THE TASK
The second task we were given was the ‘Found Object’ brief, where we were told to take three still life images and display them in the style of a triptych. Additionally, the objects in our photographs had to have been found near water of some kind. For a while, I struggled to think of objects that I could photograph, as it was so broad and I wanted my images to have some form of meaning and context to them. Eventually, however, I came up with an idea which I felt played a twist on the brief to make it my own.
RESEARCH
Whilst researching ideas for the Still Life brief, I stumbled across Diane Gatterdam. Gatterdam collaborated with photographer Laurie Frankel to create a series of images entitled “Recycled Beauty”. Their intention with the series of images was to be inspired by something that wasn’t inspiring, and take something of no value and add something beautiful to it (Frankel, 2014).
Although their images are different in style to what I want to achieve with my own, I loved their reasoning behind the project, as it was almost identical to the mentality I had about my own interpretation of the the brief – about taking something “dirty” and used and turning it into something new and beautiful.
I then also looked at French artist Marc Fichou, who created a series of photographs on origami creations (see images below). Fichou creates origami objects and photographs them, but then also uses the unfolded paper as the background for the print.
“The sheet of paper contains both the photographic and the material memories of its past origami form. Origami and paper are one and the same thing at two different times, in two different spaces and in two different shapes.” — Marc Fichou
I loved Fichou’s idea of how the creation is simultaneously what it is, but also what it was. I wanted to try and incorporate this idea into my own creations. I therefore decided that for my triptych, instead of finding proper objects, I would focus on finding scraps of paper (litter) that had been dropped by the water. Then, I would turn these into something new – origami cranes.
THE FINAL IMAGES
The three pieces of paper that I found included (from left to right) a neglected, tatty ‘Quack’ flyer, an old receipt, and a clothes label that had been ripped off of something (worryingly, there were actually several of these labels dumped by the water, hinting at theft). I wanted to highlight the type and variety of litter that can be found on the streets, and how people really do not give a second thought about littering. I wanted to take something dirty and crumpled and almost make it pretty through my images.
For the lighting in my images, I relied mainly on natural lighting from my window. I experimented briefly with using a different light source (see image below) but I wasn’t happy with how it made my photo look – I much preferred the natural lighting, so I decided to stick with it.
Overall, I’m pleased with how my triptych turned out, but if there was something that I had to change, it’d be how the first two images are slightly more zoomed out (as seen by the lines in the backing material). Also, the point of focus in the first and last images is the centre point of the crane, but in the middle image, the centre isn’t in focus. I know these are just little things, but if I get the chance, I’d like to try and recreate these three images and attempt to correct these faults.
THE SECOND ATTEMPT
After showing my triptych in class, I decided that I wanted to try photographing my images again in order to correct the faults that I highlighted in my last post. Therefore, I set the camera and backdrop up in the same position that I had previously used (I used a grey zip-up hoodie and draped it over my desk chair beside my window). I then took the desired three images. I found it surprisingly difficult trying to match the focus in all three images, as I couldn’t get close enough to the chair if I used a tripod, so I was relying solely on having a steady hand (which I don’t have).
Additionally, I found that I still encountered the same problem of the third image being too zoomed out. This was because, originally, my intention in the three images was to also show the cranes growing in size. Because of this, I made them in three different sizes – with the yellow being the biggest. Therefore, I had to zoom/crop the first two images to fill the same amount of space that the final image takes up in the frame – making the third image seem more zoomed out.
I came to the conclusion that the only way to amend this would be to remake the cranes, but seeing as I made them out of scraps of paper that I’d found by the water, it would be unlikely that I’d be able to find the exact leaflets/labels as before, and I really liked the contrast between the bright pink and yellow, so I didn’t really want to change them.
This was my (slightly) amended image, where I tried to make sure that the focus was the same in all three photos:
FIRST ATTEMPT – CONTACT SHEET
SECOND ATTEMPT – CONTACT SHEET
REFERENCE LIST
L. Frankel (2014) – Recycled Beauty, Adele Peters. Secondary referenced from http://www.fastcoexist.com/3029046/change-generation/these-gorgeous-still-lifes-are-made-from-all-our-litter#3 (Accessed 2nd December 2015).
M. Fichou (2013) Marc Fichou’s Origami Photos. Secondary referenced from http://www.featureshoot.com/2013/08/marc-fichous-origami-photos/. (Accessed 2nd December 2015).