harrietscanlon-erp-blog

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Reflective Statement of Explorative Research & Praxis Module

As it has come to the end of this module I feel that I should do a reflective statement on how I feel I have performed on this module, the new ideas and different methods I have explored, as well as my feelings towards the next module and where my work may take me. 

Looking back to the start of this module in February, my initial focus was to stay true to my love of walking and adventuring to take landscape photographs, but I wanted to take inspiration from my previous modules - The Thought Experiment & Collaboration project. When looking at my work now I can see strong influence from my collaboration project where we looked into technologies power and influence it has on art today. My current and most recent work has been primarily focused around going back to the basics of photography, by using the traditional ways of photographic printing in the darkroom using liquid light. With influence from The Thought Experiment module, where I made a lucid dream style video at Oxwich Bay in the Gower, my subject matter has continued to be different beaches however not all in the Gower this time. 

My biggest influence on this module and where I feel my work started to progress and take place was after my tutorial with tutor Paul Jeff, where he showed me different land artists as an initial idea starting point. This then lead to my research on the renowned photographers Richard Long and Robert Smithson. I was in awe of Richard Long’s use of photographing rocks and the textures that were present, and combined with Robert Smithson’s magnificent Spiral Jetty, immediately I wanted to go out and create my own land art sculptures using rocks and pebbles. 

Something that has brought my great joy throughout this module is collecting materials and items found along my different shoots. In particular when I collected different shells & driftwood to make a Windchime, which I then took back to the same beach to leave there for others to enjoy. From then on it progressed to collecting rocks and pebbles to print my photography on, using the old photographic method of liquid emulsion. 

In my opinion, I would say that my strongest area of work has been my use of different different experimentations within photography and my artist research. My love of film photography has come back and inspired me to continue using film cameras on the next module. The cameras I have experimented on this module have been digital slr, polaroids, 35mm & Diana camera with Lomo film, where in my previous modules I would have just used my digital SLR. Having only used the photography darkroom before to print images onto photographic paper, in this module I wanted to do something different and explore a new way of photography, by researching into liquid emulsion I fell in love straight away with this method of printing images. Throughout this module I have ensured my standard has been far greater than my previous modules. The amount of research I have done into different artists, photographers and different photographic techniques has massively improved, i’ve stepped up my gain and pushed myself in order to get the best possible outcome. 

With regards to where I feel I have been unsuccessful, I would say that it would be my lack of theory with relevant theorists, as well as my unsuccessful attempts when using liquid emulsion. When it comes to finding relevant writers and text for my work I do tend to struggle, I procrastinate a lot and then end up missing it out or waiting to the last minute, which isn’t good. Within the final module I will ensure this changes, if I need help I shall ask, this isn’t something that is easy for me but in the long run it will be, I need to gain more confidence. When working with liquid emulsion it is a very delicate and sensitive process, any little mistake and that could ruin the whole process. For example, I have had several errors occur when either coating the materials in too much gelatine or not enough, as well as the same with the liquid emulsion so you will simply see your image float away in the developing liquids. To stop this from happening in future, I must simply take my time and pay close attention to how much coverage should be on my materials, as well as understand there will be failures but as they say ‘practice makes perfect’. Another area I would of liked to explore more is with ceramics, however as I live in Cardiff and travel down to Swansea for university, somedays I’d get to the ceramics block and there would be a class in there, even if it was supposed to be open access. Next time I would like to ensure I can get into the ceramics workspace to do some of my own creative ideas.

When thinking about the next module and where my current work can take me, there is definitely more I can do and I would like to continue with this style of work throughout the next module but with a more in depth thesis. My work within this module is not finished at all, in fact this is just the starting point of my creative adventure. I would still like to explore more land art and even try creating a large outside installation for example my idea is to re-create the spiral jetty on the sand using rocks and pebbles and then wait for the tide to come in and wash its all away. In the next module I would also like to continue my experimentation with different cameras but this time move onto large and medium format cameras. The locations I choose to photography also will be different, I want to branch out of the Gower and stop exploring the places I already know, but instead go out and explore new places across the UK or even further, to capture the feeling I get when being immersed within a new landscape setting. Continuing to experiment with liquid emulsion and the different materials I can print on, the more I practice this style of photographic printing the better I will  be. 

