Throughout this series Lost River intends to document multiple forms of loss, a loss of natural spaces as playgrounds for human interaction, a loss of traditional photographic processes and a personal loss of a close relation which I previously shared the river as a playground with, each strand of loss is separated and independent from each other conceptually, providing narratives which can relay to each individual member of the audience, as well as society socially and politically, each strand contributes into a culmination of an overwhelming experience of loss. However conveyed in a beautiful way which envelopes the audiences attention whilst they break down the visual structure to understand the photographs.
The process is important throughout my work and especially in this project, I employed a photographic technique to document which allowed the photographs to further connote a loss with a very specific aesthetic. The stark black and white images created using direct positive paper negatives provide harsh contrast which when coupled with long exposure times introduce a dramatic loss of the ‘river’ visually, this contributes to the narrative further. The duration of the exposure reaching minutes due to the low sensitivity to light render movement as soft ethereal motion blur, and at times with the light bouncing off of the surface of the water overexposes which leads to a complete blown out river into a pure white space.
From the beginning I realized that the limitations of the process aided the narration of loss in the project and explores interesting avenues in the approach. I was photographing something which I had had and was afraid of losing further and therefore by not being able to see the main focal point in the photographs throughout the project these narratives are amplified. It also creates a consistency throughout the project in which the audience can directly engage with. They also create an interesting visual appearance and are visually stimulating which means the audience will spend time to look, this with all of my photographs is something which I endeavor to produce and influenced by Simon Norfolk I believe the work should be beautiful for it to deliver the message to the audience effectively.
This message of loss is complicated and directly engaged within the work. I experienced loss at the beginning of the project which inspired me to explore this space and document both my personal loss and the associated loss of these important natural spaces in this body of work. Throughout the project I have used repetitive metaphors which suggest this loss and melancholy, with the opening image in the sequence being a direct reference to the classic Robert Capa photograph of conflict. I am creating my own photo documentary of conflict between humans and the environment. This image also explores the historical importance of the place within these natural spaces, and these dilapidated wooden structures was once a port and harbor which played an important role in world war 1 as well as providing a safe passage for the shipping trade to London. These structures are so close to society but rarely explored, never advertised and lost to societies interaction. This image is also a good example of how water renders itself lost in the process. The approach from the outset of using the 5x4 camera meant that each exposure was a considered object, it took time to set up, calculate exposure and I was limited each shoot to less than 20 images. All of these factors meant that the composition was of paramount importance when preparing to shoot. Each photograph delivers this considered approach and I have been heavily influenced throughout the series by my peers as well as research. Applying traditional visual methods and ensuring that horizons are level, that the rule of thirds is well balanced and that space is considered and purposeful. My research influenced me to make traditional photographs, making classic compositional choices and delivering photographs which explore the landscape in ways similar to Alec Soth, Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. |
A continued documentation of loss is in this image with the use of space it creates a pleasing composition which sits well with the viewer, but I have purposefully shot at a low angle so that the receding traces of river through the mud are filling the bottom third and contribute to the delivery of loss, like veins or rivers themselves, avenues for movement and escape which echo arteries moving blood around the body. Empty lost, the end. Also, you can again see the loss of water captured in the river by the exposure time. These two opening images to the series are key examples in how the photographic representation of this project begun and continued, both being early shots in the projects journey they are key in influencing the final output in the project and have both made it through too the final edit. They both hold visually the key factors which I wanted to relay to the audience when I set out on making the work and both are arresting visually achieving this goal.
Another decision which I have continued to battle with throughout has been the inclusion of the 5x4 holder marks around the border of the images. And the means of re-presentation of the work, being a physical object which has traveled along the river from darkroom to destination and back into the darkroom it has continuously been a repeated conflict which from the beginning has bee a struggle to realize.
Another early shot from the exhibition was to turn the camera away from the River and introduce elements found in the spaces which continue to relay loss, the first exposure I made was perhaps an obvious and too literal representation of the cross, much closer and filling the frame so the shot below is more successful in subtly introducing these elements to the audience. At this stage I actively decided to ensure that the photographs created a series.
Another early shot from the exhibition was to turn the camera away from the River and introduce elements found in the spaces which continue to relay loss, the first exposure I made was perhaps an obvious and too literal representation of the cross, much closer and filling the frame so the shot below is more successful in subtly introducing these elements to the audience. At this stage I actively decided to ensure that the photographs created a series.
