Tuesday 23 December 2014

Cumbria - November 2014

A five night stay in Cumbria during November was a pleasant break from the normal routine and while no photography was planned there was the inevitable bag of cameras making the trip.
It is easy to fall into the Lake District trap and get carried away with the magnificence of the place (remember I live in Norfolk) but that is now behind me and while I am happy to watch light chase across the fells I don't feel the need to try and capture the grand vista with a 5x4 as I did in the past, but did find time for one at dusk. When walking I tend to look for some detail or think of Fay Godwin and her fascination with the enclosure and access. However the following images are not forming part of the module but I include them purely as a note. All here are with the Leica MM and 35mm or 75mm lens.







Wednesday 17 December 2014

Nigel Shafran

Nigel Shafran (1964 -  )

During Assignment 3 I photographed some washing up on the draining board in the kitchen. The image was never used in that assignment as it didn’t  fit in with the style I needed although on its own it is a  strong photograph and was later used as one of my entries in the 45th Eastern Open, where it was selected and won an award.  Another reason for not selecting it into the assignment was it didn’t say much about being a Carer, we all have washing up and it could have been the washing up from any home. What washing does show is a punctuation mark in the day. It comes after eating, which it turn comes after cooking a meal and so is part of a simple narrative of the day. What I didn’t know about this image was that it looks very similar to the work of Nigel Shafran. Such coincidences are rare and it is embarrassing to have to explain that I am not plagiarising Shafran’s work as I found him after making my image. This confirms that there is nothing new in image making and gives me confidence to continue in this genre.
Shafran began his photographic career as a fashion photographer in the 1980’s and worked on a number of prestigious magazines, only to become disillusioned with that world and has since turned his camera inward, onto his family and his own close environment, employing techniques in still life usually associated with painting than photography.
Having found Shafran and viewed his work online I obtained a book of his work, Edited Photographs 1992 - 2004, Photoworks, 2004

Shafran’s work is inspirational and he is now on a small list of photographers who are having an influence on how I think and work in photography. The shared interest is in how we can trace human activity through the statements that are left behind when the humans have gone, the placing of objects, the constructions and ephemera, as seen in washing up.

The images are simple, almost to the extent that they are banal, but there is language in them through semiotics and interpretation, often something left for the viewer to complete and an element of ambiguity.

Shafran’s images are not studio constructions, they are found objects of every day life. Similar in some respects to the work of Edward Weston who had a similar affinity with the found objects such as his toilet, peppers and a cabbage. There is however careful placing of the camera and an acute awareness of the natural light falling onto the scene. In recent years there is wide discourse on the “real” and the realist. Straight or pure photography is a strong voice with many in contemporary practice and I am one who feels at ease with this genre, in preference to work that is being described as “post photography” with its reliance on overt manipulation and the inclusion of the bizarre. Some confuse straight photography with simple photography and that is in fact far from its intention. The connotations, the signified and the semiotics within an image do not require the work to be overtly complicated.

Shafran works mainly with a large format camera (often using a Polaroid frame before the main image), making his work as life unfolds and this requires a dedicated approach with strict criteria and an artists eye for what is right and wrong to include when surrounded by endless potential. His high production values are a feature of his work I am interested in and seek  to include in my own work. I no longer have a 5x4 camera but will continues this type of work using 6x6 format film.
Shafran has attracted much critical discourse and during an interview in 2000 with Paul Elliman Shafran explains “why washing up ?”

“I wanted to start the New Year with something optimistic. And Personal. Something with lots of shapes, where shapes would change, keep changing. Also something in which the light was important, the kitchen window or the overhead kitchen light, I mean, I really wanted to have one lit by lightning, havent got that yet. There are signs of ageing in it, like signs of time, of course”

Charlotte Cotton talks of his work and its intuitive nature.

“With an understated photographic style, use of ambient light and relatively long exposures, he transforms these scenes into poetic observations about the ways we conduct our lives through our unconscious acts of ordering, stacking and displaying objects. There is something highly intuitive in Shafran’s way of working”   (Cotton, 2009, p.121)

Shafran’s work is widely published. He has six books, numerous awards, five solo exhibitions, many group exhibitions and has lectured and a number of  universities and art colleges.


References:

Cotton, C., 2009. The Photograph as Contemporary Art. Thames and Hudson

Photographs to be added when permissions received.





 

Saturday 13 December 2014

Edwin Smith (1912-1971)

Edwin Smith (1912 - 1971)


A recent posting on www.weareoca.com  by Andrea Norrington has brought to the fore the work of Edwin Smith and an exhibition at the Royal Institute of British Architects.

