Honours Dissertation, 'Working Title'

So I thought I should maybe update and let people know what my dissertation will be based on/ about/ exploring... etc., as I plan for it to directly feed into the reasons of choosing photography as a medium for my studio practice.  The current title is a working title, so I may change it to alter where my research/ interests take me, but I hope it provides you with an insight as to (roughly) what I will be researching/ thinking/ writing about over the next few months;

"Life/ Death; the paradigm is reduced to a simple click, the one separating the initial pose from the final print." - Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes.
An exploration into the similarities between the practices of (film) portrait photography and the processes surrounding death and the loss of loved ones.

Sketchbook Notes - Summer 2012

A scan from my sketch book;

Notes taken from "Secure the Shadow; Death and Photography in America" by Jay Ruby.  Click on image to enlarge.

I think I'll be focusing on the idea of lost family relatives amongst the living family, and the symbols people use to represent them, but I am not entirely sure yet.

I am itching to get back to college and get into my studio space!

Summer Reading - Quotes

A few quotes from some reading I've been doing over the past few weeks.  Been thinking about what I might want to do for fourth year - I have an idea although its still in its early stages so I'll be keeping it quiet until I'm more decided on a few things!  I've taken some photographs, but am now waiting for the sun to come out so I can take some more...

"Death is the sculptor of the ravishing landscape, the terrible mother, the damp creator of life, by whim we are all one day devoured." - Sally Mann

"A beautiful subject can be the object of rueful feelings, because it has aged or decayed or no longer exists.  All photographs are Momento Mori.  To take a photo is to participate in another persons (or things) mortality, vulnerability, mutability.  Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to times relentless melt." - Susan Sontag

"The descent toward death is an unconscious flight from pain and want.  It is an eternal struggle against suffering and repression." - Neil Leach

"When we get to the root of this life, behind the drama of the passage into existence, we find nothing besides life conjoined to death." - Neil Leach

"What remains, what continues to speak in spite of everything, are residual odours, unreal dilated shapes, barely intuitable presences of missing bodies." - Michela Bracciali

"What strikes me is that after death, the subject undergoes a terrible and irreversible mutation that transforms him into an object.  Memories, thoughts, suggestions, certainties and fears are, in fact, fatally destined to oblivion.  What remains are merely things." - Michela Bracciali

"The world of the living breaks against the silence of the dead and, as Elie Wiesel said, it is to them that the past belongs." - Michela Bracciali

Third Year Fine Art Assessment Set-up

Went in to college today to finalise my space for semester two assessment. I'm quite looking forward to, but equally am quite anxious, about this semesters feedback! I think I've learnt and changed a lot over the past year, and seem to be getting a lot of positive feedback about my light boxes, so I am hoping the tutors agree!

Quite sad that third year is now coming to an end - it's definitely been the hardest year so far, I've learnt a lot, and as cheesy as it sounds, things are finally starting to look up. I'm hoping this continues into fourth year! I've been thinking about possible degree show topics over the Easter holidays, and once I've had my feed back for this semester I'll be diving straight back into work!

...And here is the text that I'm submitting along side my work;

I started this year photographing those who surrounded my Grandmother in times running up to her death in her house as a way of looking at the idea of immortality. All the subjects of the photographs knew her, remembered her, and were related to her, and so she lived on in them. As the house was gradually cleared, this hinted to the viewer that these were not just straight forward family photographs – there were gaps in book shelves and no coats in the cloak room. All photographs were taken on my 5x4 large format camera, to capture lots of detail, for example, the texture of the carpet and wall paper. All these smaller details are what made my Grans house unique, so to capture them was important.

After a trip to the Venice Biennale, I became aware of the potential for light as a medium, and how this could be used to communicate ideas about life and death. Some say that light is a way of communicating with the afterlife. Based on this idea, the use of light in my work was centred around hinting towards a presence that the viewer is aware of, but cant quite 'put their finger on'. One cannot describe light, but is always aware of it, it fills the room, and so in turn, the presence of my Gran also fills the room. This is better understood when the viewer is aware that the light has traveled through the images I took in first semester (in the form of transparencies) that lie on top of the light boxes.

