She was using a room as a pinhole, which is something I have been wanting to do for a while now. I had only ever heard of it being done, and this was the first time I had seen photographs, it excited me straight away. After a bit of internet research I found out she was a Finnish artist who like myself had a keen interest in camera obscura and used this aspect in most of her work. I think she could be come a great inspiration. Ths image shown is one that stood out the me straight away, I like how to outside consumes the inside, even the person in the room., they truly become one.

The start of my tea-bag diary...

Over the past 12 hours there has been some great light here, I woke up during the night to see the sky glowing orange with such intense it was beautiful. The sun came out today, and has been the highest I have seen since I have been here. The glow catching the top of the trees and just shining through at some points is magical. All it needs is the sun to bring life and beauty to this place.

light in Rovaniemi

As part of my studies at the University of Lapland I am taking part in an independent photography course taught by Michael Jabobs. I find him to be extremely passionate and interesting, and I think he could become a great inspiration here in Rovaniemi thinking more about life and the effects of things around us. Today he was making us think about the effect of being here on us and the climate we are being accustomed to. I have already considered this a little and thought about the effects, even though I think some may be bad! - I find myself not being able to get out of bed in the morning due to the darkness. I find this usually to me my most creative part of the day in Manchester but, this has changed here. The biggest influence on me here has been light, I think this is because of the drastic changes and the limited hours of the days. Even though they are much longer now than before I came. Light seems to have a great influence on everything here, and something very close to this area, due to the varying patterns of the sun during the year. I am not sure if the light has had much effect on me, apart from my ability to get out of bed, but I know it has effected some quite a lot more and some find it really hard to sleep in the winter. As light is a large part of my general practice this is something I want to monitor in my stay here. Will the light effect me too??

Pinhole exhibition by student at Lapland University

Passing through a few small exhibitions at university today I noticed a few small pinhole photographs. There is a clear focus on nature, which is something I want to look at in contrast to Manchester. The photographs are clear yet have a beautiful hidden and secretive tone, which intrigues me. The photographs have been placed in a light box and lit from behind, I can not tell whether the negatives have been copied onto acetate but the light flows through quite naturally like the sun would, and gives a poetic effect. This is something I have never thought to do but, I may try placing a light behind some of my pinhole images to see the effect.

"I am for an art... that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum." Claes Oldenburg. I saw this quote today and thought it was quite fiting to the site-specific project. Myself I believe that art is more than something that sits in a gallery. It is about experience.

Finnish culture

I have been introduced to many aspects of Finnish culture since I have been here, one aspect being a sauna followed by rolling round in the snow then a sauna to warm up, which was a refreshing experience. I have been very interested in traditional Finnish culture for example, Saami tales and their beliefs. I have found out today that it was or still is a common belief that the northern lights, or as they are known here Revontulet, happen because of the arctic fox. It is believed that it is the foxes tail brushing against the snow as it runs that creates sparks which are sent up into the sky. This seems to be quite a romantic and fairy tale way of thinking, which is probably what attracts to me to it.

Tea bag curtains

While looking into the use of tea bags in art I came across an article documenting the work of Este Lewis, a 25-year-old Brooklyn artist who has made a curtain from tea bags. I thought this idea linked well with my work, as while creating my tea bag diary they are hung up on my curtain rail, and are acting as a very small curtain as I am yet to actually get curtains here. Este Lewis creates digitally printed wallpapers, which show the pattern of everyday items, such as napkins, candy sticks, sticks of gum etc. She has used tea bags in designs before, she says she loves “how the particles inside make up the different landscapes in each bag depending on where they fall, and I like how the light passes through them.” I had never thought of this before but they are very interesting objects to look at, although their shape is always the same there is alway something unique about each bag of tea, which I like.

Tea bag diary

As part of my Adaption Charting course in Finland I have to create an artistic diary documenting my time here. This could be anything from a book to as I am doing a tea bag diary. The idea came from the fact that my flat mate makes a large pan of herbal tea everyday and heats it up every so often, the smell it creates makes the cold flat feel more homely. So, I will use these tea bags to as a way to document my stay, while keeping hold of that homely feeling I miss so much. I will stitch a small image and the date into each tea bag, commenting on something important to me that day.

Snow hotel

We eventually made it to the snow hotel, although our honeymoon suite still wasn't ready so yet again we had some more waiting around. I just wanted to get going and start, seeing some of the sculptures and reliefs already done made me eager to start. Seen as the hotel was meant to be opening in only 4 days time I was shocked at the amount of work which still had to done and the fact that some of the hotel still wasn't actually made. Anyway after a delayed morning we cracked on with the work, not realising how tiring it would actually be. After many early morning and 12 hour shifts working on the room we managed to get it finished, with everything we had hoped. I looks great, I placed three stars in the ceiling in the end which brought the outside in which was great and just what a wanted. We also hopefully get a free nights stay there so it will be great to see the hotel once it is finished.

As the temperatures dip below -20 and the chill can be felt through all your layers it is the simple pleasure of a hug that I miss. A hug from mum, a hug from Sam or simply from a friendly face. The well known action of feeling someone around me is missed.

Ice Hotel!

After a week of uncertainty over the snow hotel, we have final confirmation that we will be going on monday to complete our designs. They have suggested that we change our designs for the suite though, and want more arches and pillars in the room. This is slightly annoying as they seem to have pretty set ideas as to what they want in the room, yet didn't give us these details at first. They have even drawn designs that they wish to be in there, so this maybe isn't the best of starts. But, I am even more determined to complete this and make a best a job as possible. Just a weekend of more planning to do first!

Snow sculpting!

As part of my course at the University of Lapland i get the chance to do ice and snow sculpting, which is great! We have been thrown into it straight away, and designing a room which we will create in a hotel this Thursday! Which is a little scary as Mark and I have never done snow sculpting before and will be working in the honey moon suite! The plan is to create a mystical, romantic feel to the room, having a large tree above the bed which will disperse into a Finnish landscape, with swans flying through the scenes. It seems quite a big plan but hopefully it will all come together, I am looking forward to it.

Today was the first day at university, which I have found out is a short 45 min stroll! haha! not so nice when it is -32, I even had icicles on my eyelashes! Even though I am still slightly confused by the course registration is was great to be there. I have met a few British people, most exchange students do seem to be eastern European though.

With only the crunching of the snow as your friend and icicles for eyelashes some would say this is time to go home, but I go on.

After a strange nights sleep in a new place I was feeling a little more refreshed and faced a trip into town with Barbara, even though it is quite a walk it is pleasant enough and not too cold. A hot choc was still needed to warm us up once we got there though, we ended up in a cool little cafe. It was full of random vintage things, like hovers etc, definitely a place to go back to. And i almost forgot about the massive pizzas which, were too big to finish!

Hei

After a long day of running for areoplanes and areoplane food I am glad to have got to Rovaniemi in one piece, even though it is freezing! I am currently in my empty flat which is quite prison like, but will hopefully be more homely soon. Heres to a great few months in arctic temperatures.