For some Smith is almost unknown but I have been familiar with his work for over 30 years and  one of the first monographs I ever acquired was Photographs - 1935-1971  1984  Thames and Hudson a large hardback with 254 duotone plates and an introduction by Olive Cook.

His work attracted for a number of reasons back in the 1980s and that same attraction continues today, although my understanding of why has probably matured and elements of his style are to be hopefully found in my own work.

Born in London in 1912 he was educated in building trades and later as an architectural draughtsman, becoming a freelance photographer in 1935 in the same year he married Rosemary Ansell. This marriage lasted 2 years and he later married Olive Smith, a successful writer and photographic book producer. Smith was also a prolific artist working in water, oil and linocut/woodcuts.

Smith’s life, his love of painting, his ambivalence towards his own work is in many ways similar to that of Eugene Atget, a French photographer with who he felt a profound sympathy. Smith only conceded to describe himself as a professional photographer late in life preferring to speak of himself as an architect by training, a painter by inclination and a photographer by necessity. Endorsed by (the church loving) Sir John Betjeman as “a genius at photography”.

His main body of work was made in the 1950s and 1960s, photographing barns, churches, houses, streets, shop fronts, gardens and statues. This urban documentary style is without doubt after Atget, both in its style and technical excellence.

I don’t want to make this posting into a long biographical piece on Smith so while accepting there is much more that could be written on the circus photography, his meeting with the artist Paul Nash, World War 2 and his experimentation with colour photography. These and other personal issues can be developed in the future.

Where Smith (and to some extent Atget) influence my photography is the silence and stillness. Two concepts that on the surface are always inherent in a photograph as apposed to a video of movie film, so why do I see this as necessary. I adore peace and quite, love silence, stillness, I even dislike wind which has a noise. Olive Cook (Smith’s wife) describes in the introduction to Photographs - 1935-1971  how Smith would “Calmly, deliberately, discreetly  he would walk round  a church, a garden or a great house relating to the needs of the camera to his own visual responses and only starting work when he was certain of the possibilities of the material and the natural lighting” This description of him working  is exactly how I feel when looking at image making today. In the past I would rush around too much, grab a shot and move on too quickly often in the style of a press photographer (where I have had some experience) who has to grab whatever you can because the opportunity way vanish and nothing in the can. My return to working with film and a medium format camera and a hybrid film/digital workflow also slows down the making process and I find this preferable in so many instances to digital work.

Silence and stillness in imagery comes from two sources. The content and the photographer. Clearly a long exposure shot of a fairground ride whizzing around, bright lights, people clearly screaming, HDR technique and overt saturation is not going to convey silence and stillness at one extreme. I prefer no people or machines in my photography and that is my starting point for silence, preferring instead for lonely places where nothing moves. This does not have to be some wilderness location; in fact a lonely place can be in your own home.
The photographer must also be “silent”. I am not referring to how much noise they make although I don’t condone loud music at these times but that the presence of style should be silent.  A photographer has at his disposal a large set of techniques and tricks to enhance and process the image. I refer here to graduated filters, 10 stop filters, lensbaby etc. These should all be left alone. What I need is the very basic elements of straight photography, including perfect exposure, maximum tonal range, good viewpoint, corrected verticals and work that requires minimal post processing. The photograph should be a demonstration of good basic technique without the viewer thinking, wow this guy is good, I bet he has a good camera.
The viewer should not notice the photographer. Too much time can be spent asking questions on technique, wondering how he did that, does he use Lightroom or Photoshop, is this such and such paper etc etc.
I want my images to say something other than this is a photograph, am I any good? I want the viewer to be interested in what is signified, asking questions on its connotations, be concerned whether there is ambiguity rather than simple reason.

Smith made seemingly simple images and for me many of these resonate with these type of questions.

Friday 12 December 2014

Exercise Part 4 - Words and Pictures - Essay Review

Part Four of the module and this part is designed to hone our skills towards Assignment Four - The Critical Review.

Within the course reader the essay Words and Pictures: On reviewing photographs by Liz Wells is to be read and a number of questions answered.

1. What is the basic argument of Wells' essay

Her argument is that although the pictures are the essence of any exhibition it is not possible when preparing a review to include all the images. There may be a space for one or two and that would be all. There is therefore a requirement from experienced writers, reviewers and critics to use words to describe what was there and how the experience of being at the exhibition can be transmitted to an audience. It is possible that the words will outlive the images and in the long term act as a testament to the broad cultural discourse appropriated by the images.

2. Is the essay's title a fair indication of the essay itself

The title is in two parts, almost a title with a sub title.

