Final out come - the photos

My final outcome I started this exam of not knowing what I was doing or where I would end up, and over time I've put together a lot of research which has helped me in getting to where I am now. I decided with the 'imagination and mystery' theme I would go into the sub section of dreams and sleep, but I wanted to do something original, I wanted to look into dreams and sleeping but with the goal of looking for imagination and mystery where no one had really looked before. That's where I started researching routines, the act of preparing for sleep, and with it dreaming.

In my head, ghosts are not pale figures running around with sheets over their heads, jumping at people from behind walls, or moving things around while we sleep so we can't find our keys in the morning. Ghosts are digital recordings of memories, imprints left behind from what we ourselves have done, locked in time. There's evidence of this if you look close enough, be it footprints in the sand, fossils, dirty dishes after dinner left out overnight or so many more other things. If you look hard enough you can see ghosts for everything, how else would detectives be able to do what they do? To be able to trace the murderer from the scene of the crime? That's the logic I wanted to apply to the bedtime routine, what we do every night without fail or without conscious thought for most of the process. The idea that we are leaving all these ghosts, these endless repetitive ghosts all in the same place, all doing the same thing, night after night and the trail they leave behind.

It's this idea I wanted to bring to life for my final piece, bringing out the hidden complexities beneath the mundane and ordinary. For this final piece, I took loads of photos in the same spot of people going about their nightly routine, in this case three people were chosen. I then decided to use photoshop to digitally manipulate each of the photos one on top of the other, similar to how Idris Khan did his photographs. It was a lot more difficult than I originally anticipated, you really had to check your images thouroughly to make sure there weren't any blunders, any spots that didn't make sense, and that it all fit and was in the same place. It was a very time consuming process. Here are the following screen shots taken of the process.

(Originally I had decided to do four digitally manipulated photos, but as the process was very time consuming it got to the point where I had to decide whether to have three very high quality photographs, or four photographs of an acceptable but not amazing quality. After careful consideration I decided quality was more important to my task than quantity.)

Photoshot screenshots 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Final Outcome Images

What I really like about the top photo is the combination of different clothing. It really shows the repetition of routine day after day over a long period. The red and pink really draws the eye centrally, which I think is important compositionally to give the whole effect of all the different versions of the same person. I like how at a glance you think there are five versions of the same person in the image, before you realise that actually there are six, if you bring into consideration the shadow on the wall, which is very different to the composition of the figure meant to be casting it. I think it is visually compelling.

The second digitally manipulated photograph is more an exploration of a pathway set before you. One of the figures in the photograph is not transparent, meant to show how we are oblivious to the ghosts around us while we are going about our routine, without any real thought to the possible mysteries around us hidden just beneath the surface. I really love how the blue brings out the ghostly appeal, drawing your eye to where everything is happening. The white background really shows this clearly and seems to add another dimension. I like how with this, instead of with the first photograph, there are ghosts all on top of each other, really showing how there can be many memories all in one single place.

For the final photograph I toyed with the idea of creating a ghostly effect, but decided ultimately that it had a greater impact as a solid being. Contextually it is to portray how we use the many numerous items on our sink, reaching for things with an almost sleepy persona every night.You could describe it as a sequence of events, one after another reaching for a new item. I love how the colours are warmer than the other two, giving a sense of comfort, which is appropriate. We are taught that routine is comforting in life, and it is because it's unchanging, it's secure and safe. I like how the arms are therefore solid and reassuring.

In conclusion

I think i have done indepth research and made a fulfilling, and personal, outcome which reflects on the exam themes of imagination and mystery. I think I have been successful in searching for an idea which is both original, and has a depth to it, and I like to think people will look at my final outcome and really think about what it means, and how they'll feel the next time they're preparing for sleep. If I could change anything at this stage, I would have put more quality into my experiments, particularly the Sophie Calle response, and given an extra dimension to my final pieces by printing them out and maybe photographing them in places relevant to the topic. Some video entires to what people thought of them would also have made an interesting conclusion to my exam.