This module has enabled me to come out of my comfort zone and try something different with vast experimentations, and by doing so I have learnt so much more and I’ve become very inspired to continue striving to improve and better myself throughout the last module and the future. 

Harriet Scanlon

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Above you can see my example of using liquid emulsion onto rocks and pebbles I collected from my exploration at Horton beach along with some printed photos on top, which were taken on my Olympus 35mm Epic Stylus using the Ilford HP5 film. 

This time round using liquid emulsion, in my opinion I found my results to be not as good as my previous try. I am not sure if it is because I was using a compact film camera or whether I made an error whilst coating my stones in the different liquids before taking into the darkroom. You can still see the images on the stones, however when you see them in person I am not happy with the outcome. There are parts of the stones which still have chemicals on, even though I did put them in the wash for 20 minutes to clear the chemicals out. 

Particularly in the second image stone, the image can be seen peeling away from the stone and gives it a crackling looking effect, I have coated the stones in the after lacquer spray to prevent any further damage to them and the spray will stop the colour from going a yellow tone. 

When I experiment again with this technique, I must ensure the stones I am printing on are smooth enough to hold the different liquids but not so smooth that they won’t stick to the surface. This method of Photography is a very lengthy process and takes a lot of patience but I am determined to master this technique and keep learning throughout. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Not long ago I blogged some scanned photographs of my leaves ready to be used in the darkroom with liquid emulsion as well as the images I was going to use to print with. When working in the darkroom, the leaves that were covered in the protective lacquer spray worked more successfully than the leaves that were not, as they simply crumbled when being moved from the different photographic liquids in the darkroom trays. 

After spending a few days working in the darkroom with the liquid emulsion I found it very difficult to print onto my leaves successfully and unfortunately my images didn’t come out well on the leaves. I am not surprised because it is a very delicate procedure but I am still upset due to the waisted time. In my onion I think the main reason it failed is due to two reasons, one I think I put too much liquid emulsion on the leaves and secondly, I think the green leaves I used were too wet and I may be more successful if I wait till the Autumn and collected some hard crunchy leaves that are much drier.  Due to the one tone colour of the green leaf you cannot see the blending tones or shades. 

Next time when I experiment more with this technique I shall also experiment with using a smaller subject matter to print onto the leaf with, such as a photo of a leaf, keeping it simply could provide to be more effective. If this was to work correctly I would like to then display the leaves in a glass frame to highlight the beauty of it. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Sarah Tombs - Guest Lecturer

Back in March at university, we had a guest lecturer come in for 2 weeks in a row to teach and inform us about land art - very fortunate as this was around the same time of me starting my exploration into land art. The guest lecturer was Sarah Tombs, who was very informative and gave a few different examples of other photographers who have explored land art. 

Sarah Tombs is a land artist who’s main focus is on creating large sculptures that are exhibited across the UK and remain outside for all to see and enjoy. From the example photo below you can see she has re-created a metal bronze reindeer. Her other examples of work tend to be also material materials and bronze in colour. I would say that in person I bet they’re very impressive to look at but my looking at them as an image they’re still very impressive by far. With regards to my own work, I wouldn't want to create a sculpture that is known what it is, i’d rather build one where the viewer looks at it and cannot make out what they’re looking at. 

Nancy Holt is one of the land artist that Sarah Tomb’s recommended for us to look at her work, she also showed us a short Youtube clip that was interesting in relation to Holt’s famous Sun Tunnels. As you can see below her Sun Tunnels in Utah’s great desert, they are incredibly beautiful and look so unusual in such a barren landscape which is all part of their charm. The concept behind the sun tunnels focuses around the sun moving around the tunnels and the different lighting and sun beams that appear because of this, as well as the beautiful circle framing they make a very interesting piece of land art. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6koPeWqrYho

David Nash is another land artist who has experimented with creating large sculptures using rocks, stone, wood & slate. His work is very interesting to look at, and gain inspiration from but on a small side, for example the image below I could re-create using smaller rocks and pebbles. Within his work Nash also focuses a lot of his work inside exhibition spaces by creating large installation pieces with resources he has brought in from the outside. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Finally I have gotten around to getting my Diana camera’s film developed that I took around with my on several of my shoots to use as a little side camera. The film that I used with this camera was the Lomography Black & White Lady Grey 120 film with 400 ISO, however I bought this film very cheap as it had expired in 2013 but I was still very eager to give it a go and see how it got on. 