The light boxes contain LED light panels, which took a while to design. The boxes I originally started with contained a light bulb, and were almost 20cm in height, but the finalised design is only 5cm in height. The light panels create an all over surface illumination, rather than 'hot spots'. The use of a framed box suggests that one is looking into another world when viewing the light boxes, and so enhancing the idea that light connects the living with the afterlife. They are hung using picture frame hangers, in the same way one might hang family photographs in their home; this references the family photograph which is central to the work, and allows viewers to relate to the work.

As another way of exploring familial practices in relation to photography, I used slide projections. In this work I have very much played with the aesthetics of the projector, ensuring that the projector, and its stand, are as much a part of the work as the slide show is. The carousel projector contains an 80 slot carousel, and only photographs of my Father and two Uncles. All images of my grandparents have been removed, and spaces left in the carousel respectively. There is nothing held in the empty slots in the carousel, and so a very large beam of light is projected onto the photograph. This enhances the idea of light connecting with the afterlife, whilst also hinting that people are missing from the family.

By projecting images onto a printed photograph, the viewer is challenged to think of the reasoning behind the work. The dried flowers in this image hint that something isn't quite right, and it is not until the viewer comes across an empty slot in the carousel that they understand this work is about familial loss. By placing the large photograph that is hung at the same eye level as the [photographs] subject and the viewer, the viewer is challenged to look at the work, emphasising how hard mourning and loss is to escape from. Hanging the work lower than eye level makes the work too easy to look away from and disengage with.

Hypothetically, both works would be presented in a room with dimmed lighting, to allow as much focus as possible on the light, and for the projections to be as vibrant as possible. The light would fill the room, hinting towards a presence (the dead/ my Grandmother) that viewers can experience. Viewers would not be presented with the above information, I have presented it purely for marking purposes. The viewer should realise in their own time that the works are about loss with in the family.

Exhibitions

Went to some exhibitions at the Fruit Market Gallery, The Ingleby Gallery and the RSA in Edinburgh today. Anna Barriball's work at the Fruit Market was by far my favourite, and easily the best exhibition I've ever seen there. I loved her found photograph works... makes me think I should maybe start doing something with my ever growing collection of found photos

The above image has to be my favourite from all the works I saw today.

Light boxes

Been finishing off my light boxes and preparing my space for assessment this week. I'll be showing 5 boxes (3 of which light up) and a projection work. Will photograph my space when I do all the finishing touches... but here are some pictures of my light boxes as they are right now. There will be 5 in total, I just have to get one more picture printed and mounted into its box, and get wire ties to tidy all the wiring up, then I'll be done. The three boxes that light up have laser engraved text into the images. All texts were taken from my summer project, where I documented every visit to my Gran in hospital and her empty house.

"Some other people joined me when I was in the visitors' room. They were telling me how their Mother was dying and had been there for 4 months. They told me to pray to god and then Granny will get better. I did not find their advice terribly helpful. Granny will never be getting home, she will almost certainly not be getting better, and telling me a load of shite about religion will not save her from that.";

"There was a scab on her lip and her mouth was just hanging open, her head tilted back. We each held her hand and she sort of responded. Her hand was so soft and warm; it seemed so strange.";

"She was just babbling nonsense again, and then went into her handbag to look for things, but then I thought she was falling asleep. Her eyes rolled back, her mouth hung open, and she shook. Mum says she was probably having a small fit.";

Sorry about the poor quality images, they're very hard to photograph!

Third Year, Semester Two, Week 9

Laser engraving onto Inkjet Fujifilm photographs. They're a bit bigger that the light boxes, hence the large vignette. Going to get some smaller prints made and also laser cut them, play around with text, fonts, etc, as I really like these!