Experimenting with photo manipulation. Taking people out of their environment and placing them in deserted places, while retaining realistic lighting but raising questions about the authenticity of the subject.
Time by John Clang
A series of photographs taken at particular places in New York over a period of time, torn and reassembled:
A series that involves recording a location, to show the passing of time in a montage style. There is a sense of intimate intricacy of how time moves, and how people, albeit in a different time, are actually closer to one another and traveling in the same shared space. I’ve always been intrigued by the constant subtle changes in my urban environment. Every subtle shift affects my feelings and thoughts, hence my images respond acutely as a poetic reflection of myself in this environment. Working on this series, I explore how time moves in this seemingly static urban space. The people become the moving energy flowing through this space, marking the changes, forming the time. These images also explore my fascination that there are probably many time dimensions in this universe. We may have a ‘life’ that exists similarly on a different path, one minute before or after the one we’re living now. We merely just exist in this current dimension, and sometimes when time paths collide, we have déjà vu experience. (…close)
More examples (and other great photographic projects can be found at Cheng’s website here
I think this work is fascinating because it captures the same place at multiple times which emphasises the transitory and temporal state of daily motions in the face of constructions which are less fast paced. I am interested in the ubiquitous nature of humanity in urban environments and their reaction with that environment. John Clang has opened a new window to how I can demonstrate this theme.
Human Consciousness
The idea of consulting our conscience is one seen cartoons such as pinocchio, presented stereotypically in the form of little angels or devils on the shoulder. It is something very personal and not physical as it’s representation would suggest. Only the expression of a person mid thought is evident when they ‘consult their conscience’. However, the characterised persona’s that we envisage when we talk about this subject exist because there is more life and dynamism to evidence thought. Importantly it holds comical value and suggests open decision making.
My short series of drawn on photographs captures well famous or well known people while they appear to be thinking about something or presenting their consciousness as if they would like it to be seen. My study for this project was to depict how people who would generally be considered bad people actually have a good conscience that they would have had to consider before they committed offences, and that people who are generally considered good have to deal with temptation.
I like the result too because it kind of humanises and makes fun out of globally renowned figures, when deemed evil or heroes, through the cartoonist imagery. This comes across as cheek or satire.
A brief self managed installation of a real life spider web diagram that I feel represents me. I wanted to bring a diagram to life so I literally created, although temporary, a realistic looking spiders web using wire and glue (with glue gun). I included some photographs of memories that I hold strong in my mind as well as abstract things that represent me such as the bridge across the top which represent my life as a journey crossing from childhood to adulthood. There is a football boot to signify my passion for sport and appropriately the whole naturist scene I have set confirms my respect for the environment.
Discovery
Series, “Discovery”. This series was part of a short project stemming from the title word, Trace. My work is based on the ideological perspective of future archaeologists. I experimented with clay, allowing common household objects to leave their impression into the material which generated an archaic tone. I was inspired by Christopher Locke and his “Modern Fossils” work. This causes a strikingly unbalanced impact upon the viewer because it juxtaposes the new, with old methods. I decided to portray my work in a sanded area with light shining on my objects to cast dramatic shadows, as if an excavation were in progress.
What I find particularly successful about this project is the drama produced in such a small and restricted area. Also, the objects in each photograph have a genuine feel of personal belonging to them which is partially tarnished due to the expectation that they have been hidden away for a long time. The time they have hidden away is questionable too and the spectator is able to ponder on whether this is far in the future or a week later after loosing a pair of spectacles or calculator.
Subversion and Humor
This project pursued the avenues of typography and text based work in a humorous and audacious way to provoke thought and awe. I came across the work of David Shringley in a presentation and his work had the very effect I have attempted to re-create with my own creations. I found myself pondering on the randomness, brazenness and animation of his signs and messages. Some will bring inanimate objects to life, others leave you in a loop of thought as to how silly but undisprovable the ideas are.
Through my own development my interest was led towards signs of an official authoritative stature and how they can be undermined through manipulation of their meaning or questioning their intent. People look at signs everyday and almost think nothing of them, so I attempted to give reason and ability to the signs instigating a reaction.
An original idea of mine was to form a photograph which consisted of contradictory signage. I imagined a music festival with a ‘Quiet Zone’ sign, a freezer bearing a ‘Caution Hot’ sign or a large open space with the words “Mind the Gap” in the foreground. After experimentation with similar sign and notice works, I decided to create the latter.
Here I was interested in the idea of combining a sign which represents a place (in this case a train station) that we are all familiar with, into a random area. These photographs show how I have positioned my notice near the edge of a walkway, similarly to how the real notice would be on the platform overlooking the rail lines. I actually overlooked the reactions of people as they walked past and observed a mixture of laughter, intrigue and perplexity. Even when I had to look at it myself, travelling through the frequently used walkway that it is, I felt it imposed a negative feel to the perfectly walkable ground below it. For these reactions and effects it produced, I find this piece successful it it’s aim of provoking thought and shock upon the audience.
When I looked at works by David Shringley such as “One Day a big Wind will come and…” and “River for Sale”, I developed on basic hand written messages that had a more personal feel to them but also managed to successfully convey the humor and anonymity.
It feels as though they are actually speaking to you and addressing you personally when you read them because of the way that they are written which bolsters their impact on the spectator. Similarly to the use of personification in “One Day a big Wind will come and…”, I wrote what I imagine a recycle bin would say if it could voice itself. (below)
I employed the same hand written techniques which bring humor to inanimate objects here as with my other pieces. The personification in the joker image is particularly captivating because the hand drawn feel of the speech bubble echoes the sketch like nature of the playing card depicting a joker. I specifically chose the black and white joker card rather than the coloured one for this very reason.
I like the idea of playing on the meaning of words, like “I got soul” on a shoe. I decided that instead of writing “sole” which blatantly points out the comedic effect desired, writing the proper spelling but on the actual sole of the shoe would provoke more thought and attention, conforming to my theme.
One of three ways I chose to display my ideas was photo editing. I snapped some photographs of various signs and notices then edited them how I immediately perceived they would best create humor. Because the nature of the sign is still intact and they remain as official looking as before, the manipulation is not as obvious as hand written messages. They seem to attain a false sense of authority or a hollow authority post-editing. It makes you take a second look after glances at them, then realising in a state of inexpectation.
Shringley’s “Sunday Adventure Club” intrigued me because he has made a space or an event out of nothing other than a hole in a fence in the middle of nowhere. It’s like planting an idea in the audience’s mind that you rethink over and over because the cleverness comes from the fact that what he is written cannot be proved. You look at it and think it ‘obviously cannot be true, it’s just a joke’, but you still can’t actually prove it unless you stay over night until 4am. Of course your not going to do that because you know unequivocally that it is false; but the nagging sensation of it being a possibility continues…
I have conducted a similar piece of work using an image of me photographing a mirror. This text suggests that when you cant see, the mirror becomes a portal to a parallel world, rather than just a reflection. Unless your going to film it, you’ll never know.