I have never used my Diana Camera before but hearing such great things about it i couldn’t not give it a go and see what my results were. Due to the 120 film being expired in 2013 the results I got were not the best to be honest, I do like the vintage effect of the Diana camera - however I am not pleased with the image number count that you can see in all the images background. I may of been using it wrong, I’m not 100% sure whether this was due to the expired film  or another reason. I shall definitely be experimenting for with Lomo film though when this module leads into the final module of the course. 

Due to the plastic and easy to use camera the result of your images will never been perfect because that’s not the style of the film, it’s a quirky, fun toy camera that was originally aimed for children. I would like to experiment using a colour Lomo film to see if my results are any better.  Within my roll of film I had taken 12 images however only 5 actually came out visible - which again is a real shame. By experimenting with different cameras I can find out which works best for me and my images - practice makes perfect. 

With the five images that did come out, I am pleased that they came out and you can make out what you are looking at. Particularly the last image appeals to me the most as it has created a double exposure (which I didn’t intend) but I am happy with the outcome. I did not want to edit them in Photoshop either as that takes away the whole purpose of using a film camera. Very much looking forward to more experimentation with different cameras and see which results I like the best. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Another quick post showing couple more images from my Horton beach shoot.

The first image shows some rubbish on the beach that has been dumped right next to the footpath, it is better than being spread around the beach but it is still sad to see this much dump in such a beautiful setting. The second image shows the lovely old walkway footpath but with the rubbish to the right of the frame - it does distract a beautiful setting which is what I wanted to go. The last image I simply posted because I wanted to show exactly what the bush looked like that I gathered the leaves from. Originally I did wanted to collect some brown leaves - however it is Spring after all and i’ll wait until Autumn for them to be around. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

These are the 5 images from my Horton shoot that I am going to experiment with in the darkroom using liquid emulsion. 

The first two images will be printed on leaves that I have collected from Horton on the same day, I have decided to choose the first two images as in the bushes the leaves can be seen slightly in the background and I like the idea of having my images show where I took the materials that I print on from, I think it links in strongly. By photographing walkways and the footprints in the sand it shows evidence and traces of others who have been walking there too, it is gives me influence from Richard Long’s famous image ‘A Line Made By Walking’. 

The next three images show the beach itself and the different formations of rocks and little streams that actually have loads of jelly fish inside them which I was not expecting. The ilford film highlights these subject matters perfectly and I love the dark tones and rich textures it gives my images. The third image is by far my favourite out of all of them, I love the pattern in the sand which leads toward the rock bolder and the straight horizon in the background. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Influence from previous collaboration project.

One of my previous modules on this course was a collaboration project, and whilst thinking about my work now it definitely does link in with my previous module. 

Our group collective named C.H.E.W primarily focused on how technology is taking over - and it’s relevance to art. The research we did focused on different artists, photographers and media that showed how much technology had advanced over the past decade. My side of the research was aimed towards photographers and artists who had noted this power of technology rising and their responses to it. I argued my case strongly throughout this collaboration that it is bad how much technology is rising and the art world is suffering because of it, in the case that everything has been made much easier/simpler and has completely digitalised the art world.

https://collaborativedialogues.wordpress.com

Within this module I have been experimenting with liquid emulsion in the darkroom which originates back to the late 1800′s where photography’s  Gelatine Silver process was introduced by Richard Madox. This process is not too similar from wet plate photography, it is a very hands on process and can be quite difficult at times but in my opinion I feel much more involved in the process, rather than using a machine to screen print. It’s a lengthy process but a very fulfilling and rewarding one if it goes the way you want. 

By using a film camera and liquid emulsion I am going back to the basics of photography, which links in with my collaboration project. I am steering away from digital technologies and advances and going back to the traditional ways of photography in a world where everyone is choosing digital. This is what I argued about artists needing to do, we need to revolt and go back to the basics - and that is exactly what I am doing. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

This is a contact sheet taken from my most recent shoot at Horton Bay in the Gower. I blogged previously about collecting leaves to use for liquid emulsion and this is where I gathered them from. (See the forth row, furthest to the right - it shows the leaves and the next image also has the leaves present in the bushes).