WORDS AND PICTURES
On reviewing photography

I feel that it should be written the other way around.

ON REVIEWING PHOTOGRAPHY
Words and Pictures

The essay is essentially about her work as a reviewer and its contemporary practice, with reference to her early work and that of others, so the "reviewing" element is the dominant word. Beneath the title she quotes Edward Weston from 1930.

"Art is an interpreter of the inexpressible, and therefore it seems a folly to convey its meaning afresh by means of words."

By using this quotation from Weston she is saying that her work is (maybe others too) is a poor equivalent to seeing the work for yourself.

3. To what extent does the writer rely on Post-modernist doctrine

Post Modernism is a way of thinking, a movement incorporating the theory and practice of art from around the end of the second world war that treated all art with the same value. It removed the hierarchy and work was taken at its face value. Wells does talk of the changes in photography due to PM influences hijacking modernist ideals and how that PM freedom of debate included the work of writers. Her essay was written in and around 1992 and as such is contemporary with PM thinking and methods. Her work shows no signs of pandering the Modernist way of thinking, nor is it overtly PM. So, to the extent that she relies upon PM doctrines I wouldn't say it is no more or less PM any other contemporary essay.

4.The essay raises the issue of the qualifications and duties of a critic. How important do you believe it is for a critic of photography to have a deep knowledge of the practice of photography.

I don't believe a critic needs any "deep knowledge" of the practice of photography. The reason I say this and highlight deep knowledge is another question. What is deep knowledge. Photographers (including myself) have only a basic grasp of the technical aspects of how a digital camera works, or how film emulsion is applied to film. If the critic knows too much it distracts them from their real work. This is to see the finished art and interpret it, describe it, become emotionally aware of it and write about those aspects. I wouldn't think it necessary for them to comment on the process or technique, other than to say it has worked for the image or not. The detail of what paper, ink, camera format, developer etc. is for the judges of camera club competitions (where the author is waiting for praise of technique) but not in the world of fine art photography.


Assignment 3 - Tutor Report - Reflection

Tutor Report
As previously told I was apprehensive about this assignment. That statement in its self needs to be analysed a bit because really and truly there shouldn't be anything photographic that worries me too much although when having to combine the photography with copy and make an editorial I became concerned over the balance between words and pictures. If the words are too descriptive it would reduce the impact of the photography and visa versa. Add to that I was writing about myself and that was complex and outside my comfort zone.
The outcome however couldn't really be any better. My tutor was complimentary about the words and the pictures and didn't really see any areas that needed improvement. This assignment included page layouts, font selection etc. and that was all satisfactory and in harmony with the work. I had made a six page article and the tutor would have liked more images. I have more images but I don't really have any more words without changing the style of the whole piece and I am not sure how I will overcome this. The simple solution would be to add two pages of a similar style and pad it out or I would have to start again with a different approach, perhaps offering something more in the style of a learning feature rather than a newspaper supplement style.
Generally very pleased especially with one line where after describing how the photography will be styled, the response was "music to my ears"


Reflection
I am now pleased this is over and done as it did become something of a millstone around my neck. However, during the process it has led me along a path of images and imaging that I am becoming increasingly interested in. The Banal, seemingly banal. These images are often seen upon first glance as boring and with little or no substance, no content because they are not pretty or overtly interesting. Closer inspection finds that people leave statements about themselves in almost every trace of life, often through random unplaced objects. I intend to continue with this genre and develop a body of work around a number of everyday scenarios, as well as some constructions in the studio, where I will take the banal into the surreal.

Saturday 8 November 2014

Assignment 3 - Completed

It is just over 2 weeks since this assignment was sent to my tutor and I realise it has not been included in the journal.

In a break with my normal presentation this assignment was presented on a USB stick with no prints. The nature of the assignment is one of working on an assignment following receiving a commission and in this instance the buyer/editor would not need prints as they will make prints of their own for proofing etc to suit the needs of their production press.

The USB stick contained tiff files of the completed pages at A3 as well as all the individual images at 300 dpi. In addition a write up of the final work to place it in the context of the assignment.

For assessment the pages will be printed to aid the assessors viewing of the entire package.

For the journal here are :-

The six pages of the assignment produced as 3 x A3 double page spreads.







The write up.




Tuesday 21 October 2014

Review your last assignment - Assignment 3

I finally sent Assignment 3 to my tutor and it is a relief. This exercise is to review the assignment once the tutor comments have come back, but I will do it now from my own perspective and once again after I receive them.

