Fun with Polaroid

Here are some polaroid lifts and transfers I've been working on the last week.  There are some old images and some new ones.  You might recognize some of the imagery from the gum 

prints I posted a few weeks ago.  You can tell the lifts from the transfers by the wrinkled

 edges on the lifts.  There are some images that are shown in both transfer and lift form.  You can really see the different quality in the two processes.  After trying both of these processes, I really enjoyed working with the emulsion lifts the most.  

Tin Type

This is the beginning of a series using the tin type process.  I am using the same images as the gum prints I made a few weeks ago.  I'm adding acrylic paint after the exposure is dried to add color, texture and pattern.  This particular tin type turned a sort of green color, which I actually really love- I just hope I can reproduce it! 

busy busy busy

I have been doing a lot of shooting lately- especially in the last week- for my perceived reality project.  I decided to try some interiors and I shifted toward using more lenses.  I played around with depth of field too. I think the effect is very successful and am very excited about continuing to work on this series.  I'm becoming more and more interested in altering my appearance so this series becomes universal and accessible while still being deeply personal.  

Finished Gum Prints

Got some really good feedback today from the critique in my Historic processes.  Connie suggested I paint these a shade of white to make the boxes more contemporary.  I think I'm going to try printing on tracing paper or vellum too, so the butterflies are more fragile.  I should probably stick the labeled pins directly into the "specimens" as well.  All in all though, I feel really good about how this process went.  

Perceived Reality

Here is another image to add to my series on body image.  This one is very fantastical and I like where it is heading.  I'm bringing in more elements of distortion and morphing my body in ways that are very obvious.  My goal is to expose the disconnect between my physical attributes in reality with my perception of those attributes.  Again, many thanks to Amanda Boe for being such a great help while I was shooting!  

Gum Bichromate Final

Here's a sneak peak at a couple images I've been working on for my gum printing critique.  

More Van Dyke

Here's another experiment with van dyke brown.  These two images were a test on vellum.  I actually made the mistake of not fixing the images, so the brown is much more dark compared to the other van dyke on vellum I tried before.  Anyway... it's a good start to something bigger- I definitely want to try to print more on vellum.  The transparency of it has so many possibilities. 

More on body image.....

Here are a few more images I took a couple weeks ago at the Headlands.   I am continuing my series on body image distortion and the discrepancy between reality and perception on this subject.  I distort certain parts of my body to visualize the distortion that occurs in my mind when I think about my physicality.  I am emulating fashion photography to critique its influence on women.  Any feedback on this project is very welcome.  I took these shots in the evening as the sun was going down, so they have very different moods.  

Gum Printing

Here are some test prints I made while trying to figure out how to work with gum bichromate printing.  I was pretty discouraged for a while.  Working on gum printing was technically very difficult.  I finally realized that printing gum on top of a cyanotype was the best way to go.  The details were getting lost in just a straight-forward gum print.  The very first image of this series is just a straight gum print.  It's a really nice image, but I need to do something else with it.  I haven't quite figured out what yet.  I really like the layering of color these have overall.  Especially the blue and green.  I'm excited to see where this project goes and have my final idea in place.  

Sustainability

         

       I have been thinking a lot about sustainability and how I can interpret this term as a photographer.  In the past, I have used different forms of trash as an added element or prop to a photograph to enhance it.  For example, I have used bubble wrap as part of a portrait to add texture and interest.  Spring-boarding from this idea, I decided to try using these same elements in portraiture, but add a twist.  I asked my husband to volunteer for my first experiment.  I wanted him to find something that he considers wasteful that is part of his daily life.  As someone who works from home, he is constantly receiving packages full of packing materials.  Using some of these materials, we worked together to create a portrait where the material is "suffocating" him.  Utilizing color casts, I wanted the image to come across as eerie and evocative of death.  I think it would be interesting to see what other people feel is part of their lives that is wasteful.  I think the first step we must take in order to work towards sustainability is to look within ourselves and scrutinize what we do that is wasteful and figure out how to remedy it.  With this reflection, hopefully we can think of ways to reuse, recycle or reconstruct the materials in our daily lives into something useful- instead of sending it to the landfill.  

New Direction

      

  

     Continuing to work within the realm of self-portraiture I am exploring issues of self perception and the factors that influence it.  Working within the technique of fashion, I am using the technical aspects of fashion photography to critique the influence it has on body image.  Manipulating my body in the physical layer of the photograph reflects the distortion of self perception I hold within myself.  This is the continuation of images and ideas I have been working on for the past year dealing with perception and reality.  This is the start of a new direction within the same construct of the issues much of my work is about- body image.  

Finished Product

    I decided to create a book-type object out of my cyanotypes.  The images are reminiscent of storybook illustrations.  I wanted the layout of the images to resemble a book.  I used book binders twine to sew the pieces together.  

Andrew Bird and Loney Dear

Had a great time two nights in a row at the Fillmore last week.  Loney Dear opened for Andrew Bird.  Both bands were phenomenal.  I was lucky enough to have a photo pass and capture some moments of the shows.  

Dave Bazan

Took some photos of Dave Bazan yesterday.  It was a lot of fun.  He and Winston got along great.  It's always a pleasure hanging out with Dave.  And of course he always makes for a great photograph.  Dave is on a house tour right now and his new album comes out in August.  One of my all time favorite musicians and people.  Truly an amazing person.  

Cyan Toning

This was pretty cool. My favorite toning was tannic acid with borax. Pretty rad. I feel like there isn't enough time in each day to do exactly what I want. If only I were a vampire and didn't have to sleep......

Van Dyke Brown

I just learned this process yesterday.  Tried it out and pretty much fell in love.  More to come...

Cyanotypes

Success!! 

Dave Bazan Show

We hosted a Dave Bazan show at our house last night.  It was also the first opening for Ideal Utopia Gallery.  Gabe Weis's colorful paintings decorated the walls.  I decided to talk to some strangers and take some portraits; Alex Berg style.  I actually ended up talking to this guy Taylor for a while and we ended up having a mutual friend (Andrew Fuller) in common.  Pretty small world.  

New Stuff

So I've been working on some images that I'm going to turn into cyanotypes.  These are some of the originals.  The drawings were scanned in and added as a layer in Photoshop.  Tomorrow I'm going to make digital negatives and start doing test strips for the cyanotypes.  I'm really excited.  They should look pretty cool if I can get the exposures right!   I'll scan in and post the cyanotypes when I'm done.  

A New Voyage

This blog has served me well as an outlet for my self portrait work.  I'm now going to shift gears a bit and start to include any and all of my current work.  I invite any constructive criticism you might have for me since I am always seeking to improve and always love others' input because it helps my way of seeing.