Additional

Looking back on my exam photo's, I decided I wanted to put them all together and use previously taken photos, that were taken during the research part of the exam, to supplement my exam-done photos. Separately they each have their own impact, but I wanted to show them all as a full blown set, which I have done using Photoshop. I love the dynamics, the contrast of black and white to colour, which I think are appropriate to each type separating them as digitally manipulated photos and non-digitally manipulated photos, and the thin black lines around the outside and between the central photographs. I think this makes the photographs very neatly alined and give a professional air, rather than just a school girl's project. I think it is brilliant in portraying the hidden complexities of routine which I have researched thouroughly over the last few weeks, and this neatly sums up my art exam. I am overall very proud of this final outcome.

Idris Khan

Idris Khan

Idris Khan is an artist who was born in Birmingham in 1978, and is at the moment based in London. He's done an amazing array of work composing digitally animated photos with many photos on top of each other, giving a ghostly image like the one above. For example on one occasion he did every William Turner postcard from the Tate Britain all on top of one another, and on another took photographs of every page of Roland Barthes's mediation on photography and put them all together as done below.

I find it intriguing as a whole. To see so much and yet so little all at once, because it's pages and pages worth of information all jammed in together, I think gives an extraordinary effect. It's quite ghostly, capturing the essence of all these different layers hidden beneath the surface, because essentially that's what a book is. If you think about it logically, all the pages are pressed together, and it's only the fact that the pages are opaque that mean you can only take in so much information at a time, but with what Khan's done here, he's shown the hidden depths behind it, the layers you don't see, and it's incredible to see the form of ghostly photographs, and illegible words in intangible rows.

Experiment 1

As an experiment, I decided to take numerous photographs of someone brushing their teeth and layer them all on top of the other and rub through on photoshop, digitally manipulating them in the style of Idris Khan.

I think it definately captures a ghostly essence that wouldn't have been there before. The black and white works well in showing the tones and shapes hidden beneath each layer, and the ghostly arm to the right as well as the bathroom environment shows what is occuring. To have made it more similar to Khan's style with the water towers, it might have been better to have less movement to show the real subtleties between arm gestures, but overall it works well in capturing the ghostly repetition of such a common act.

Photos used in the experiment:

Looking at Idris Khan's work, of impression beings left, of those pages all being one on top of the other, got me thinking about other layers that could exist, or rather things that are there that we are maybe not aware of, or maybe we notice but don't really think about on a deep level, about the things we leave behind really, the impressions, the physical and the emotional. So, in the middle of the night I decided to get up and record what things have been left behind in my house as evidence of people having been there as a set of photographs:

I love how these photos really work well as a set. The eeriness of the nighttime when everything's quiet and still is definately an atmosphere captured realistically in the set. For most of the photos I took them in the dark with a sharp flash light, to make the images sharper, although where there was already a source of light I kept the flash off to capture the natural light effects. I love the subtleties in some of them, like the food stains, and the more original photos which I probably would never have thought of if I had set them up in the style of Hopper and Crewdson, like the letter waiting on the door so the occupants would remember to post it the next day, and the lamp turned on ominously in the hallway. I really tried to think about composition while taking the photos, which I think works really well, particularly I think with the yoghurt packet in the fridge, with the sharp light in the background and the packet taking up all the available space, giving it a powerful essence. It was strange to see how different everything is at night which you don't really notice in your day-to-day lives. Everything seems to take on a darker edge, waiting for the day to come.

Additional artist research

Sophie Calle Sophie Calle is a french conceptual artist, photographer and installation artist. She is regarded as a slightly unorthodox artist, breaking down boundaries most people don't even realise are there. Her long and brilliant career began by stalking people around the city of Paris in France, one of whom she followed all the way to Italy, and she has since used art to analyse the difficulties and pain in her life. When her Mother was dying she had a tape rolling at all times to record her final minutes in case she wasn't there when she did go, and when she came across a lost address book she contacted everyone in it to base a project around the person who had lost it in the first place. She's a perfect example of an artist who thinks her art through, and who gives her art real gritty substance and realness. "It became almost an obsession. I wanted to be there when she died. I didn't want to miss her last word, her last smile. As I knew I had to shut my eyes to sleep, because the agony was very long, there were a risk I might not be there. I put a camera there, thinking if she gave a last jump or start, a last word, at least I'd have it on film." One of her most memorable projects was one she put into action concerning an email she received from her ex dumping her, the last line of which became the name of her project "Take care of yourself". After two days of it sinking in, she was inspired to use it to her advantage, to use it in her art. She decided to show the letter to various women and allow them to interpret the letter according to their profession, taking photos of them reading the letter. Among the 107 women she asked was a forensic psychiatrist, who dubbed him a 'twisted manipulator', and an ettiquette consultant who analysed his manners and found them to be poor. All their contributions based on their professions really made the exhibition.

