Digital darkroom blues….
Ok no pun intended btw ….. I really hate colour calibration, camera one ... camera two ..... camera one ….. camera two …… One on the right is the right profile but is blue/green, one on the left is different profile but comes out nice and black and white .... same paper .... ugh. Colour profiles and calibrations should be a fine science but it’s not and is a pain when you waste expensive paper/ink. This is why I like the real darkroom more ……. where I can waste expensive paper and chemistry on mistakes instead! …. so there!
Burning the daylight … ink?
Doesn’t really have the same ring to it does it? Anyways spent today arguing with a printer about colour correction while printing out test sheets for sketchbooks …. I feel like I am back in uni.
Spacial/cosmic values
Here is one of the last Images I created with the sole intent on creating my imagined version of a black hole. While it probably doesn’t quite work for the defining image of a black hole out of the 40+ I created, it definitely does have some “spacial/cosmic” value too it.
4x5” Negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to custom plate composed of carbon, ink, alcohol and film
If seasons changed from week to week
So we had last week all week in the darkroom, lots of complete darkness for hours then light then back to dark and add a touch of red here and there. Next week we have excessive screen time, melting eye balls and plenty of headaches and never enough coffee. If seasons changed weekly I would have two one dark and one light back and forth week by week.
Is that what a photo looks like?
See I still take “normal” photos occasionally, if there is such a thing as a normal photo that is ….. Was trying out a couple new phone app’s for editing and ended up with liking Snapseed thanks for the recommendation John McDougall
The first of MANY hand crafted plates to come
Here we have one of my first Images created using a hand crafted glass plate. The "plate" consisted of glass layered with earth, carbon, alcohol and film, then exposed over a 4x5" negative using fire (micro explosions)
Work, practice and concept in motion pt 5
Now just how to get the images in my head onto film, that’s always the problem isn’t it though, how to get the image in your head out of lala land and into the physical. My current practice is camera-less but not entirely lens-less. An interesting though about it is that my images aren’t a representation of a physical or three dimensional scene. Whether of something outside or of an actual object but instead the image is being created and happening on the surface of the film. I knew I wanted to keep working directly with the film in as much of a tactile way as possible, but for this body of work I wanted more control so working in total darkness all the time had to go.
Time to let go of some hang ups, and in this case it was avoiding using cut outs or screens. When I say screens I mean graphic templates placed over the negatives then exposed to create the image. I was primarily avoiding doing this because I want and need the images to look natural or organic, not an obviously drawn out scene. This is when I came to discover Cliché Verre, this is a technique dating back to the 1850’s where you etch or paint onto a glass surface then expose it to photographic paper. A nice discovery since I had just started trying various techniques like this and I had never actual hear of Cliché Verre before.
Anyways I have come around to the idea, and for this project it works well. I can now create a “plate” (as I refer to them) in daylight then expose them over the negative. It grants the control I was looking for and without the worry of the lines and contours of a drawn scene, they look natural.
Failure for the win
Well I have been slacking on my writing, but have been steadily chipping away at my visual ideas in the darkroom. In the mean-time here is a continuation of my attempts at creating my ideal image of a black hole. This one did not work for that at all, but it did provide interesting results. Thats how it goes some work many don't, but you will often be surprised by the "duds"
4x5" negative exposed to earth, carbon and fire (micro explosions)
Work, concept and practice in motion pt 4
I find the idea of “the void” interesting because it is something we still have today, even though we don’t classify it as an element. We do have a need to see and understand what is beyond ourselves and our space. No matter how far we can see into our universe and galaxy we push to see farther. This then got me thinking more about time because the further we see into space the further back in time we go, since we are still seeing light that is millions of light years away we are seeing light from millions of years ago. I have always had an interest in space and time and it really is a big subject that will twist your brain in half.