I am nervous whether this assignment is going to work well at all. Normally I would be quietly confident that I have done enough to "get by" and them make some changes before assessment, but in this case I am not so sure. When I normally work on assignments, whether they be OCA or for others I can formulate a strategy and work around that, researching what is needed to know and make some images or write an essay. In this case I am writing about myself and making photographs close to home and this is not in my comfort zone. My concern is its seen too much as "poor me" and as a result not working objectively, but in an autobiographical sort of way that is likely to happen. Only my family and friends know what happens in my life and to tell others about it is unsettling. The content aside I am not sure the images are right. I shot then two or three times, in different ways to try and communicate different feelings and ended up using some of the first batch anyway. I think there is a tendency to try and overthink the task and the first attempt is often the best as it originates from a gut feeling rather than being over planned. In the end they are not too good technically but I don't think that matters in every scenario these days. Where would post modernism be without some dodgy work being shown.

To be continued.

Tuesday 14 October 2014

45th Eastern Open - 2014 - Award Winner !!!!

This time last year I was making a note to go to the 44th Eastern Open at The King's Lynn Arts Centre  and write up the visit in my journal, which I did here.

During the two visits last year I had made up my mind to enter the 2014 competition and when the Call for Entries was published I had some work to do and choices to be made. A maximum of three entries are allowed per person so this focuses the mind with the knowledge that the three independent selectors will have no background information, so no contextual references for their selection. It reminded me of the exercises a while ago in this module where the first impression was going to have a considerable part to play, while also remembering the type of work seen in 2013 and how that had an eclectic mix.

The competition is open to the residents of seven eastern counties from Lincolnshire to Essex, attracts 200+ artists who submit 400+ works, of which 80 are chosen to be hung in the three main galleries at the Arts Centre for 6 weeks during October and November. There is a Best in Show award of £2000 and 5 other awards, some specifically for painting and drawing.

The selectors names were not known to me but their CV's were obtained as a guide to who am I showing my work to.

John Frankland, teaches sculpture at the Royal College of The Arts, makes large scale public art projects and is represented by a number of international galleries. 

Judith King is a director of Arts&Heritage, an agency that is committed to developing unusual opportunities for artists. She has experience in commissioning contemporary work within an historic context and has worked for English Heritage.

Marielle Sbaihi is My Art Invest's art director working from a gallery in London that allows people to buy a share in contemporary artworks.

Knowing more about the selectors was useful but not helpful, other than they all were working in a contemporary art environment and would therefore (hopefully) not be too receptive to photography that was clichéd, poorly presented and technically flawed.

My strategy therefore was to
  1. Go as big as I could, simply because I can and the works I had in mind were from MF film and my 36MP DSLR and there would be no quality issues.
  2. Spend the right money on matting and framing to compliment the large prints.
  3. Send 3 pieces (£12 each entry fee) that covered a number of styles and genre to maximise chances that something would catch their eye.
  4. Use simple titles, some descriptive and at least one that was ambiguous, once again to spread the betting that one would work.

Some of the strategy does sound as though a broad brush is being used but I did need to cover as many options within three items with the aim of getting at least one selected.

My selection (see below) was focused but serendipity played its part, and while I like full control sometimes I believe that going with the flow can have advantages. I had been working on Assignment 3 for some while and had a large number of images that were good, a few did not fit into the set that I needed. One in particular had been causing concern and I decided this would be better used in a single image environment. It was to be titled "Day 96 - 2014". I am not sure exactly what day it was taken but in my world one day is much the same as any other and 96 seemed about right. "The Lathe" was a print I had made after an experiment with 120 film processing and while I wasn't so sure about its credentials I did like it for more "photographic" reasons than were perhaps justified. "Front Elevation" was a work I did last year with the 24mm Tilt/Shift lens on the D800 and was already framed and ready to show. Its stark graphic qualities and the lack of vertical perspective making it unusual although perhaps a nod towards clichéd and the use of manipulation.

I intended that all the work should be matted and framed with exactly the same board and moulding so that should I wish to show them together at some time there is a synergy within the presentation style. This didn't quite work out as planned. The framer had all the details of the previous work but when I went to collect the two I was astonished to see an off white matt board and the wrong moulding. The moulding was black and the correct width but had no depth and therefore my vision of the three being the same was gone. There was no time to even complain yet alone have it changed. On further inspection however all was not bad, especially Day 96 which seemed better suited to an off white matt board.

For this exhibition there were clear rules about fixings (none allowed) and how to present the work so that the selectors could see without bubble wrap etc in the way. I decided that as mine were behind glass all that was needed was bubble wrap to the frame edges and corner protectors, leaving the front and back clear. There was another rule about the organiser being able to remove the work from the frame for catalogue photography. This I ignored because the framer completely seals the back with tape and it is impossible to take apart. I included a note that should they need an image I would provide them. I am not sure what happened in the end because they never asked for an image but they did make their own for the catalogue. Award winners get their work in the catalogue and you are not advised of that until the exhibition has opened so I can see why they didn't ask for one. 

