inkyb-ars281-fall2024

[inkyb-ars281-fall2024]

FINAL PROJECT: CELLAR EXPANSE

The basement. The cellar. A place intended to be hidden away from the rest of the house. It is in contrast to the decorated showcase up above. Stuffed with storage that guests are never meant to see. A place for things to rot until the next year, or next decade, or whenever they become of use, or become "useless". Everything is a hidden memory. Removing the items, and removing the connection, we are left with the eroded blank walls, the pipes, the storage bins.

Sure, some might make a proper room of it. But behind the drywall, under the carpet, still lays the dusty, cold concrete.

Do you feel like you're supposed to be here? Do you see anything familiar?

This project draws upon my fascination with abandoned and desolate spaces, and the feelings that they evoke. It takes various basements of peoples I know, obscures the details, and attempts to make them one connected place. They were edited with similar desaturation to make them feel more like exploring a connected place, even if specific details stick out. Though my original plan involved shining a flashlight on the locations, I discovered that this did not give me the effect needed, and so a similar feeling had to be added in post. Specific items, and items with logos and text were blurred, pixelated, and warped, while more basic components such as pipes and storage units, and other large things that could not be readily identified were left alone.

[inkyb-ars281-fall2024]

LIGHT AND SHADOW: Cellar Expanse

The basement, a locale found in many houses. Though some are tidied up and treated like any other room in the house, the ones I am most familiar with are the ones where you are entirely surrounded by concrete, surrounded by poles and piles of storage, pipes and Rubbermaids galore. Its dirty, hidden, and unfinished nature can make you feel like you are somewhere you shouldn’t be looking.

 I am once again drawing my interest in empty, abandoned spaces. If you empty a house of all that makes it distinguishable, it could look like the same as any other house, and that applies to the basement too. My plan for this light and shadow is to go to various houses within my family, and take photos of the basements, which similar in that they are concrete with poles and hold lots of storage. I want to make it look as if they are not multiple different locations, but one, single location.

What if we pushed it further? What if you couldn’t tell what was going on aside from it being a basement? Continuing with the editing style done in my influence project, overly distinguishing items may be edited to look blurry, pixelated, or otherwise obscured. In this way, light and shadow will be utilized; shadow may appear to prevent one from seeing the actual structure of the place. To this I may utilize a flashlight to only capture a specific area.

OUTCOMES

The number of photos that result from my project will depend on my ability to access places. My own house counts for one location, and we will definitely be at my Papa’s house before the photos need to be done, so that is another. My Grandpa’s house is not somewhere I go often but is in walking distance, and may serve as an additional location. My Aunt’s and Uncle’s place is the least convenient place to get to out of these, but If I do happen to go there for other reasons, it could be a fourth location. 3 locations used mean 6 photos (with 2 of each location) or 9 photos (3 of each location). If 4 locations are used, the there will be 8 photos (2 of each location).

The photos are intended to look like one large, vague, location rather than the multiple specific ones they actually are. In addition to the obscuring that had been described, the photos may be edited to look desaturated and color edited to reduce visual differences in the locations.

When displaying, place these photos on a wall in a small, slightly out-of-the-way location. Make the location mostly dark aside from a light on the photos to make them more visible. The photos should be arranged in a square or rectangle, to give a feel that it is a single location being explored.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Nikon D330

Access to at least 3 of the locations described in the outcomes action (transporation)

A flashlight

Tripod

Photo editing software

REFFERENCES (MORE TO BE ADDED)

I chose photographers that I was familiar with who capture the vague location effect that I desire in my photos.

Bruce Gilden's Foreclosures have some photos taken at night, which obscure the surroundings of the location.

Todd Hido's Interior photography features empty rooms, many enshrouded with shadow. The similar feel of the rooms make you feel like you could be in the same house for all of them.

I would also like to use my previous Influence project as a reference for how the photos may be edited and shot.

[inkyb-ars281-fall2024]

Inflence

For my influence project, I continued from my choice of photographer from the beginning of the semester, Todd Hido, primarily taking influence from his Homes at Night and interior photography, as well as the feeling he tries to convey with his work. His subject matter captures suburban life and he typicaly takes his shots in darker, foggier locations. In an interview of Todd Hido, he stated that for his Houses at Night, he purposely leaves the images vague and without people so that the viewer can see it as their own memory and insert themselves into it. For my photos, I captured things that represented a memory that was personal to myself, but I obscured the more specific elements of the photo (mostly with editing), not only leaving the viewer questioning whether this is their own memory, but also trying to capture the feeling of trying to bring back and recall what is no longer there. Though most of my photos are locations, some of them are more focused on items.

[inkyb-ars281-fall2024]

Natural Fabrication

Staging toys and figures in different settings as a lighthearted and sometimes comedic way of logging trips and everyday life, is something I enjoy doing. As someone with a tendency to bring their favorite toys around everywhere for fun and comfort, the idea of placing these items in different environments is nothing new to me, but I wanted to explore a different side, a different meaning, to these kinds of photos.

We can see here how man-made resemblances of living things interact with their living counterparts and in their enviornments. The manufactured animals and plants sit in spots where their counterparts would normally be. Even if they aren't real, the setting may still natural for them. But when interacting with living beings, are they accepted, as the cat calmly sleeps nearby? Are they only briefly acknowleged, as the dog stops, not seeming to know what’s going on? Or are they feared for their unfamiliarity, as the chickens dont dare come close? Do the items stick out in an obvious way, or does it require a closer look to notice a tag sticking out or a more plastic-like shine?

Sometimes we feel as the polyester toys and plastic flowers do-we can't help feeling fake when we encounter other people with similar qualities and abilities. Maybe we don’t know them well, but from our perspective, they seem to be much better, more legitimate, than we are. We convince ourselves to be undeserving, because we don't resemble them quite enough. Maybe we’ve been made to feel that way, our loose threads and manufacturing errors always being pointed out. Though our plastic safety eyes, we think our faux fur is no match, but perhaps we are blind to the tags and stitching on people’s back. However, even in a world where it's true that everyone else is skin and bones and we are fabric and stuffing, a plush is still deserving of love for what it is.

[inkyb-ars281-fall2024]

AFTER DARK

NO MOTION BLUR:

f/7.1

1/2 sec

ISO-12800

f/7.1

1/2 sec

ISO-3200

f/7.1

1/10 sec

ISO-800

f/7.1

1/5 sec

ISO-1600

MOTION BLUR:

f/7.1

0.62 sec

ISO-3200

f/7.1

2.5 sec

ISO-3200

f/7.1

3 sec

ISO-3200

f/7.1

3 sec

ISO-200

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f/7.1

1/25 sec

ISO-6400

f/7.1

1/25 sec

ISO-400

f/29

1/2 sec

ISO-200

f/9

1/500 sec

ISO-200

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f/5.6

1/2 sec

ISO - 1600

f/22

1/15 sec

ISO - 1600

f/10

1 sec

ISO - 3200

f/8

1/250 sec

ISO-200

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f/13

1/200 sec

ISO-800

f/13

1/160 sec

ISO-12800

f/13

1/200 sec

ISO-1600

f/13

1/50 sec

ISO-12800

f/13

1/13 sec

ISO-12800

f/13

1 sec

ISO-12800

[inkyb-ars281-fall2024]

My choice of photographer is Todd Hido, with much of his photography revolving around desolate areas and suburban homes/buildings. His work gives off an eeriness and a lonely, distant feel, which I enjoy. Some of his images have a blur or a sort of lighting that increases that effect.