| Alison Rossiter’s photographs are created without a camera on expired, vintage photo paper. The artist experiments with gelatin silver papers she collects from throughout the 20th century, making controlled marks by pouring or pooling photographic developer directly onto the surface of the paper. Dark forms emerge which often resemble mountainous landscapes or active tornados; other shapes are paired by the artist to create minimalist diptychs. Each batch of gelatin silver paper, such as Eastman Royal Bromide, which expired in 1919, or Nepera- Velox, which expired in 1906, possesses unique qualities, depending on its particular color, surface, condition and age. Utilizing her experience in conserving photographs, Ms. Rossiter reacts to these variables and manipulates the interaction of paper and developer by hand, paying tribute to the intrinsic qualities of photographic materials and reintroducing unpredictability into a process which is now commonly digitized. |
“Five years ago, I thought that I could no longer buy sheet film for a 5 x 7 camera. Fortunately, I was mistaken, but my momentary panic prompted a massive search for discontinued gelatin silver materials. Photography, as I know it, is disappearing.” Alison Rossiters photographs continue my excitement in researching work which is created as tangible, material objects. Displayed and exhibited as beautiful in their final output these unique prints are equally as beautiful and physical as Susan Derges. The process involves the hands of the creator, a craft, a physical involvement in the process, not a depression of a button which then automates an image making process. The variables involved in the creation of these prints depend on the speed, control and hand of the photographer.
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The photogram when taken outside of its conceived environment the darkroom and employed creatively within nature becomes a physical object which holds a magical materiality. The work of Susan Derges alongside others demonstrates how light sensitive paper which is usually sourced at the end of an analog process can be applied at the start. Using the cover of darkness to reduce and avoid fogging the paper, the process involves placing darkroom paper within an environment and using flash or natural light to expose the paper. The direct relationship between the print and environment is then seen once it is developed in the form of shapes on the paper.
Shadow Catchers - Camera Less Photography.
'Susan Derges uses the landscape at night as her darkroom, submerging large sheets of photographic paper in rivers and using the moon and flashlight to create the exposure. This film shows her working in her studio, preparing to make a photogram outdoors, and discussing her use of water as a metaphor for transformation.'
The underlying desire to make images was to look at what underlies the visible A lot of the early work was to do with the birth end of the scale This work is to do with things dissolving, dissolving out of a form Photography is tied up with death, looking at absent moments, is to do with loss - WHY! Be happy Nothing is in the state of being it is always on the move - 'Stillness becoming theory' - re-visit book. In the process of change The project of 'SleepingAlongTheMissippi' and 'Kaiwa' both follow a river, although Soth does not fixate or document the river it is still the wandering and meandering nature which interests him. He documents the lives and people along his journey and explore the escapism and relationship with nature and society. Kaiwa concentrates on relaying a sense of emotion within the river, connecting the viewer with the season, environment and conditions experienced as he journeyed along his own meanders.
Although the projects are different in content, meaning and message they both use a combination of shots to create a poetic representation of the environments. Flicking from portraits, landscapes and still lives Alec Soth draws from formal paintings and a consistent stillness through his work which creates his series. I thought this was beautiful and really poetic, it captured my attention and his way of combining shots to create this overview was something which really engaged my curiosity. I think that an environment which is photographed needs these layers of information to portray a sense of emotional change in the place. However, since seeing the book Kaiwa I have realized that Soth is only starting to explore the potential, and by restricting himself to his 10x8 camera and slow considered stillness he misses out on really taking the audience with him as he travels. This book from the opening sequence is a multi sensory experience which disregards formal styles of photography and tackles the narrative with a multitude of shot styles. These combined give the viewer a variety of emotions as we travel through the book. This is something I hadn't experienced before. Being inside the book, not looking at the pages and spaces from a measured distance but almost feeling as if I was floating above the pages. This emotional connection with the works something I aim to explore and convey in my own work with the use of a mixed media explorations. The opening sequence of a droplet running down and off of wood is a physical representation of the droplet forming and dissipating. The books opening sequence is a signifier of the beautiful intention of the photographer. To document the physical journey the river takes alongside a document of natures effects and his experiences and interactions.
The close crops give a sense of physically in the environment. We are not viewing from a distance, framing the scene from an objective viewpoint. We are absorbed in the river, by the river, it gives the audience a sense of being in the environment and not just looking on at it form a distance. My project needs to be IN, physicality and intensity in representation. Movement of water at night, using flash to freeze and highlight water. The colors in the detail is beautiful and seductive. Closer exploration of the river than viewed on an everyday perspective. Change and engage with traditional photography to incorporate and feel the river. Texture / Surfaces / Appearances / Abstraction The movement of water - ignore following a rule Just Photograph what is interesting, beautiful, the emotional connections The power of nature, close proximity, photograph relays visual but I can heat it, I can feel it, I can relate to it. A multi sensory experience as we travel along the river Low angle of view brings us closer to the river. We feel a connection, we are in it. Foreground interest is immediate, no leading lines full immersion. The river has dried out so you are on the bottom as the water has gone. Genius. Layers. Slow exposure relays that sense of emotion. Calm, stillness. Works compared to the close crops of movement. And in series they balance and create a narrative poetry like Alec Soth but in a more dynamic and energetic way which reflects the rivers nature. Less structure, more meandering and flow. Balance and reflection of large withdrawn landscapes and the close intimacy of detail and texture. Cinematic. Conflation. A demonstration of successful digital work.
Applying preconceived ideas in his photographs at capture and framing reality to express meaning. Reading the introduction to Tom Hunters book The Way Home similarities can be drawn between Alec Soth and himself, using a combination of Landscape and portraits both photographers relay a sense of place within their photographs. Notes:
Tom is located in studio 13 and during his time in Ireland he has developed a project influenced by the sea and James Joyce’s Ulysses. The images shown are taken in different bathing locations around Dublin Bay and are all locations where Tom swam during his time in Ireland. The photographs are taken with a 4” x 5” pinhole camera. Persons Unknown. Women reading a possession order. Tom Hunter in conversation with Robert Elms. Notes:
Many of the buildings I have photographed are monuments to this industrial past, showing us the fingerprints of working lives and the products that these endveours have created and from them a way of life and culture. I have always been attracted to these shrines from a disappearing world, a world my grandfather was meshed too, with his engineering company in Birmingham. A world I have explored through photography in Hackney Wick, where the industrial landscape became a playground for the dispossessed, and is now reincarnated as an Olympic wonderland. All these elements have aligned themselves in this photographic essay, connecting my history to my country’s and Birmingham to Hackney. In the same way Alexander Parkes of Birmingham invented Parkesine, the base material of my film and took it to Hackney Wick to be mass-produced, I now take my pinhole photography back in time to Birmingham, to illuminate and document this very special place.
My interest lies in Simon Norfolk's ideas and practice to achieve these before the photographs subject, however whilst looking through his extensive portfolio I discovered these two beautiful photographs which I can imagine being found along the river. The photographs are a beautiful representation of the landscape but he is still applying beautiful process which is discovered in his documentary surrounding Burke + Norfolk, he tries to seduce the audience with his beautiful photographs and then let them discover the less beautiful narratives and messages.
These beautiful seascapes using gorgeous lighting and soft tones document horrendous scenes of warfare when french beaches were battle fields. |
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