It is the series which is the body of work and not stand alone images, they work together to narrate to the audience the message found within but complicated enough for it to be unpacked whilst travelling through the work. This is key in the production of the work and aided my realisation that these photographs are important together as a series. Each image works with the next to introduce elements which unravel to the continuing message. The photographs therefore needed to continue in a visually connected means and the process as mentioned before really aided that as a device. This image also represents the diversity in exposure and how the over exposed aesthetic seen in the previous two images creates a much starker photograph. It was a decision at the time of exposure which approach I took and at times I bracketed my exposures to try and capture the pre-visualsied photographs, however, this was a struggle at first and I found it difficult to light meter for the paper. Being ISO 3 I begun to worry that the reciprocity failure was beginning to cause trouble with the process and that I was going to be unable to produce a failure chart for the paper, but after some trouble shooting I realized that my usual method of metering, calculating for the shadows and working out a reading based on multiple places within a scene was to complex, I had to just use the brightest spot. Once I had trailed and tested this technique I improved my success rate of exposure metering and had an effective method of image making
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I then decided that I wanted to focus on other areas of the river and found an alarming loss whilst working on the river. Hundreds of trees had been being cut down along the river bank to reduce the risk of flooding. The destruction was quite alarming and begun a repetitive theme in my work, I decided to begin to photograph the tree’s in my way of exposure. Purposefully overexposing these trees they are visually lost in the exposure, the ethereal brightness gradient. They also render really well in the black and white, after realizing this I ensured that each trip I concentrated on creating an image of a tree.
Another element this introduced in the output of the project was the use of the portrait orientation images. I enjoyed how these portrait orientation begin to suggest the idea of a person, especially with the gnarly features and twisted branches. The inclusion was something which I felt added a really interesting element to the work and certainly improved the overall effect. They also work for the trees as single images and I am really interested in them visually. I have always been interested in single trees as they have a variety of associations of loneliness, powerfulness and isolation which all contribute to my overall message.
This image which didn’t make it into the final edit shows the difficulties working with the process I chose. Away from one technical misfortune the photograph has a quality which I enjoy, however the horizon being off level disrupts the viewers attention to the image and removes the quality from the image. This distraction means that the photograph cannot be considered for the final selection as I am not prepared to allow that to reduce the effectiveness of the final output.
The exposure of the boat is perfect however and I like the ambiguous nature of the photograph. This is a second theme which I explored in the photographs, the broken, sunken and decaying boats which lined the river. These crafts, once a representation of transport, a persons passion and now lost, unrepairable and discarded they again add connotations to the overall message of the project.
The exposure of the boat is perfect however and I like the ambiguous nature of the photograph. This is a second theme which I explored in the photographs, the broken, sunken and decaying boats which lined the river. These crafts, once a representation of transport, a persons passion and now lost, unrepairable and discarded they again add connotations to the overall message of the project.
These two discarded boats are purposefully overexposed to continue the aesthetic throughout the series, although I feel it may not be as successful here as the image of the trees the connotations do continue and at times you have to consider the overall project when making the photographs. Here is an example of compromise to achieve consistency and impact. Conceptually they achieve the intentions but in comparison to the earlier exposure I feel they are not as technically finished. Something they do demonstrate well tho is that although the decision was made early to ensure apertures which delivered complete depth of field as you can see in both of the images above and throughout the series is that the light does not travel well to the paper and the background information is often over exposed and lost. So landscapes where the back to front distances are considerably different the information is often lost, which does contribute to the overall presentation but has to be considered when making the photographs. It is not helped either by the deliberate decision to push the exposures by 1 stop whilst shooting. These limitations are all areas I chose to embrace when producing the work and not allow them to restrict me but use them to my advantage in the production of the photographs.