All the work in the exhibition can be for sale if the artist wishes. Pricing work is a difficult process and having read in last years visitors comments people saying they though the works were too expensive I decided on what I considered a reasonable price, bearing in mind the organisers take 35% commission. Framing was costing £75 per piece so I went for £300 each as a sale price for monochrome and £320 for colour. This will be a net revenue of £195 leaving about £100 for me after costs, which seems far too cheap but this is a regional arts show, not Mayfair.

Once delivered to the arts centre there is a 2 week wait for the results and I am amazed at how during that time I could not settle. OCA assessment is a tense time but with only three pieces, unknown selectors, mixed media etc, it was a huge relief when the result came and I had got two selected of the 84 in the show. A few days later I had to collect the unselected work and while there was asked if I would be attending the opening. They seemed smiley when I said yes and that gave me a glimmer of hope for something more.

Last Saturday was the opening and at 2:30 the awards were presented in a little reception typical of any gallery PV or opening night. "Day 96 - 2014" won the £100 Kings Lynn Signs sponsored award. This is an award by the selectors as a runner up to the main award and as it wasn't a painting or drawing the next best available award a photograph could have won.

The exhibition runs until 29th November.

 
Day 96 - 2014 (Selected - Award winner)

 
Front Elevation (Selected)

 
The Lathe (Not Selected)
 
 
Conclusion
 
In this instance everything about the exercise is positive. At the start I was doubtful that I would get any work selected. Over 400 entries, mixed media and being a newcomer were aspects that were against me. My strategy started by looking at last years show and seeing what worked for them, although this year there were different selectors I entered on the basis that if it was work that I had enjoyed making, was good quality technically the there was more than a half chance. It does take time to prepare and my assignment 3 has got way behind in the process but I believe that entering work into juried exhibitions is another way of gaining exposure and having your work assessed in a different environment. It is costly but there is no gain if no pain and I just might sell a piece which would be amazing.
 
I will visit the show at least twice during the next few weeks and look closer at the other work. The winner was a very special piece by Viki Simpson from her The burning times set.
 
 

Looking pleased at the opening (photograph by Richard Fletcher)

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Assignment 3 - First Draft - Part One

The first drafts of this assignment are really the page layout exercise on page 68 and as I have already looked at mock ups I am incorporating these into this posting.

The opening page below has monochrome images and I am not happy that they convey the correct feeling of a caring environment. There is a starkness to my processing that has a coldness and that is not my intention. I am showing it here so that there is a record of it existing and maybe during further discussion it will reveal itself and what that may connote.



 
 
Some colour photographs instead of the black and white proved difficult when seen together. The colour content within a series did not have a synergy, they were just a set of individual photographs being shown together. To introduce a feeling of warmth I am thinking of sepia toned images. I am conscious that this is a bit clichéd, but here for a magazine page I think the readership will not be judgemental, instead seeing it as an appropriate "feel" for a story of an old person. The page above has then be redrafted into a single image opening page, allowing more space to contextualise the story. The title has changed and becomes precise with a bracketed subtitle and to fill some of the blank space on the opposite page a quotation from Stephen Hawking on the wheelchair as icon.
 
 
 



On reflection (this posting is being constructed over a number of days) the sepia will not work. I have never liked sepia toning in contemporary photography and although this connotes a warmth in the image this editorial has no warmth, it is a matter of fact, not a work of fantasy. This totally contradicts my early thoughts and the change has come about during the writing of the main body text.
 
The process has become iterative. backwards and forwards with alternative images and texts. The Page One below is cleaner and closer to how I want it to look.
 
 
 
The page within Photoshop, showing the use of Guides for layout. Here in particular to check that the in focus part of the photograph was on the Focal Centre
 
 

 
 
To be continued.
 
 
 

Thursday 25 September 2014

Exercise - Practise writing captions

An exercise relating to picture captions.

There are some basic rules relating to a caption that don't seem to change with time. The 5 "W's" have been around as a guide for many years.

Who
What
Where
When
Why

It is not always necessary to include all of them due to the inherent nature and picture content/context. Repeating what is obvious from the photograph is considered bad practice.