It was a brilliant and very fascinating project, especially contextually. I think it's very feminist. I think all women at some point have gone through a similar experience, and we all deal with it usually in the same way, namely by trying to look for hidden signs and meanings by analysing every detail, and then having your friends do the same. It really highlights the way women work, because essentially every one of those 107 women have responded to it in the same fashion, if not exactly the same way. All of them have read this letter and thought, how do I interpret this? That's what's endlessly fascinating about the way Calle went about choosing these women, she chose by different professions because she knew with the different professions would come very different ways of interpretation.

Experiment: Inspired by her email project, I decided to incorporate the method she used while thinking back on my research looking at routines as a part of the sleeping process. I explained to the people I asked Sophie Calle's art work 'Take Care of Yourself', why it had come about, and what she had done, and then asked them to write down for me or illustrate, (or put down in any way they liked), how they spent their evening once arriving home from work/school, basically asking what they did before going to sleep so to speak. I then took a photo of then writing down this information. It's interesting to see how they are all doing the same thing, but have slightly different postures and ways of doing it, some lean back, others lean right up close etc. It's also interesting how the way it's written down seems almost in tune with their personalities or outlooks. Girly handwriting for girly personalities and such.

Straight and to the point. It's interesting how the person asked set it out using very little detail and very short sentences. It says more than it implies about him, suggesting a private individual.

A very practical way of looking at her routine. The neat girly handwriting goes nicely with the personal style in the photo, and the eye is instantly drawn to the bright pink nail varnish centrally.

Another very practical approach, with a blow by blow account.The lack of sleep implied by the long hours of studying documented is supported by the tired expression and harsh lighting of the photo.

A sweet approach to documenting her routine. The use of cartoons and nice handwriting reflect an artistic personality, which I think the photograph reflects nicely.

Interesting how there are arrows included to show an order of progression, this is the case in quite a few of the accounts given.

I think for this pair there is contrast between the cartoony jokey notepad account and the look of concentration on the subject's face.She looks deep in thought, contemplating her routine.

Not amazing photographs all in all, although a couple show some good composition. They are more research than an experiment as such, but it was interesting to see how at first people weren't sure what to write or where to even begin. Most if not all of the people I asked didn't fully understand it's purpose even when I'd explained it to them; it just seemed very irrelevant, even verging on the personal to even ask in the first place! Yet once they started thinking about it they began to really put down what they did, occasionally adding things in different orders ,remembering "Oh! And then I do this..." or "yes, then I do watch tv next, except on weekends when I'm working" as they recalled parts of their routine. It was mostly to see how in fact people don't really think about their routine in the evenings, and the steps they take in preparing for bed, they just know it off by heart without really taking it in.

But it was a good task to get a better sense of what kind of documentary photographs I can take regarding preparation for sleep, and while the photos mostly seem the same I find that very relevant in that we all prepare for sleep in much the same way, with just tiny differences here and there, with an extra bit thrown in (like moisturising) or taken away, (like flossing).

More critically however, while it is an interesting idea which has given me food for thought in approaching my final outcome, the photos aren't particularly high quality, are mostly very similar, and lack diversity and quantity. I think if I'd had this idea a lot earlier in my prep work, I could've gone a lot further with this experiment than I have done, I would have put more thought into how I did the photographs, given a better outline to my question, and asked more people with a greater diversity, i.e. different ages, different places etc. I might even have had them create a more accurate account of their nightly routine by taking the notepad home overnight and filling it with as much or as little information as they liked with no time pressure or distracting peers.If I were to expand on this experiment, that is how I would do it.