Note: I am currently unable to get out and about much due to illness so I will be sticking with still life for the time being. I have included some work in relation to landscape in my mapping for project 3 and intend to pursue that in early January.
Brief
- Make a small series or piece of work that responds to your theme, supported by the activities, reading and research you are doing into different genres.
- You should experiment with producing different sets of images to explore your idea(s). You will need to add evidence of your work to your blog.
- You should show your process, investigations, and your thinking through a combination of contact sheets, reflections, exploring the presentation of different combinations of images and reflecting on these different outcomes.
- You should evidence your reflections on reading and research as well evidencing your engagement with the suggested course materials which will support your study.
- You might explore ways of combining your genres – to find overlaps and ways of merging the genres together into something different and new. You might also develop work that challenges a particular genre convention and produce work that plays with the audience’s expectations.
- You may decide to produce a set of images for each genre and then put a selection of the images together to explore the narrative that may be created across genres in combination.
I have decided to jump straight in and start taking photos. Objects that are fairly mundane but one that we tend to think of as pretty useful although perhaps a short lived usefulness. Inspiration for this has come from the source material in Project 3 and 4 and my from my own research. Although the images I am taking fall into the still life genre, I am keeping an open mind as to wether they might overlap with another genre further along. I am going to try and keep an open mind within the areas that interest me and that I have been inspired by,
The biggest inspirations for this assignment is Andy Hughes Hermosa Beach (Fig 1.) and Ed Ruscha (Fig.2) and Chris Coekin, Backwards and Forwards in Time (Link to blog)
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Fig.1 Andy Hughes Hermosa Beach (2004)
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Fig. 2 Ed Ruscha
My intention is:
To portray particular household items that are fairly commonplace but bad for the environment, and to make some kind of environmental statement through literally “highlighting” them. The environmental statement is that these may be fairly unimportant mundane household items and products, but they are very important in the wider complex subject of the environment.
This work seems to naturally fall into the still life genre but ‘Im happy to keep an open mind and see where it leads. Hughes image of the lighter sits solidly in both still life and landscape whereas Ed Ruscha’s products are very much still life’s. I have been using a square format after realising how good it was at making anything the centre of attention. It tends to be a format used in portraiture but I think it will be ideal for this project.
- What are the main conventions of each genre under consideration? I am currently only thinking in terms of still life, where light, position, space, shape and form are important in order to convey meaning.
- Which conventions might be problematic or need challenging? Because I am dealing with each item on its own, the space around them becomes important. They also need to have depth.
- Which conventions are useful to expand in relation to your contemporary position and point of view? Light and space.
- Which works or practitioners have a clear and static position inside a genre and how does that support their practice and sense of position? The works of Irving Penn and Joseph Sudek came to mind when I read this question. Sudeks romantic and meaningful images creating emotion and sadness and Penn’s colourful and elegant
- What kind of work is being made that overlaps the boundaries of genres, potentially allowing work to be considered equally in both? How might this impact on its reception or interpretation? Andy Hughes Hermosa Beach image of the lighter sits firmly inside still life and landscape, but could also be classed inside documentary photography due to the environmental message. Documentary photography can also overlap with still life and and portraiture, where there are images for example of people holding objects. The overlap of genres often assists in the conveyance of a message.
- Which works are more hybrid occupying an in-between territory that is harder to classify, and how does that impact on the interpretation, reception, or analysis of it?
- In what ways does some work resist classification? Why might this be desirable or problematic? Work that resist classification may not always be problematic, it alleviates the possible stereotypical label that the genres sometime attract.
- What kind of challenges might still be raised while positioning the work clearly inside a particular genre? If genres can work together to convey a message then it may be harder to convey the message through a single genre.
- In what ways do photographers and their images offer a challenge to genre classification or the traditions associated with its history? What kind of challenge does the work provide – visual, conceptual, ethical?
- What genre problem or convention will you engage with or challenge through your work and investigations? Light and space
Example objects that I looked at for their use, and their environmental impact amongst other things were nylon scourers and plastic/nylon toothbrushes. The irony being that they are used for cleaning and but their effect on the environment is the opposite.
I have decided to use a spotlight to “highlight the problem”. The use of spotlights in commercial photography is often used to give products he look of being important (in the spotlight). “Being in the spotlight” can have both negative and positive connotations. This type of light can also signify something angelic, spiritual or etherial.
“There are things that I’m constantly looking at that I feel should be elevated to greater status, almost to philosophical status or to a religious status. That’s why taking things out of context is a useful tool to an artist. It’s the concept of taking something that’s not subject matter and making it subject matter” Ed Ruscha
I am also considering creating a grid presentation, that gives an impression of a pantry or kitchen store cupboard. The inspiration has come from John Fredrick Petos’s “Poor Mans Store” 1885 (Fig.3) and Walker Evans Untitled 1941 (Souvenir shop display) (Fig. 4). I am hoping this will encourage people to wonder what they have on their shelves and in cupboards that could be harmful to the environment.