Below is a selection of images with suitable captions. My experience in this field extends to some local newspaper work and although I provided factual information to my editor I was never asked to write the caption. The caption/cutline needs to be tailored to suit the story and in some cases suitable for the reader who may not wish to read the whole story, in which case it should include salient information. The cutline varies from the caption as it may run to a few sentences. Another important rule in caption writing is to never emphasise or suggest something that is not in the picture. The reader will loose confidence if they subsequently discover inaccuracies. I have given the photograph/caption combinations some context so that they can be judged within their published environment.



 
No 1  Local newspaper.


 
No 2 Monthly magazine article featuring Lincolnshire churches
 


No 3 Contents page for specialist motor sport magazine



No 4 Magazine article on classic car motor sport



No 5 Weekend supplement feature on wind farms and fishing



No 5 Specialist Paper Industry magazine article  
 
 

 
No 6 Tourism supplement with local newspaper
 
 
Conclusions:
 
Not the easiest of tasks without more direction on the type of publication the photographs will be shown with. The "W" rules when adhered to though give you the support to make the correct judgement, while being conscious of the pitfalls of being too creative and too descriptive of the obvious.
 
 
 
 

 

Sunday 21 September 2014

Exercise - Two images on the same page

This exercise continues with developing the skill of page layout and design, asking for two images on a page that are of the same subject, but different in scale or viewpoint. The picture combination is to be balanced and complimentary, resulting in a page that is cohesive. I have chosen to include areas of text as this is an important design element and when combined with the white space an integral part of the design.

Page 1 is a simple layout with photographs of a covered market in France now in use as a café. Suitable for an article on the architecture of the country it shows a large image to contextualise the building and a close up of the timber roof structure. A text panel is fitted with the rectangle of photograph edges. The Focal Centre is in the half to one third above the centre, leaving a large area of white space below the images.



Page 1
 
 
Page 2 takes us to a remote and rather unusual building on the Norfolk coast. "The Retreat" is built on the beach amongst the Marram grass and is the holiday home of an artist. The photographs once again rely on a large image to bring the context of the location and the smaller image of the seat with name board to name the building. The page could be used as a stand alone small piece on the building or as part of a larger article on the artist together with interior images and portraits etc. The text at right angles and some white space below the small caption deliver a contemporary feel that is mirrored in the architecture. The Focal Centre is again above the horizontal centreline although not so obvious as in page 1.
 

 
 Page 2
 
 
Page 3 is a rather simple layout showing a lighthouse on the island of Menorca. The building and the tower are geometric and this is reflected in the style of the layout. The text box is sized to suit the adjacent photograph and there is an overall symmetry in the layout.
 
 
Page 3
 
 
Page 4 has two photographs of a construction site. At the time they were taken we can see that the structural frame is being erected. The tall thin image on the left is shot as a silhouette and shows no detail other than to inform us that tower cranes are being used. Visually it is graphic whereas the main image below shows detail of a reinforced concrete frame and would be suitable for an article on structural engineering. The large text area is essential for a technical publication as there is often considerable detail that needs to be revealed. The overlap of images is included to tie the layout together and breaks up the large expanse of sky in the lower image while allowing the long tall image fit on the page without cropping. 
 
 

 
Page 4
 
Page 5 has two images connected in some way to food, drink, hotels, corporate hospitality or any number of similar or partial connections. There is no text and the page would be suitable for use in a corporate publication of some description relating to the above industries. The layout is driven entirely by aesthetics and has no intention of being anything other than a notion of potential for high end cuisine.
 

 
Page 5
 
 
Conclusion.
 
As discussed in the previous exercise there are no hard and fast rules for page layout but there are a number of well developed guidelines that should be adhered to. The western world reads from left to right and the page should have a L to R connotation delivered either in the images themselves or the layout of the images. The Focal Centre does need to be considered and works better with some layouts than others. If the brief is that you only have space for two images then the choice is difficult especially for the specialists subject matter, where one will be needed to contextualise the article and then one other to satisfy some detail, especially when the text relies upon the illustration.
 
The five example I have made above I rate as follows.
 
Page 1. Simple and conventional.
Page 2. Suits the content in that the layout is more complex.
Page 3. Not particularly interesting, but a specialist subject.
Page 4. Graphically interesting with contemporary photography.
Page 5. Ambiguous but likely to be used in a high end publication.
 