So I really like the idea, and concept of space and time but how do you use photography to express such a complex and abstract concept? I knew I wanted to push the way I had been working farther, but at the same time didn’t want to make three hundred more flashes and cracks. I struggle with conceptual work a lot …… like really a lot. I believe the image needs to be as strong if not stronger than the concept. Enough of this photo of a ruler in the corner then 2 pages about it, that’s just rubbish. But in the case of Uncontrolled abstraction and this follow up project I really see the thought process and ideas merging with the imagery and that’s not just because it’s my work, however I am biased.
In the absence of light ……
I do a lot of versions of any given one idea of a print/negative. I always like to do that one more (or twenty) just to be sure I have the one I wanted or close to it as possible. This is number 26 of over 50 from my search of creating an image to represent a black hole.
Work, concept and practice in motion pt 3
So that’s it, Uncontrolled Abstraction: The Elements is over right? No, in one way yes but in another way, not by a long shot. In the middle of the project I realised I was making allot of work that didn’t fit how I would like it to with the theme of “the elements” Yes I was using natural elements, but the other side of the project was using the elements to create alternative landscapes. What I was seeing were more cosmic or if you would “spacescapes” so ideas of a follow up project were already spinning.
While researching the elements which seems pretty simple right, earth, air, water fire there you go. So I started looking more into how the idea, representation, time and cultures viewed the elements. And while every culture and civilisation has the four basic elements in one way or another they also all have a fifth, the fifth is the void or aether. It has many different explanations but in the end it is the space beyond space, or the space beyond understanding, and I find that interesting.
Devoured light
I like this one as it creates an almost funnel/swirl (or both really) effect to it. The light is being pulled into the black hole or more so sucked into a vortex of the unknown.
Work, Concept and practice in motion pt 2
Another key part of my practice for this project is the loss of control, hens the “uncontrolled” in the title. This is because a few factors. When I expose negatives in Ice I have no control over the shifting of the negative in the water as it freezes, the formation of the ice or how it cracks once it begins to thaw during exposure. When I am exposing the negative to different elements or matter if you will. I am working in complete darkness, I have a rough idea how I would like the sand, dirt or carbon to lay across the film plane but even the slightest touch or breath of air can shift them. Oddly enough I find myself closing my eyes, in the pitch black while I am doing this. The other thing is that when I use the small explosions to expose the film the impact causes everything to shift and scatter.
This brings about the last part of the practice I suppose which is the abstraction of each piece. Each negative is an individual and will never be identical to the one before or after, there are of course similarities as it is the same practice being performed. Which then brings on the question of is it all too repetitive? So I have this body of work that technically consists of over three hundred images, some work, some are complete wastes and then some in my eyes are perfect. But are they all too much of the same just slightly different? Are people just going to see a bunch of white flashes and scattering dust and sand? Did I just waster hundreds of film to create the same thing over and over?
I often find myself once again in this spiral of negative thinking and self-talk, and honestly every creative does right? It is because I am far too close to my work, it is impossible not to be. Which in turn makes it impossible not to question everything about it, it’s my job I need to think, look and create then repeat if I am ever going to make something new. It is thoughts like these that roll in my head constantly, but one quote that rolls with them is the famous Edison quote "I haven't failed -- I've just found 10,000 that won't work." So it helps put things in perspective because I have about 20 images for a show out of 368 negatives, which is a bit better than 1 out of ten thousand.
Detail in the chaos
Sometimes the detail is in the destruction and chaos. This image came out with much more a planet in collapse kinda vibe. The main impact was on target to create the black hole but the additional impact points give it far more movement and an explosive look. The details, shadow and movement are great though.
Work, concepts and practice in motion pt1
Is what I am doing original? Is it new or fresh, or am I mastering that which has been mastered a thousand times before? If it has already been done should I bother? Is it worth it to see the same thing done just by me or with my “spin” on it?
As you can see this is a thought process that spirals quickly. However I try to avoid the doom part of this spiral as it will do little for my mental health or creative practice. But it is important to me that my work is original, both in the techniques I’m using and the concept and aesthetics of the outcome.
