Pinhole Can-Cam Selfies
The Selfie cam as I lovingly nick-named this project, felt very silly at first, but it was a good way to be introduced to alternative practices in photography. My greatest challenge in this course has been having expectations of what I am creating, the can-cam has so little that can be controlled involved in its creation that it functions to challenge my pre-existing views of what a photograph is.
Top Hat Pinhole Camera
I found the process of turning the top hat into a pinhole camera to be relatively simple. It was already a contained non-reflective interior. All I needed to do to make the top hat light tight was to create an internal light cap. Which I did by making a strip of card stock into a cylinder and covering that with black plastic, so that it sits on my head like another little hat. The challenges of this camera were finding the right exposure time, and the fact that the images can only be about 3 inches tall. Thus it creates photo strips. I am interested in the hat as a means of seeing through someone else's eyes. In exploring this camera I will be bringing it to statues and taking pictures from the tops of their heads.
Cyanotype Photograms
I am very intrigued by how the cyanotype process captures refracted light through beads and crystals. I feel that any work I do in cyanotype has to be about the exploration of light, composition and the process itself, rather than trying to explore conceptually social or political subjects. I think I have a fear of making things that are just interesting to look at, but don't have a larger meaning behind them. I think this has to do with my theatrical design training. Every tiny detail in a theatrical production is planned and has meaning.
Midterm Progress
I am very interested in the Vandyke brown process. Particularly how it captures the dimensionality of lace and sheer fabrics. I am also finding myself drawn to printing in long strips so that images can only be partially seen. My original intention with this printing style was to print a lot more of these on paper- back and front and make a hanging mobile using self portraiture in digital negatives. In my midterm review people were interested in the materiality of the lace, and how I could make it an all encompassing experience. I am going to experiment with silk to create an image that can be interacted with through both touch and sight. I still want to work with self portraiture. Someone brought up how the images were ghostly and had a vintage feel, this is something I am thinking about as I move forward conceptually. However I think it has interesting connotations, with exploring ideas of depression and emotional pain, as well as materiality.
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