Looking through a broken peep-hole

These images were taken through a peep hole that has been damaged and scratched. I like the affect i got from photographing it as the image that it is meant to show is distorted beyond recognition. This links well with my current theme of distortion. Within these images i also like the contrast between the darkened space around the glass and the abstracted image that you see in the light.

13/11/2011 'The Collection'

As part of the Asia Triennial, the Castlefield gallery displayed 'The Collection' by Osman Bozkurt. This piece focuses on the visa issue and travel in the modern world. His layout is due to the persons appearance after he discovered that some countries will refuse a visa based purely on what the person is wearing. The photos are placed inside nine insect viewing frames. As viewers we felt almost like we were judging them as we studied the images, making the work more personal. The photographs had the faces removed to express the lack of concern that these people had been rejected visa's, thus purely removing their identities. 

13/11/2011 'Everything Is Happening At Once'

Rashid Rana is well known for his exploration into two dimensional structures, and this exhibition at the Cornerhouse gallery demonstrated it well. We both found interesting the dual aspect to the pieces, as you could see an image from a distance but as you moved closer to the image you realise that it is made up of a vast amount of smaller images which often oppose what the larger image becomes, such as 'Red Carpet 1' 2007 where you see from a distance an intricate Persian carpet, but up close you see thousands of smaller photographs depicting slaughtered animals. There is a sense of shock and awe at the realisation of this. We were amazed by the images on display due to the artists effort to go above and beyond  just taking a photograph.

09/11/2011 Reflected Projection

Here are some photographs i took whilst projecting an old negative onto a blank wall, but distorting it and reflecting it using shards of the broken mirror. I have reached this point within this piece of work through a culmination of inspirations, such as the projections at PSL in Leeds, reflections and the distortion of images. As you can see in the images above, the negative started out normally in the beginning but as shards of mirror obstructed the path of the projection, different areas of the photograph were broken off and reflected onto the ceiling and walls. I found my own shadow in the projection and reflection in the mirror very inspiring leading me onto more exciting ideas. I have been thinking for a while about the idea of incorporating the viewer in the work, just as 'Brass Art' managed at the 'Dark Matters' exhibition. Setting up a projector in a room which viewers can walk around, allows them to change the image as it is projected onto the walls. Their shadows will become part of the projections and the image will be reflected back on the viewer using the mirror, giving each viewer a unique experience. 

05/11/2011 Focusing on certain areas of my layered photographs

Rather than focusing on the movement of the whole body through an area, i decided to focus on certain aspects, in this case the feet of someone walking through a space. I thought that leaving out the rest of the body would further distort the images and would give the viewer even less information about what they were viewing. 

30/10/2011 Inside and Out

This image was not created using digital photo editing, just the reflection on my bedroom window. I find it fascinating that you have a clear view of the buildings outside, whilst the inside of my room is captured almost as a seperate layer over the top. 

30/10/2011 Broken Mirror and Reflection

I came by this broken mirror today, which has made me think about ideas of reflection and the distortion of images through the shattered glass. I was drawn to this idea as my own reflection was distorted and broken up by the pieces of mirror hanging naturally in different angles. 

30/10/2011 Ink Spreading

Keeping with my theme of time and movement through a space i decided to take photos of ink spreading in a sink. Whilst this was based around a simple idea, i think the way it naturally created distorted shapes and continuously spread was quite mystifying. 

29/10/2011 Frozen 'micro-environments'

Extending the idea of combining the man-made and the natural, after growing plants inside the confined space of a petri dish, I added artificial colour and froze each one. The first three photographs were taken through the computer screen several times. This distorted the image but also made the subject appear even more artificial and pixelated. The garish colour emphasises the unnatural whilst the trapped shoots inside oppose that. 

29/10/2011 Micro-environments

My intention was to explore a friction between the man-made and the natural whilst continuing with this idea of micro-environments. This piece was purely a trial to see if the plants would grow and push up through the bubblewrap to demonstrate this friction. 

29/10/2011 Coloured acetate and a bright light

29/10/2011 Hanging light bulbs

Light can symbolise hope, future and re-birth, this fueled the concept behind this piece. I planted seeds in each individual bulb and hung them at different heights in a dark room and a white space to see how the lighting would change the appearance to the plants. They appear as if they are floating, the viewer can study the piece as a whole or look inside each tiny bulb. The dark room was less successful as it took the eye away from the bulbs. The idea of micro- environments and small spaces interest me greatly, this is something I will look into further. 

28/10/2011 Distortion of light

These photos were produced purely through experimentation. I used cling film, bubble wrap and thick plastic, the creases in the materials reflected and distorted  the light. Light is something which can't be grabbed  or held like an object and yet I feel some substance has been given to the light here. 

27/10/2011 'Welcome to the Real World'

'Welcome to the real world' held at the PSL was situated in a gallery space which visually was raw and basic but the art certainly was not. The arrangement of the pieces were extremely well thought out, for example, 'The sinking' by Victoria Lucas was displayed up against the window, the condensation and rain outside linked well to the ocean scene being shown. Photo one and three shown above are two pieces by Gill Greenhough. Through this work she expresses our natural resistance to inheret vulnerability which becomes a representation of the body as a vessel. The physical fragility of her work linked well to her concept, as a viewer we really admired her work. 

27/10/2011 Damien Hirst at the Leeds Art Gallery

Whilst walking around looking at the many pieces on display, recognising most of them from media attention, it suddenly occurred to us that the idea of Hirst as the artist seemed quite disconnected. From viewing 'Mantra' 2007 and the other various pieces containing deceased entities of life, it became hard to see these piece as art work rather than advertisements of death. Hirst's passion for the study of science, medicine and preservation was certainly portrayed well within this exhibition.

27/10/2011 'What is to be Done?'

Mario Merz exhibition held at the Henry Moore institute included pieces exploring the theme of 'inside and outside'. For example, the neon bar injecting through the car window shows physically light on the outside travelling to the inside. The light in his work portrays a string energy. We could see the structures of his work, for example, ;Object cache toi' replicated in it's shadow on the floor. This was a nice touch emphasising Merz's interest in structure particularly in nature, the igloo and the fibonacci sequence. In addition the piece which accompanied Merz's work was a film portrait by Tacita Dean. This piece was beautiful and extremely effective in the way it had been done. The lighting and location linked to his interest in nature and displayed an ageing artist in his home.

16/10/2011 Light

My aim was to purely capture light as a subject. These photos in particular were successful in the sense they're quite ambiguous. The top photo was a crack in a door but the texture of the orange line reminds me of a plant stem. I like the fact that in the second and third photo you recieve the impression that there are lots of objects around the light source but you can not recognise what.