Other avenues which I explored but did not pursue was the inclusion of portraits through the project. From the beginning I was keen to include these, with the idea that the people who use the river are an important aspect of the work I was making. Exploring the relationships I had made throughout the time spent traveling along its path and including their stories in my work. However, after a while I decided that this form of photographic representation would change my approach to working and the opportunities which I expected to present themselves did not occur. Most of the time I spent on the river I did not encounter others doing the same, a lot of the time it was an isolated experience and a day could be spent without any conversation. I enjoyed this but it removed the chance of making portraits, here was a rare example of when I did meet a couple of guys canoeing too. I liked how the photographs representation of tone includes the subject into the space, the darkness absorbs the mans legs and his choice to reach out and hold the tree engages a physical connection with the space which was not deliberate but works visually. However, the portrait which works on some aspects falls short on others, the depth of field changes in this image, being a portrait I could not expect him to stay still for 1 minute and render sharp and so had to adapt my shooting methods. Opening up the aperture to 5.6 I managed to make this exposure in 2 seconds. Which worked well, but it softens the environment he is in, which frustrated me because this is the only time throughout the project that I have shot with a different aperture. Another element which distracted me in the images is the placement of time in the work, the photographs previously have all explored a timelessness which I really felt important. When this image interrupted that timelessness I realized how much I had grown to connect with the traditional approach, technique and methods of the work and introducing modern clothing, styling and presentation removed something from the photographs as a series which I was not comfortable with. This subject and composition was not what I had originally pre-visualized either, I imagined less distracting backgrounds and tighter head shots when I thought about the portraits in the project. However, to go and seek out the subjects I wanted to shoot in this way would have contrived my approach and so I removed that from the my shot list and just continued to explore the landscape. I was moving away from the influences by Alec Soth and into the realms of a traditional landscape project by Robert Adams.
Other avenues which I explored but did not pursue was the inclusion of portraits through the project. From the beginning I was keen to include these, with the idea that the people who use the river are an important aspect of the work I was making. Exploring the relationships I had made throughout the time spent traveling along its path and including their stories in my work. However, after a while I decided that this form of photographic representation would change my approach to working and the opportunities which I expected to present themselves did not occur. Most of the time I spent on the river I did not encounter others doing the same, a lot of the time it was an isolated experience and a day could be spent without any conversation. I enjoyed this but it removed the chance of making portraits, here was a rare example of when I did meet a couple of guys canoeing too. I liked how the photographs representation of tone includes the subject into the space, the darkness absorbs the mans legs and his choice to reach out and hold the tree engages a physical connection with the space which was not deliberate but works visually. However, the portrait which works on some aspects falls short on others, the depth of field changes in this image, being a portrait I could not expect him to stay still for 1 minute and render sharp and so had to adapt my shooting methods. Opening up the aperture to 5.6 I managed to make this exposure in 2 seconds. Which worked well, but it softens the environment he is in, which frustrated me because this is the only time throughout the project that I have shot with a different aperture. Another element which distracted me in the images is the placement of time in the work, the photographs previously have all explored a timelessness which I really felt important. When this image interrupted that timelessness I realized how much I had grown to connect with the traditional approach, technique and methods of the work and introducing modern clothing, styling and presentation removed something from the photographs as a series which I was not comfortable with. This subject and composition was not what I had originally pre-visualized either, I imagined less distracting backgrounds and tighter head shots when I thought about the portraits in the project. However, to go and seek out the subjects I wanted to shoot in this way would have contrived my approach and so I removed that from the my shot list and just continued to explore the landscape. I was moving away from the influences by Alec Soth and into the realms of a traditional landscape project by Robert Adams.
Another element inspired by Soth, Patterson and Penn was the inclusion of detailed still lives, changing the angle of the camera and not focusing on a landscape anymore to try and create a visual novel was something I felt really absorbed by, the romantic notion of writing a narrative using different photographic tools really compelled me to try. Consequently I produced this shot, which although ticks the boxes from my research does not excite me. As a single image it works okay, its nothing special but away from the series its acceptable. However, including it alongside the landscapes I feel the change in viewpoint is too dramatic for the audience to feel comfortable with. As I look through the physical prints each time I reach a shot which begins to look down instead of outwards feels too much of a change. Therefore I stopped making these shots and began to focus again on the landscapes which each time I developed arrested my attention and boosted my motivation.
Another still life shot of the project which I made, this time a technical mishappening occurred where I have double exposed the dark slide, it produced an interesting result. I enjoy the image as a stand alone shot, however, I cannot again include it in my final edit as the work does not relay the meaning or message which I intended when I set out about the project. It although a happy accident would not fit in with the traditional landscape approach I have undertaken throughout the project.
All of these decisions I made along the way in this project culminate in the final edit, which produce a strong series of photographs which explore the idea of loss in a multitude of ways, the audience have opportunities to engage through the series whilst remaining beautiful and stimulating.