When I started Uncontrolled Abstraction, I was thinking a lot about my practice. Am I working in a new way, has anyone done this before? Artists have been using explosives to create for a while now. I was inspired by Cai Guo-Qiang a Chinese artist who uses gunpowder to create his paintings. This was years before I started my current practice and I was looking for different ways to approach photography. Unfortunately (or probably yes fortunately) gunpowder is not readily available to random crazy artists in the UK, but it was always in the back of my head. It took a while but one day I was going over some things and I came across a few ideas and it just clicked that, hey that might work, I can blow up my negatives that way. In my head I envisioned swirling impact points with materials and shadows jetting out. And that is exactly what I got, maybe not entirely as I envisioned but the action created movement, shadows, textures and effects that were detailed and focused.
So now probably eight or more years after the original thought of using explosions, I came up with an actual way to make it work, in a way that is entirely my own. And it’s legal just to make that clear!
Stay on target …. almost there ….
And then there was light or in my case dark …….. So the thing about “Black Holes” is that we haven’t captured/can’t capture an image of a black hole. They are so dense that not even light can escape them so they are technically invisible. However what we can see is the Event Horizon which is matter super heating and emitting radiation as it circles the black hole.
This is the first image to start to come out the way I wanted and was imagining, a dark hole with a silhouette and matter circling around it.
Not quite there but ….. almost there.
4x5” Negative exposed to Earth and Fire (micro explosions)
Black holes and ……an eclipse?
So as I progressed with trying out new ideas for creating my vision of a black hole I started using small circle cut outs to black out a section. However the use of the small explosions was still too random and problematic. I was getting a black hole but the actual exposure points were all over the pace, due to the uncontrolled aspect of the flashes. So in this instance it came out as more of an eclipse.
On the bright side ….
I spend a lot of time researching and writing about my work and my practice, especially at the beginning of the year when I am applying for grants, shows and publications. It can be a daunting task as you are pitching your work, ideas and worth as an artist, and what makes that even harder is that you are so close to your work. It is impossible not to be - it is what you eat, drink and breathe, it can drop you to your knees and pick you up. So I’m sure you can imagine that it’s easy to over think everything and underestimate everything at once, and in most cases you are given only an A4 sheet or 500 words to explain what you may be able to write 500 pages about. That is often the tricky part, it’s not like a school paper when you would be relieved if it only had to be a page long essay for an exam. It actually becomes a real trial because you want to explain how great you are, why you deserve a show, an article or few pounds. However then you have to be more critical and objective about what goes in, what goes out and what you emphasise. Then of course once you finish everything you get to worry about “but what if it doesn’t make sense” or “what if I should have included that bit but not the other bit” and of course “what did I forget?”
Something I learned a long time ago is it is ok to ask for help, ask people to read it and ask for brutal honesty, because remember you are always too close to your work. What makes complete and total sense in your mind could sound like absolute art speak insanity to someone else, and honestly it probably is art speak, but it’s best to keep the insanity to a minimum! In my case I am very lucky to have two people who I trust without (well, mostly without) question. My wife Carole who I call my editor in chief who has the amazing ability for proper grammar, sentence structure and technical writing, and my friend John McDougall who is an excellent art critic, writer and is great for sound boarding ideas and concepts.
And at the end of all that, sometimes it pays off, and you know you’ve got your point across. So the main reason for tonight’s rant is I want to give a huge thank you to The Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation and their trustees for accepting my application for funding this year. It means a lot more film, paper and chemistry to make my ideas a reality. And, ultimately, to share them with all of you.
https://www.cowardphotography.org/
White Holes, Black Holes …..
Well while working on creating a vision of "black Holes" I started to create far more white ones. This started the thinking that I was going to have to start adding more aspects that I could control than my previous project. However these odd out of focus attempts started to remind me of the Hubble telescopes original images before the lenses were corrected.
Black Holes
So in the later months of 2019 I was already starting to work on the follow up/part two of the "Uncontrolled Abstraction" project. So without going into too much detail right now I will just say knew I wanted to work in a similar way and its core to be around time and space. In particular at the time I was thinking about black holes. So here is one of the first attempts (one of MANY)
4x5" film exposed to earth, carbon and fire (micro explosions)