Progress Review.

Throughout this project I have experimented with a range of techniques. I have used photoshop quite a bit to produce digital experiments, I did this on my darkroom photographs as well as my digital ones. I mainly experimented with creating make-up for a more dramatic effect, for example the zombie tutorial, also creating dark effects like my gothic scene, I stated at the beginning of this project I wanted to produce something fantastical, or something involving fictional characters or creatures, I also felt that I could do this effectively on photoshop because of looking at works by James Davies and Patrizio de Renzo and seeing what they had created. Often in past photography assessments I have struggled to think of ways to enhance my photographs in terms of things in the darkroom because I have wondered if it will ruin the effect of my photographs, so I tried effects on the tones and look of the photographs I had taken by themselves rather than with things manipulated into them, for example posterizing and the nuance effect. Darkroom experiments I tried were handmade negatives on photographs rather than by themselves because I had enjoyed that before and I wanted to put the effect to a better use. I also created sandwich prints but this time focused more on the subject matter. I also tried muddling photographs together to create a shattered effect inspired by a shattered glass effect I produced on photoshop. Reticulation was something I tried that didn't work as well as I thought it would, I suspect the lack of different between the hot and cold chemical temperatures was the mistake I made. Inspired by Bec Wonders I attempted combining prints by painting onto the photographs (mixed media) and also I did this by using darkroom prints giving it a ripped off effect on the base photograph, with the gaps being filled with another photograph of appropriate subject matter.

I have developed my ideas imaginatively by taking the costumes in my shoots much further and of higher standard (inspired by Viona and Beate Pischl), I also used experiments such as handmade negatives to give a snowy effect which like fashion shoots by these artists, would be used to create a mood or an advanced and difficult scene to produce. The idea of involving supernatural elements by experimenting on photoshop with zombie make-up and backdrops inspired by Disney's Alice in Wonderland which is all seen on my blog. This helps add to my aim of fantasy in my work rather than something realistic and normal.

I have researched photographers such as Bec Wonders, Viona, Idris Khan, Beate Pischl and analysed their work in depth. Photographers I have looked at in past work include Dan Mountford's double exposures which I had my own take on by sandwich printing, tracing on my photographs for patterns on top of them was inspired by Wawi, a photographer I briefly looked at and mentioned seen as they didn't inspire me that much because the work I produced based on them was something I didn't want to take further. I am still yet to look at Jackson Pollock, although he is a painter, his effect created with paint splatters looked appealing to me if combined with a photograph which I wanted to think about trying out for a final piece.

I have explored a wide range of ideas for my theme, I have tried producing work to build up to a final by using my Idris Khan blurred photographs, paint splattering on them (Pollock, which also led me to collage things and colour onto them as my own idea for an alternative to paint or something to combine with it), putting Bec Wonders' paint on the mouths idea on my photograph but cutting them up to create a different enhancement. Also having my digital experiments as well as darkroom ones helped me choose which direction I wanted to take for my final. I found my main influence to be Idris Khan, because just producing darkroom prints that were slightly blurred because of his work, I combined these with collage, paint, and partially blurred the photographs leaving half of the photograph in focus which bought in relations to other photographers work and inspired me to put my own twist onto them, leading to a successful idea for a final outcome. This showed my refinement of experimentation, when the blurring was too simple I added collage, when this still looked empty I added paint, I tried this by itself, I also realised Wonders' paint idea with the shattered photographs didn't work well so I scrapped taking that idea any further. Also with the blurred photographs on a collage, I experimented with what I would use to make them, I tried photocopying my photographs onto the collages and also putting my collage onto my actual prints from the darkroom, I realised this worked best so I took this further. Pollocks use of colours was quite minimal, e.g. around 3 colours rather than loads in a painting, I kept mine similar by not using too many colours because I thought that this could become distracting or over bearing to my photographs.

I have annotated all of my work on my blog to easily see what went well, what didn't work and what needed improving. In my sketchbook I have variously toned prints from the darkroom of the same thing, this is because if one was over/under exposed or lacking contrast I would do another test strip to improve the outcome of the print, I have annotated them with their timings and put them in order of worst to best to show the improvement and development of making my results as good as they can be.

I found my photoshop experiments which change the filter of my photographs rather than manipulate them least useful because of how they lacked fantasy and enhancement, they looked boring compared to experiments like the handmade negatives which had an illusion of what is real and what is fake to them. My reticulation attempt was useless seen as it didn't work how it was meant to, the photographs I took for this were portraits of people which I thought I could combine with my Alice photographs seen as I had planned the shattered effect with, I didn't put much thought into these portraits incase the process didn't work. Overall my paint splattering and blurred photographs were what I decided to take further because of how they worked well together by creating a childlike element which follows the narrative from the film, but also lets my work show the creative fashion side of it.

I=To develop my idea for the outcome even more, I will need to experiment with what colours of paint and collaging materials (such as paper and tissue paper) to use. I will also need to see if these designs work best by themselves or in a series of photographs, the scale needed to be decided to, I was using 4 sheets of large paper to produce something larger and more noticable. I felt that tho shade a change to normal sized prints and made more a statement, possible because of the large size of pollocks paintings the splatters were seen very easily and these would become big and overbearing on small photographs and also not give as much of an effect because of the lack of space.