The project culminated into an exploration of limitations personally, working with the process and environment to express the intentions. The end result is a series of images which explore the loss of natural spaces, express the loss of my grandfather and make these spaces look interestingly beautiful. This was my ambition and so the project has at this point worked well, however as with any project made over such a short duration I do not as the artist feel fully finished. I intentionally reserved a section of the river which I knew was manageable and accessible in the time frame I had however I will continue to make photographs along this path after the exhibition and deadline of this project as although the work is strong, I feel it can be made stronger and bigger. With more photographs included in the series and produced into a bigger solo show with installation and interaction I feel the work will grow into a much larger body of work, which may take years to complete. Consequently the following plans and evaluation apply specifically to the project at this stage. Including the work I have made up to this point and how I will work with it to produce my exhibition.
The 5x4 negatives which have been too the environment they represent have always been a challenging aspect of this process, they have always introduced problematic means of exhibition. As alone, they are singularly beautiful, tangible and physical which is how I feel the river needs to be explored, the audience need to feel it, not see it and so conceptually they relay this information in the viewing experience. But, they are small and restrictive, they hold information which once enlarged really develops it’s own character as well as a strong powerful impact on the audience. The dramatic shift in black and white is strong, they arrest the audience once they are enlarged. So with these two desirable outputs I have the battle of presenting them to an audience, I want to achieve both an arresting immersive experience through scale but a beautiful tactile nature through touch.
After deliberation and experimentation with printing processes and quality I have decided to display the 5x4 paper in my final exhibition. They are as an object singularly important to the process, they have travelled on the water and therefore hold a unique quality which relays with the process. They have also a small, tender and beautiful quality in appearance and format which with careful consideration to mounting and framing will deliver a strong series of prints. The way in which I decided to present them took many avenues and within the submission portfolio you will be able to see the different paths i took, from contacting a company who print onto sail cloth material to create a 10m free flowing river which I intended to suspend from the ceiling of the space too standard 40x32 enlargments. These avenues all moved away from the initial idea of embracing the limitations and also reduced the impact that the prints had. By scanning these objects I introduced the medium to a digital space which is something which subverts the traditional aspect that I have concentrated on throughout. It also renders the images with a digital print finish which does not produce the blacks and whites in the same dramatic way that the originals hold. Coming to this decision took time, and the framing option was another hurdle with lots to discuss with framers and artists. I was conscious that by overlaying a mount onto the work in the form of a standard framed photograph that I would be removing the thingylness character which I had become obsessed with. Therefore, I have worked with the framers to produce a bespoke framing service where we hedgehog the prints into the mount board. Which whilst allowing the paper to remain curved produces a floating shadow behind the work. This shadow distances the paper from the mount board and allows the audience to understand that in this presentation the pieces of paper have become part of the project itself. The frames themselves will be matte white box with no grain, to again concentrate the audiences attention onto the paper negatives. The idea behind framing is that all of the audiences attention will be focused upon the paper negative itself and the frame is a vessel to that expierience. I think, especially after the time I have spent considering potential outputs that this idea is a strong presentations method as it allows for the narrative and idea to continue into the exhibition space.
After deliberation and experimentation with printing processes and quality I have decided to display the 5x4 paper in my final exhibition. They are as an object singularly important to the process, they have travelled on the water and therefore hold a unique quality which relays with the process. They have also a small, tender and beautiful quality in appearance and format which with careful consideration to mounting and framing will deliver a strong series of prints. The way in which I decided to present them took many avenues and within the submission portfolio you will be able to see the different paths i took, from contacting a company who print onto sail cloth material to create a 10m free flowing river which I intended to suspend from the ceiling of the space too standard 40x32 enlargments. These avenues all moved away from the initial idea of embracing the limitations and also reduced the impact that the prints had. By scanning these objects I introduced the medium to a digital space which is something which subverts the traditional aspect that I have concentrated on throughout. It also renders the images with a digital print finish which does not produce the blacks and whites in the same dramatic way that the originals hold. Coming to this decision took time, and the framing option was another hurdle with lots to discuss with framers and artists. I was conscious that by overlaying a mount onto the work in the form of a standard framed photograph that I would be removing the thingylness character which I had become obsessed with. Therefore, I have worked with the framers to produce a bespoke framing service where we hedgehog the prints into the mount board. Which whilst allowing the paper to remain curved produces a floating shadow behind the work. This shadow distances the paper from the mount board and allows the audience to understand that in this presentation the pieces of paper have become part of the project itself. The frames themselves will be matte white box with no grain, to again concentrate the audiences attention onto the paper negatives. The idea behind framing is that all of the audiences attention will be focused upon the paper negative itself and the frame is a vessel to that expierience. I think, especially after the time I have spent considering potential outputs that this idea is a strong presentations method as it allows for the narrative and idea to continue into the exhibition space.