Sunday 31 August 2014

The Lathe

Whats all this about ?
Although I trained and work(ed) in Civil Engineering I also trained myself, through night school at the local Technical College to use a lathe and other machine tools. I spent four years making a 5" gauge live steam locomotive amongst many other projects and have a well equipped workshop, that doesn't get much use these days apart from making parts for the ageing lawnmower.
For a short while the other day The Lathe became an artefact, a found object but only when I had a need for it to be. At all other times it is just there, it gets oiled and run to keep it in good condition then covered over. Suddenly when studied through the viewfinder it was different. I saw more detail, the swarf from the last job (what was I making ?) and the worn paint from years of operattion. It not only has its own history ( I bought it as a ruin and refurbished it) but where are all the things now that were made with it. The previous users, what did they make with it ?. So for a few minutes this tool had a different life, a photographic subject, a model. Simply lit with florescent tubes and a single work light I spent a few minutes removing items from the suds tray that were not needed and took a couple of frames on 6x6 Acros at EI160. Metering was with the incident meter in the main and with a spot meter here and there to check for any out of DR areas. There were none which was obvious to see but 6x6 makes you check and check again. The next day I processed the film in Diafine, scanned, PP and printed to 24"x24".
The photographic exercise here was to see more of the capabilities of Acros in Diafine and even after years of seeing better and better IQ this took my breath away. Shadow detail, micro detail, tonality and a feeling you get when something is right but not quite sure why. But, The Lathe was doing more that being an inert object that got its picture taken for a film test. Now it did have a platform to tell its story. It has been invited into the house where more people can see it, ask about what it does, what it made, where was it made and why do I have one. But is it art ?. Duchamp entered a fountain (urinal) as an item of art into the 1917 Society of Independent Artists exhibition. The committee rejected the work as not being art, and  The Fountain is nowadays probably one of the most recognised items within the art world. In 1925 Edward Weston photographed his toilet bowl. Weston saw beauty in the shape and was careful in how he dealt with viewpoint to deliver an image that was beyond being a toilet. His daybook entry says "Photography is realism - why make excuse".
I am currently looking for three pieces of my work to enter into a large open competition that will exhibit in King's Lynn during October. I have never entered an "open" before and cannot imagine how the selectors choose from all types of flat art. Last year a photograph won the top £2000 prize so there is some hope rather than expectation that this may happen again. The Lathe may just be one of my three.





The Lathe - (mock up of Matt and Frame)

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Diafine for Medium Format Monochrome

I have recently returned to using my 6x6 cameras and am taking some time out to investigate how the move back to film may change some of my monochrome work. On the face of it there is nothing I cannot shoot digitally. If fact I have more choice of lenses and cameras in that genre but having spent many years in the past shooting 120 film and making silver prints I know that there is an aesthetic difference in the final output, especially when making large prints and I need to see If I can achieve that with a hybrid film and digital workflow. This is not to be regarded as a quality issue, as both film ( I am only considering 120/220) and digital produce outstanding results when a regulated professional workflow is used. Also this is not a technical investigation with detailed references to spectrometry, chemistry etc, but a simple see what works and use it approach.

The whole subject of what film to use, processing, scanning and final print output is possibly the subject of a much wider examination so based upon some previous experience and some online research I have started my own mini project to determine a good best practice fit to two picture making scenarios, still and moving.

Film Stock

Studio / Outdoor Still LIfe (Camera on a Tripod)

A slow film can be used as the slow shutter speeds do not become a problem. Online research shows that for my taste (its all about aesthetics) Fuji Across 100 ISO is suitable, obtainable and reasonably priced.

Street Photography (Camera Hand Held)

A faster film is needed to allow shutter speeds of 1/125 or faster with f8 to f16 aperture.
From previous experience Kodak Tri X ISO 400 and Kodak TMax 400 ISO 400 produce suitable results and can be pushed to higher ISO ratings with suitable developer.

Developing Methodology

The two options available here are to either send it to a good quality processing company or do it myself. My preferred processing house is Peak Imaging. They have a good track record with quality and offer OCA students a discount. They process all their B&W film in Kodak XTol at full strength and can push process if requested. As a reference their output is good and I will use this as a datum.

The second option is process the film myself. Having spent over 20 years (70s and 80s) doing it in the past there is no learning curve for film loading etc although I have to purchase a tank, chemicals and bottles. There is however a wide choice of developing chemicals and formulae which can be used, together with various dilutions, timings and agitation routines, all of which will effect the outcome of the process.

