A2 Personal Project Mindmap

Here's a few of my ideas for the Personal Project so far including techniques, locations and suggested ideas.

A2 Personal Project

Our next project is called the 'Personal Project'. This is allowing us to come up with our own ideas and and guide ourselves through the project. Independently we come up with our own ideas and build them up to a final outcome. 

Enhaced Image Project - Evaluation

For this project we had to list a theme of photography we were interested in and incorporated into our new learned techniques. We then studied a range of artist using different technique we were going to learn to inspire ourselves. I came up with the ideas of my final project through experimentation of technique I had newly learnt (bleaching) and also looking at previous students work that they had done over the years (liquid emulsion)

At first my ideas were around the theme urban vs suburban and I wanted to document this through buildings. As time progressed through the project I was researching into artists involved in Photojournalism. I was really interested in these images as I felt they were strong and powerful and also relevant to today. They are also taken in black and white which is what I use for my photographs. I felt that by taking image with meaning behind them and going and enhancing them with a techniques like highlighting, dodging and burning and bleaching, we could empathize key areas and give them images more dept. This is when I decided this would be what I based my final outcome around. I then went a researched into local protests around me.

I decided I wanted to do bleaching when we did experimentation with it and I really enjoyed it as I felt it was really touch and go and being exciting of taking a risk of putting your image in bleach and not knowing how the final outcome was going to be like. I really enjoyed this feeling and also like the effect the bleach gave my images and decided that I wanted to incorporate this into my final piece onto a mounted sheet.

I also wanted to use liquid emulsion to present my images. I originally got this idea form a previous student. I then went to research artist who used the same technique. I found Arnold Mariashin who also used this material. I enjoyed looking at his images and this confirmed to me that this is the material that i wanted to use.

I then went onto experimenting with the liquid emulsion to make sure I had the right time settings for my final piece. I think that I had chosen the right negatives that I had taken that was a big poster with big bold text that would compliment the liquid emulsion. I think this also worked well that the brush stroke effect and rough border made it look like a unused poster which I felt was relevant to my chosen theme.

Enhanced Image Project - In depth Analysis - Arnold Mariashin

''Hand''

''Melon''

''Still Life''

Arnold Mariashin is a Russian Photographer who has interested in Photography since the age of eight.Since then he graduated with a film degree and known for contemporary photography. From his website it says that he uses a handmade large format camera that develop into an enlarger in his darkroom in his bathroom.

He uses liquid emulsion to process his images. This is a solution that can turn any paper into photographic paper. You placed the liquid on the liquid emulsion on and leave to dry. After this is you then placed under the enlarger for time that has already been sorted out then after it has been exposed to the light you then repeat the traditional photographic developer,stop and fix.

I love these images because you can see the brush strokes from when the liquid emulsion was originally brushed on. If you look carefully at the ''still life'' you can see the emulsion has cracked where at that particular point it was thick and when it has been dried it has cracked. I love this effect it has given because it make it look authentic. Again, I like the liquid emulsion as it gives the images a great texture and an illusion of layers. It's a different way of presenting images.

My favourite image out of these is the ''Hand''. I love the way the liquid emulsion and has picked up the different tones. It gives the image a soft touch and relevant to what the image is of makes it quite intimate.

Looking at this artist uses this material and the result that have happened has really inspired me for my own work. I really want to use this material and I think it will work really with my idea of political protest. With the strong colours and bold text I think this will work extremely well.With my bleached outcome I felt worked well as I printed them at home on my own printer and once put into the bleach they turned blue which reminded my of cyanotypes and was happy with the final outcome.

I could of improved my project by having more variety of negatives. Towards the end, I felt that I only had three negative I felt worked best with the liquid emulsion therefore I didn't have a lot to work with. If I had more time I would have taken another 24 roll of film to ensure I had a variety to choose from and not feel obligated to the same negatives.

During this project I have enjoyed broadening my knowledge on new technique and I am looking forward to uses these techniques in the future. I enjoyed all the techniques learned including; making handmade negative in the darkroom, improving my Photoshop skills creating effects on digital photographs. In the future I can now go on further to improve my images and not just developing them. I can now build onto them with these new technique and be able to enhanced the quality of the final outcome.

Enhanced Image Project Final Outcome Photographs

These are the images I am using with the liquid emulsion. As you can see from the prints they are stripey. This is because when I was processing the film the developer was exhausted. This made my negatives come out like this. This is when I had to figure out how I was going to enhanced this images and disguise the strips. This is when I decided I was going to use liquid emulsion.

Enhanced Image Project- Development Of Final Outcome

practicing for paper cutting

practicing on photo copies on liquid emulsion

liquid emulsion - too dark to use

liquid emulsion - photograph didn't show as well as I wanted

more practicing on photocopies

liquid emulsion

These are some of the liquid emulsions that didn't come out quite as well which is why I decided to only use one in the end as the image came through the best. The reason why I think they didn't come out the best is because the liquid emulsion wasn't left long along to dry so didn't work to it's full potential. In the future if I was using liquid emulsion again I would leave it to dry overnight before exposing it to the liquid emulsion.
The symbols are inspired by the artist donna ruff which is what i decided to do with the liquid emulsion print that worked and draw out these onto the print and cut them out.