Title: Emotional Baggage – Cyanotype Train
Photography style: Cyanotype
This is a part of two other artist’s projects. Their art studio is called “But, also” and their project was called “Emotional Baggage” They were our guest artist being displayed at JMU and this project was based on that we carry around this invisible piece of ourselves. This is a way for us to display our artistic selves to the world and carry it on our shoulders for all to see.
We had creative freedom on what we could do and put on the bags. Some of my classmates and I decided to print our photographs on the tote bag using cyanotype. The photography method, Cyanotype, uses chemicals and sun exposure to develop a print.
This is done with one of my film photos of a train. I thought this would be a good choice because as the tote bag travels from different locations so does the train, picking and dropping things off. Also I chose this piece because it accurately represents me and my passion for trains and the fascination I have with them. That wherever I travel I am drawn to trains and other forms of transportation. This also shows my artistic nature of capturing the beauty of things and making my art come to life.
Title: Web of Consumerism
Material: receipts, yarn, cups, lids, scarfs, clothes pins, photographs, boxes, plastic bags
With this project I wanted to do an installation to show consumerism and the trash that accumulates. Being a full time manager and a full time student I was trapped between a vicious cycle of getting off of work at 1- 2 am in the morning and then having 9 am classes. Being overworked and sleep deprived my comfort was coffee and caffeine.
This project takes everything that I was feeling into one installation. The theory of working to live and living to work clashes with this piece. The constant spending of money to survive but burning a hole in your wallet leaving behind only the remnants of trash on the side of the road as it gets mutilated by the weather and elements.
Title: Pinhole Camera
You can make pretty much anything a pinhole camera, a window, a tent, a shoe box and in my case I made it out of a metal coffee container. Other people in my class created some interesting ones like a double pin hole with a shoe box, jewelry box, the craziest one was out of a watering canister.
Depending on the size of your pinhole camera determines how long the shutter has to be open. The shutter is where the black tape is, in the middle of the black tape is a block to seal it so light doesn’t trickle in. I painted the inside of the canister black so there would be no reflective surface to bounce around and overexpose the paper within.
The paper within the canister is cut so that if fits comfortably inside the container. With the film paper it has to be in a container with no light coming in. In order to put the paper in or take it out, it has to be in complete darkness or under red light so doesn’t get washed out.
My Pinhole Camera exposure lasts roughly 12 minutes and as you can see in the picture on the right you just set it down wherever you want to take a photo at, open the shutter, for mine 12 minutes, and then close it. I put the canister on a frozen lake to see what I could capture with it.
Title: The Fading CAT Machine
This is the first photograph I took with my coffee can camera. I tried experimenting with it, knowing that it took 12 minutes to capture an image. So I tried to capture a faint image of myself spending 6 min and one location and 6 min in another. Needless to say I failed with that experiment; however, without my knowledge the flap or shutter closed on its own slowly during those 12 mins and captured this ghostly image of it. This gave me an idea of what I can and cannot do. It also gave me the perspective that was definitely unique and hard to reproduce.
Title: The Wasteland
This was taken with the coffee can camera, at a tiny little stream about maybe a foot distance from one edge to the other. I wanted to capture more of the wilderness with this shot and see what came out. I was not disappointed, the photo looks like a desolate area and gives a post apocalyptic vibe. I suspect the reflection of the water is what caused the light streams coming through.
Title: A Big World Out There
This initial photograph was an experiment on what would something close up look like and if you would be able to make out an image of a license. It didn’t go quite how I wanted it to go; however, it gives me an “Honey, I Shrunk The Kids” or an “Alice in Wonderland” vibe. Something that seems so small is expanded and looks like a whole new adventure. At normal height, we see a wallet and an iron fence, but if you put yourself on ant size level, it becomes a brand new world. A new path to walk and a new world to explore, especially because how the photo looks, it looks like there is a path being divided into two.
Title: Trail of the Forsaken Ones
This photograph was taken using a Holga medium film camera. Holga’s are notorious for their double exposures and also for their light leaks. In order to prevent the light leaks you have to tape up any hole that light could come through. Of course if you want some light leakage then it could create some interesting effects.
This is a photograph that was double exposed. I got a pretty dark/sad feeling with this photograph that it draws you into it. I decided to name it “Trail of the Forsaken Ones” because you can clearly see people on the top of the hill; however, you can’t make out any details. That these figures have no face, no name, no memory. They are forgotten in the woods as they walk this path.
Title: Blackout
This was taken using the Holga medium format film camera. Its a double image and a little bit of light trickled in. I like this piece because it gives you the illusion that you are drunk and that your vision is impaired. I also like that you can clearly see the Coor’s Light bottle and the the light leakage looks like you are in the process of blacking out.
Title: The Fast Night Life
This is another book I did this time it was about my experience dealing with being a full-time student and a full-time manager. I didn’t have the most healthiest habits; however, when you get of at 1 – 2:00 in the morning and had classes at 9 am, no one is going to have the healthiest habits. If you are/were a night time worker than you know the struggle of not being able to immediately fall asleep when you get home. So my nights looked like getting home late, eating dinner while watching TV and then possibly going to sleep, unless I had school work that needed to be done. Then I’d be up working on my projects until the morning came. Of course, the nights I didn’t have school work needing to be done it was still a struggle. I went to bed around 3 – 4 am and then I had to attempt to wake up with plenty of time to get ready and arrive for my 9 am classes. Lets just say that didn’t happen much. One of my 9 am classes the professor was talking in such a monotone voice that I couldn’t help but sleep in his class or completely oversleep and not make it, somehow I passed that class but have no idea how. Quite literally my salvation was that my other classes weren’t that bad and coffee lots and lots of coffee.
The class this book was for was: Experimental Black and White Film Photography. With this class we had to use 80 and 3200 ASA film, which I used for this project. In modern terms ASA is the same as ISO on the camera; however, with film you can’t just change the setting whenever you wish. ASA is how sensitive your film is to light low numbers are meant for bright/day settings while high numbers are meant for dark/night settings.
Below is a link to the booklet or you can click the image
Title: Time
If you click on the image it will take you to collection of work I did for “Time” that I did during this time frame.
What kind of sparked my idea is looking around and I found bottles thrown everywhere shattered or a random tire and seeing how either mold or the elements have affected them. Then I went on a broader sense, nature. How us humans have effected nature over time and how nature has grown and wrapped itself around objects. I also explored the idea of life, death and love. For example, I have a picture of different height trees growing for life, for death I have gravestones and for love, the locks. A theme of getting a lock and hooking it onto a bridge or in the case of the photo, a dam. Throwing away the key, locks your relationship in time and that anybody that travels there will see the couples forever mark.