Horton beach is right at the bottom of the Gower along the coast next to Llangenneth. The beach itself can be very quiet sometimes due to how far away it is, for me though I love this beach and think it is one of the most beautiful bay’s in the Gower although it isn't the most popular and quite unheard of.

During this shoot I wanted to focus away from making land art and instead look into mans effect on our landscapes; including any rubbish and debris found along the beach as I have heard from the locals that Horton beach does suffer with a lot of rubbish left and debris washed up from the sea, which is a shame. I also wanted to focus on the rocks & borders along with the interesting little coves of rocks that have streams running through the sand down to the sea, as well as the textures of the shells that have stuck to the rocks. Another theme I wanted to explore was footprints in the sand and walkways as these all show my journeys and other peoples traces left behind in the landscape which links into my previous experiments with land art. 

The camera I used for this Gower exploration was my 35mm Olympus Epic Stylus which I had from my Grandmother as it used to be her camera many years ago. It is a small compact 35mm however the results I have got from it before were amazing, I have used colour film previously but this time I wanted to try the Ilford HP5 with 400 ISO in Black & White. I have heard great things from recommendations with this film so I wanted to test it out on my compact camera. 

Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of this shoot and using the ilford film, the results show great tonal quality and I love the contrast it gives between the black and white shades. I would say the best result has come from photographing the rocks along the beach as the textures present are so crisp and grainy  - I love it. I shall definitely be experimenting more with film during my Major project as the detail you can get really doesn't compare to Digital SLR’s, I would also like to look into using large format cameras to see the comparison between the two. 

With these images I am going to use them in the darkroom to continue using liquid emulsion. From my Horton adventure I collected several different sized leaves so in hope that I will be successful and the liquid emulsion will work when printing onto leaves, as well as collected some more pebbles from the beach. I shall then choose my favourite images to print on my materials, however the images will show where I collected my leaves and rocks from in the background. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

As I have already experimented using liquid emulsion onto stone, I am now going to experiment using liquid light onto leaves, which I got as inspiration from my previous artist research on Rachel Cartwright.

Above you can see two of my scans of the type of leaves I shall be experimenting with. The leaves were collected from Horton, a small costal village in the Gower, whilst I was out walking and taking photographs (which I shall blog about next). I very much like using the flat bed scanner to document my work as I love the detail and blur it gives the subjects. 

You can see by looking at the two leaves they’re both the same but I have coated the second leaf in some lacquer spray. I have done this because I am not sure how strong the leaves will be at holding the image in the different developing liquids. The lacquer spray is an art spray that simply hardens the leaf up and gives it a plastic texture.

The next step for these leaves is to be coated in the photographic gelatine which gives the leaves a subtle sticky texture to them which is what should make the image stay on the leaves and not float away in the developer.  

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Having spent the weekend visiting my Dad and brother back at home in England, we ended up looking through some old family photographs and this is where I found these gems above. The photographs would have been taken on our Minolta Dynax 3000i, as this ‘lazy’ and easy to use analogue SLR was taken on every holiday, trip and day out. 

Taken from our 1999 annual  family holiday to County Clare in Ireland to visit my Dad’s parents, these images above show our day out at The Burren which is a National Park in County Clare not far form my grandparents house. The Burren is a karst landscape of bedrock incorporating a vast cracked pavement of glacial-era limestone, with cliffs and caves, fossils, rock formations and archaeological sites. I remember this day so clearly, and the fun we used to have as a family making different rock sculptures, as well as admiring the massive rock sculptures that are a part of Irish history. 

The nostalgia I get from looking at these photos is unreal, and maybe that’s why I am so fascinated by land art now and photographing rocks and stones etc because I remember as a 5 year old child having fun with my family doing the exact same thing. Sadly my Mother passed away in 2007, so looking at family photos can be painful and very upsetting however when looking at these images I am filled with joy and fond memories that will help me carry on through the remainder of this project. It’s mad how just one photograph can bring back so many memories, memories you can now never forget. 

These images were taken in 1999. I would love to go back to The Burren and re-create these images or something similar, to feel the same sense of happiness I felt during this holiday, to remember the fond memories of my late Mother so clearly, to hear her soft voice, to see her perfect and happy smile. 