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Fig. 3 John Frederick Pet Poor Mans Store (1885)
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Fig. 4 Walker Evans Souvenir shop display (1941)
Nylon Scourer
These types of scourers are often made from materials that produce by products such as nitrous oxide “a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than CO2″
Fish being sold to the public have been found to contain chemicals associated with the production of these nylons and plastics. “These chemicals are transferred to humans when eaten”
These types of kitchen scourers don’t last very long and end up in land fill or polluting our rivers and oceans.
I wasn’t prepared for the wonderful yellow reflections from the inside of the sink! Trying to get the right “spotlight effect wasn’t easy but some of them came out OK. I wondered if I could get a lower perspective to try and make the sponge look bigger? The shots that work the best for me so far are 22031, 22038 and 22045. I am aware that although the reflections are aesthetically pleasing they don’t add anything in respect of my message. I may have to let them go!
Contact sheet 1
Another try (Contact sheet 2) with the camera positioned in the sink to try and get a lower perspective and then with a slightly reduced light.
Contact sheet 2
Placing the camera in the sink has changed the perspective but lost the yellow reflections. 22064, 22062 and 22058 look good but I’m still missing the reflections!
Cotton Wool Pads
Contact Sheet 3
Plastic Toothbrushes
Plastic toothbrushes are made up of plastics that are difficult to if not impossible to recycle and do not decompose. Electric toothbrushes may last longer but the manufacture and use of batteries don’t make them any better than the non electric type.
Using the same technique as before I was once again surprised by the amount of reflections. The sink added an extra oval dimension which exaggerated the spotlight effect coming from the torch. I don’t have a full bristle toothbrush in the house and am now in a quandary as to wether I should purchase one, thus adding to the environmental problem! I very much like the strong spotlight effect in images 2270and 2274.
Contact sheet 4
Bleach
It is fairly common knowledge that bleach is not a great product to use in the home.
“According to Greenpeace, it’s the inherent instability of chlorine that makes bleach an effective disinfectant: it easily bonds with other chemicals to destroy microorganisms, but it is that same instability which makes it dangerous when it enters the environment as it can react with all manner of other chemicals.”
Although we make think that it is the use of bleach that is causing the biggest problem, “the major damage comes from the manufacture of these products and the large-scale use of them by industry. So, although we as individuals may use a small amount at a time, by using any at all we are supporting an incredibly destructive industry”
Contact sheet 5
Images 22083 and 22090 have a good clear spotlight but the angle is too high.
Drain Cleaner
The danger from the main substance in most drain cleaners is direct contact with skin and or eyes. The danger to the environment is by way of discharge into bodies of water that sustain the life of plants and wildlife.
Contact Sheet 6
I have started to think about the background to the images and have realised that perhaps having them in their “natural habitat is” is doing nothing to help with my message and might actually be interfering with getting that message across. Perhaps they need to be sitting on something that gives a feeling of something “broken” or “empty” to reflect the harm that can done to the environment. I am also going to change camera and lens to try and make the items look big in relation to their surrounding to try and emphasise their impact.
Tested a different viewpoint and back ground. (I wasn’t looking at how the items were placed for this test). I shot them straight on. Placing them on a rough tiled floor.
This didn’t work, the pool of light at the base of the objects is lost and therefore some of the spotlight. The rough tiled floor is not showing up well at this angle. I need to try from a higher perspective.
This turned out much better. A few issues with the brightness and size of the spotlight but the tile is now showing in the way I wanted it to.
I put a few of the best ones inti a grid to see how they looked. Overall I am quite pleased with the results although there are some things that need addressing. The bleach bottle stands out too much, is too bright and big and doesn’t fit well with the others. I will change it for something similar but smaller. The batteries and cotton wool pads are perhaps a bit small. The grid presentation doesn’t work either due to the dark edges of each image merging together. However this was a great way to view them to see if they worked well as a series.
Img. 1
I need to concentrate on consistency for the next set of images. I have also completed the analysis exercise (What can I see – what might it mean) on these images to try and take myself into the realm of the viewer.
My (as much as possible unbiased) analysis came up with this: I can see household products sitting on a dark mottled surface, lit by a spotlight. The surrounding area and back ground is completely black. Products in a spotlight means being highlighted. The products don’t look particularly environmental friendly so being highlighted for that reason. The black background and mottled surface may be indicative of something bad.
I was pleased with this but not sure how unbiased some one can be when they have created the work!
Final set: It took a while to decide on sequence for each image, but this was my final set up
Bibliography
is your kitchen scourer killing you?
Toothbrushes
Available at: https://ecobathlondon.com/blogs/news/how-changing-your-toothbrush-can-positively-impact-the-environment
[Accessed 18/11/2022]
Bleach
Available at: https://planetark.org/newsroom/news/every-day-enviro-with-elise-dont-reach-for-bleach
[Accessed 21/11/2022
Figure 1
Available at: https://www.belgravestives.co.uk/exhibitions/367/7144/andy-hughes–photographic-works-hermosa-beach-los-angeles-red-lighter
[Accessed 19/11/2022
Figure 2
Available at: https://beachpackagingdesign.com/boxvox/ed-ruschas-1961-product-still-lifes
[Accessed 21/11/2022
Figure 3
Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/george-nick-petos-poor-mans-store-9-may-2017
[Accessed 22/11/2022
Figure 4
Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/walker-evans/75
[Accessed 23/11/2022
OCAPhotography 