Developer Choice

From previous experiences I had had good results using a wide range of Ilford and Kodak products. ID11, HC110, Perceptol etc etc at their recommended box temperatures and durations. Those negatives were then enlarged and prints made in either a condenser or diffuser type enlarger. The negative contrast needed to be different depending on the type of enlarger being used. Typically the condenser enlarger produced contrasty prints and therefore did not require contrasty negatives.  
The negatives I will produce are to be scanned and this produces a different criteria for the film processing. I am looking for a negative that has a full range of tones and requires a minimal amount of post processing in CS5. From research and anecdotal evidence a 2 bath developer is the way forward and it is from the work of the late Barry Thornton that I have taken advice. The ultimate for B&W film success is to expose to give the maximum detail in the shadows and as little development to the highlights so as to retain detail.   Heinrich Stoëckler had invented a 2 bath developer before 1939 and this was popular with Leica users and Ansel Adams used a version of Kodak D23. The formula for all of these and Barry's own version are available to mix from base chemicals. Diafine is an American 2 bath developer that has a proven track record with research carried out by Stephen Schaub at www.figitalrevolution.com  
Diafine is not readily available in the UK but I have sourced a 1 gallon (US) kit from Germany and made up the solutions A and B. Two bath developers works as follows.
The film is ’developed’ in Bath A with agitation every half or full minute. Actually little development takes place. Mostly the film is becoming saturated with the developing solution. However, some development does take place and agitation is important to prevent streaking. The solution is then poured off and saved. Drain the tank well but don’t rinse or use a stop bath. Then pour in Bath B, and after a quick rap of the tank on a hard surface to dislodge any airbells, let the tank stand still with no agitation for three minutes or so when all development has ceased. In the highlight regions where the developed silver will be densest, the developer available in the emulsion is soon exhausted and development halts, thus automatically limiting the density of the negative at that point. The more the exposure, and the denser the highlight, the faster development ceases. In the shadows, though, there is little silver to reduce and there is enough developer to keep working there to push up the shadow detail density. The less light the negative received at this point the longer the development proceeds.  Unlike conventional developers there is nothing to be gained by changing temperature or times. All films, whether exposed at ISO 100 or ISO 1000 can be processed at around 20c and in each bath for at least 3 minutes minimum. The solutions are used many times and although they become discoloured there is no loss of performance for many months. There is no stop bath required other than a rinse in water and then use a rapid film fixer for 10 mins and wash as normal, using a wetting agent and distilled water for the final rinse to eliminate drying marks. The advantages of this developer are numerous. It is easy to use, requires no special darkroom techniques, accommodates various film types and ratings in the same tank and produces negatives of extremely fine grain and a tonal range that allows the scanner to pick up all the shadow detail with no blown highlights.

Results

Film used so far is Across rated at 160, TMax 400 rated at 560 and Tri X rated at 400 and 1000. 
As one would expect the Acros has almost no grain, extremely full range of tones and a creamy feel that for fine art photography would make it sublime. The TMax 400 is extremely good for general photography with a grain structure that is pleasant. Tmax 400 has a tabular grain emulsion and is perhaps not best suited to the 2 bath process.  The Tri X is gorgeous to look at through a loupe and scans extremely well. It has a reputation for handling contrast very well and with the 2 bath this is extended to give an amazing range of tonality. Diafine recommend rating it at ISO 1000 and that makes it extremely usable in low light although a roll at box speed look perfect.

It is difficult to show the results on the web. The tonality, the minute shadow detail and the creamy nature of the output is marginally different to digital images and only manifests itself in a print that can be inspected under good light.

I have also found that I am getting different results from my scanner (Epson V750 wet mounted) with different software. For colour negatives I use Silverfast 8 and find the control to be fine but for monochrome at 16 bit the Epson software is giving me a richer range of tones. To enhance the film "look" I also want to make as many tonal adjustments at the scanning stage rather than in Post Processing. The less digital manipulation the better the result will be.

Conclusions

Initially I am pleased to have gone down the 2 bath developer route. It offers benefits over developers that worked well for enlarger use as it provides a full tone negative that is maybe a bit flat (linear) and gives the scanner a better opportunity to capture shadow and highlight detail. I will limit my film stock to Acros, and Tri X once the T Max has been used. With 2 films I can cover most situations of lighting and technique in a range from 160 to 1000 ISO. Further test rolls of Across to be shot at box speed of 100 ISO.

None of this work with film (I personally reject the word analogue to describe this) is going to show huge improvements over my digital output. The differences are esoteric and marginal. I enjoy using the MF cameras (Mamiya 6 and Hasselblad 500 CM) because they require an engagement at another level. The frames are restricted, there is a tenderness about using classic cameras and there is an appreciation about light falling onto silver with its endless range of tone and contrast. The classic lenses produce sharp yet rounded images with bokeh that is not seen in modern equipment. When it all comes together the images have an engaging aesthetic that sets them apart from my other work. Some will say that this is wasting time and it would be better to move forward with technology and look at more contemporary techniques. That may be true but I am convinced that the time spent trying is worthwhile,

Below are two images from T Max 400 rated at 560 Part A 4.5m + Part B 4.5m