To accompany the exhibition I have also produced a small, low cost production exhibition monograph. This is to give away within free range and the sydney cooper to allow people to remember the experience and potentially see some of the other photographs I have taken whilst working on this project which are not included in the show. This booklet is a simple left page white right page image layout because I wanted the individual space and the flow to feel like a bam bam bam. Strong image after strong image which work together in series and alone individually. I re-used an image from the previous work which I discounted for the show which was double exposed as the front cover because I did not want to place one of my ‘photographs’ onto the cover. I am keen to ensure that they are respected and purposefully considered, each image is a key decision and has associated power. One element of this publication which did not turn out as I designed is the sizing of the prints, I tried to make a 5x4 reproduction in the publication of which would echo the size of the original but between the program, my design and the printers they have slightly enlarged. This is frustrating because it reduces the poignancy of the 5x4 context therefore is something I will address before I run the final print run for the upcoming exhibitions.
The final piece of the puzzle to bring the work together was the contextual information, I found this area especially difficult to finish. The work whenever I have presented and discussed with my peers and at open meetings has been strengthened by my narrative to reason and motivations. I recognize that this is perhaps the case for most work, and the standard format of presenting this information is by way of an interpretation panel for the work. Displayed at the beginning, on the wall or alongside the publication, however, I feel the work itself although needing an explanation should stand alone as relaying the message. So throughout the curation and sequencing I have tried to inform the audience visually, however, in the final series I still think something is missing. The title offers some reference to the lost being explored but it is not enough, it suggest that the river itself is lost and therefore becomes ambiguous if you really delve into the project. So, after producing some writing I resulted in two pieces of text, a standard text format, 200 words explaining the project to an audience. See below;
The Lost River is a series of direct positive paper negatives which have travelled downstream with me, we have canoed over the flooded river banks and waded through the newly formed estuaries. They have got stuck in the mudflats and been splashed by the passing motorboats. As I carry my camera and paper into these places I am looking for something lost, my grandfather, these are the spaces that he introduced me too. And I fear, that as I lost my grandfather I will also loose these spaces.
It is these spaces that I as a child learnt how to embrace my natural surroundings, I learnt how to play with my stick as a rifle, to join the swallows and amazons, but, I worry that today the children are not given have these opportunities. That they aren’t becoming adventurers in these places, that they will not learn how to have fun away from the back lit screens of our digital age. And if we do not know what to do with those broken trees and how to look at those flying birds then they will not know why we need these spaces.
These words are poignant and express the emotion and concerns, do not feel as tho they are my style. I do not feel comfortable putting this up alongside my work and so I worked on a smaller much more concise poetic text which I think would work alongside the work in a more artistic and softer way. It is more suggestive and beautiful, like the photographs themselves and create a mystery and deeper narrative with the less technical words. See below,
This text will be included in the final publication, but not printed onto the page as normal, but inserted on a smaller flyer sized piece of card. So it could be physically lost, and it also creates a break from the photographs. The poem and photographs are separate things but which together produce the narrative, the poem is a way of including myself in the project emotionally but also keeping a detachment from the overall narrative and broadening the words to the wider audience. This is important to the overall presentation of the work as I do not want the work to be a singularly personal project but both a personal exploration which raises wider concerns for our society and environment. This poem does this in a more artistic, expression than the formulaic text panel which is expected and often people spend more time reading that information than looking at the pictures. This is something I want to ensure does not happen with the work that I make. These words will also be connected with the work at the poem, in both physical printed onto vinyl and stuck onto the wall. As well as in a6 flyer size print for the audience to take away. I feel that asking the audience to take away the words as oppose to an image will re-enforce the intentions of the project and work to the audience alongside giving them a means to re-access the work on my website later. The vinyl lettering on the wall will be printed to a large scale and sit underneath the prints framed. The work will be readable from a distance but the photographs will have to be approached to be explored, this means that the audience will be intrigued by the text and understand from the beginning that a loss is being explored.
From this evaluation I feel the project I have produced is a strong response to my initial statement and the time invested is evidence of the commitment to the narrative and message. Although I have finalized it to produce this exhibition and module deadline it does not feel finished to me as a creative and I intend to continue making photographs and travelling on the river to produce more work. I would also feel that this project would transfer itself onto other areas of Britain which we are loosing dramatically. Our Islands history is absorbed through these rivers and it is something that is being lost and forgotten.