Memories. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Back in March when I started my Photo darkroom workshop I blogged about my experimentation with photograms and using digital acetates to make analogue prints in the darkroom. However I forgot to upload the documents from the workshop with helpful tips from Sarah Tierney. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Kit Anderson

Kit Anderson who specialised in Photography for her Masters, having always loved ceramics and photography, she decided to combine to two in 2006 with ‘Foto Ceramica’. Having influence from ‘Paul Scott’s ceramics & print (1994)’ using photo emulsion. To make her ceramic pieces; she exposes her original and carefully sourced archival images directly onto the ceramic surface , which is then fixed by light and fired on permanently. The focus of her subjects stick to the themes of nature, water and landscapes. You can see below, in the example photo her use of the bi-chromate process and the different processes she has to go through when making these ceramic plaques. 

The image below is taken from Anderson’s website under her ceramic plaque album which has a number of similar pieces to view. This plaque is one of my favourites as I like the idea of having it as an ornament on display, much like my pebbles using liquid emulsion. I like Anderson’s way of using the bi-chromate process as I like the effect it leaves on the ceramics, you can see the brush strokes which blend in the with colour palette well and make this interesting piece. 

You can see below another example of Anderson’s process but this time using hand tainted pieces such as vases, pots and boxes. These pieces of art make brilliant decorations and give them a contemporary feel to them. I very much like these vases below, she is showing new ways to use photography through old traditional photographic methods.  

The art image is taken from her website and just shows her collection of different ceramic pieces on display in her home. Anderson's style is very similar to mine just a different process but very similar results. I will keep up to date with Anderson’s work for more inspiration. Whereas Anderson tends to pay close attention to the detail within nature and the use of leaves, trees, branches, flowers I like to focus on beaches, water and textures of rocks, however I would like to experiment in the darkroom under the themes of nature. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Above you can see the feedback from my most recent tutorial with Catrin. The tutorial was very helpful to me and lots of discussions took place, including a trip to Brecon with the university however I had a prior engagement I couldn’t get out of. With the feedback from Catrin, I am going to explore the different routes and avenues in my future module.

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Recently I blogged about experimenting with liquid emulsion in the darkroom and printing onto stone and showed a few of my completed experiments. 

Before I could print onto stone I had to find out the correct exposure time in the darkroom, to do this I had to use water colour paper that was also covered in liquid emulsion and left to dry in the darkroom. The reason you must use water colours paper first is because the paper is so thick that it will absorb the liquid emulsion and then you’ll be able to use the water colour paper in the different developer liquids. 

Once I had coated my paper in the emulsion and it had dried for 24 hours, I went back into the darkroom and tested out the exposure times using my test pieces of paper. The first test was 10 seconds, then 13 seconds as I found the blacks weren't as dark as I wanted when using 10 seconds. My last test was 15 seconds however this was too dark then which resulted in parts of my image faded away into the darkness. 

I decided to go with 13 seconds as my exposure time, a very unlucky number but luckily all went well and my stones and paper were exposed correctly. I very much like the effect that was achieved by printing images onto water colour paper, when the paper dries they look great with the texture from the paper blending into the image. Using water colour paper to print images onto has very much impressed me and I shall be considering using this method much more to display my prints. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

Above is another one of my examples showing my wind-chime at Llantwit Major bay. Within this image I decided to keep the colour and not black and white to see the difference and compare which I feel works best. 

To make this image have a softness to it I adjusted the curves of the image which bought down the contrast and softness throughout. I am pleased with how the wind-chime came out against the rocks as it is clearly seen and not distracted too much by the contrasted background. With regards to this image campared to my black & white versions, I would say I prefer the black and white because I think it is more professional whereas this colour image could look slightly cliche which is not what I want at all. 

[harrietscanlon-erp-blog]

If you click on the title above you will see there is a quick 30 second video that I took whilst photographing my Wind-chime at Llantwit Major beach. To take the video I used my Canon 60D which has a video setting however the quality isn’t perfect by any means. 

The reason behind making a short video clip to show my wind chime was to capture it moving in the wind along with any background noise. However with regards to the noise, it was too windy at the beach to pick up any noise from the shells crashing together hence the muffled windy sound. 

When looking at the wind chime blowing in the wind, I like the contrast between the soft and delicate wind chime against the rough and rugged textures from the rock cliffs and pebbles. By converting the image to black & white also, distracts the viewer from the business surrounding the wind-chime and highlights the overall focus of the video back to the movement of the wind-chime. In my onion, creating videos to show land art works very well, especially if there is movement in the land art.