Experimentation

To begin thinking about this idea of Growth and Evolution I grabbed a camera and photographed fruit in macro styles experimenting with depth of field and other techniques. I did this to explore natural forms with a range of textures with the attempt to create 'beautiful' photographs.

Contact Sheets

  

Experiments

I selected one image and began experimenting with it and seeing how I could manipulate and evolve it.

My first experiment was to create a jigsaw puzzle, I'm not quite sure why but it seemed like a good idea. I like the combination of black and white, the kiwi is the most vibrant part of the whole image so to highlight the colour splash I kept this in colour and I made the other in black and white. Looking at it again I found the depth of field was emphasize through the colour splash which I like.
I found this could link to my ideas about mental illness and bullying as the colour splash could signify how on the outside they are being brave and acting vibrant but as you look closer inside they feel their lives are dark and dismal. 

This was a monoprint, I was trying to get in touch with my 'artistic side' and physically create a piece of artwork. I used the colour blue as it seemed vibrant and nice. However, I found it didn't work very well, I didn't spread the paint evenly enough and its not clear what it is as I rushed the process.

This is one of my favourite images I felt it worked well with the ripped image. I did this physically and then placed it onto the photocopier to create the image on the left. Then using the original ripped image I placed it over the photocopy image to physically create colour splash. 
I like this image, the ripped up image could show the fragmented nature of someone who is suffering from a mental illness or being bullying. Also again the colour splash could show a conflicting personality how they are acting polite outside but feel dismal inside.
I could follow on with this idea onto having two photographs of the same person and part of it being happy and the other being miserable. I have done a incredibly rough sketch to show you what I mean on the right. ---->

This experiment consisted of ripping up my image into small pieces covering a A3 sheet of paper in PVA glue and then throwing the picture pieces onto the paper. Not all the pieces stuck on so I had to do parts of it physically but I did like it. This idea I felt worked well and is something which I could follow on with.

This image could work incredibly well for my idea of mental illness as I could take a photograph of something relating to it and through it on to a piece of paper and mess it up. Showing how they have distorted thinking and not everything fits together in their minds perfectly. 
I wanted to see how good it would look so I did a quick experiment and using a photograph which I found in a magazine I did the same experiment but on a  smaller scale (shown on the right). For the photograph I used a picture which featured dark lighting and of a person. I did this as much emotional work within my topic features people so I wanted to see if using a person worked better than fruit. 
I like the concept of this idea but feel its hard to imagine without physically testing it with my own photography - this is something I can go onto do. 

This was another image produced using the photocopier. This time however I kept the lid up and moved the image across with the light. I found it was a question of trial and error with this experiment and luckily my first trial worked quite well and this is something which I could work with in the future. Also I could try and use a colour photocopier as this will make it look more dynamic and allow me to experiment with colours and the effect of merging colours.

This image didn't work as well as I had planned. I rolled up the image (printed) and held it against a light before photographing down it. The idea was good but the result wasn't. The image isn't visible. It may work however if you used another copy of the image smaller possibly printed onto acetate held against the light and allowed the lamp to shine though produce the image. Could also use a projector shine the image onto a wall then treat the rolled up image like a telescope and pick a good part of the image - which has been projected - and photograph that section. 

Experimental Photography Mood Board

Using Mr Google, I have compiled a mood board full of experimental photographs. 

The photographs with a girl pressed against a surface or hiding herself I feel are very powerful. Not only do they look stunning but the way the photography has created a blurred image suggest there is something stopping us from getting to this person and helping her. I like the idea of following this possibly at a later stage. Also the subdued colourings used within some of these photographs create a mood which evokes a response. 

Experimenting With My Own Photography

Using a variety of techniques, I chose 8 of my favourite images from the contact sheets above and began manipulating them using some ideas I found from my 'Experimental Photography' mood board. 

To edit this photography I firstly adjusted the levels. I then duplicated the layer to make it black and white and used the overlay tool colour dodge to give the image a almost vintage effect. It enhanced the colours of the pomegranate. I then wanted to experiment more with this image and used the filter crystallize  which gave it the effect on the right. I feel this image has evolved well and the use of filters helps enhance the image and makes it more dynamic. However, it's obvious it's still a pomegranate and I want to try and make something else out of the image. 

Before I experimented with this image in the form of a puzzle and I am going to enhance this in a photographic way. I copied the image four times and edited each one before putting mixing them all together. I kept the first one the same, made the second one black and white, made the third one I added colour halftone and the fourth I used find edges filter I liked the idea of monoprinting and this effect was similar. Next I copied a puzzle print off Google and applied it to all the images before I merged them together.I like the madness of this piece, it also has a childlike quality which I like. The combination of filters works well to evolve and grow this photograph.

I rather liked this image so to edit this I simply created a subdued version of colour splash. I applied a gradient over the image with a colour dodge overlay and then copied the image to make it black and white. To do the colour splash I cut out the orange slice in black and white and overlaid this with a hard light. This meant the image wasn't too sharp between colour and black and white. I liked this effect but it was very basic and doesn't really stand out much.

I adjusted the levels harshly so the made the image a lot darker. I then used a combination of the burn tool and a paintbursh with the colour black and darken the outer edges and make the orange darker. Then to highlight the colour I applied a strong vibrancy and saturation level to the image. Finally I wanted to play around with the idea of a fish eye effect and I found the spherize effect gave this which highlighted how it was in a jar.

To begin with I edited the levels and curves to give the image a basic 'touch up'. Then to highlight the orange I enhanced the red and magenta on the colour balance to equal it out. Next I wanted to use a combination of techniques for this image so took it into Illustrator and using a round brush I drew over the front section and kept the back as a image. I also didn't apply any colour so it only had black lines over it. I feel this didn't work well, however, if it was a different object this idea could work. I think, however it strongly depends on what you apply it to. 

From my experimental photography mood board I found many people use speed/motion blurs. Therefore with this image I applied a motion blur over it to try out this idea. I felt this work well - not perfect on a stationary object but if I was using this on a person running it could be effective. I then wanted to look at the idea of craziness so duplicated the layer and rotated it 180 degrees and applied a screen overlay.

For this image I decided to merge another image into it. Using a photograph of a pineapple I overlayed it onto the mushroom tops so where the light hit the mushrooms you saw the pineapple. I wanted to work with overlaying multiple images here as I haven't explored this yet and this is another thing artists did when I did my experimental photography mood board. I found this looked uninteresting and did not work at all. 

For this image I wasn't quite sure what to do so I cut and repeated a section of the orange and overlaid it around the image. I then removed the background and turned it solid black and cropped the image to find it made an interesting butterfly effect where all four images have merged together. I really like this edited image and found the textures and lighting made it look very dynamic. 

Page of Edited Images