Initial Ideas

For this project I want to move in a somewhat different direction from my previous one. After having focussed on the use of Polaroid images I began to become more and more interested in the works of Richard Learoyd and Gary Fabian Miller, whose works dealt with the 'direct' image, removing the interposing negative which is usually integral to analog photography. Having attempted to resolve my antecedent project using a 'direct' means of projection I decided I wasn't completely satisfied with it and would like to further pursue this kind of photography. I intend to begin by looking at Pinhole photography, a style of photography so basic it doesn't even require a lens, as well as the rayographs or photograms of Gary Miller, Man Ray and Curtis Moffat. (all below in the order mentioned)

I've also been meaning to explore another idea, quite apart from my previous project, the idea of cutting up the body by using the framing of the image. Initially this began to be conceived of in the terms of an almost Frankenstein-like experiment, re-organising and restitching the body back together in different configurations. Juxtapositions and the use of a lomography camera called the Golden Half would be key to this idea. The Golden Half is a 35mm camera which doubles the number of exposures per roll whilst halving the image size. The images when printed mean that two half-frame images can be placed side by side on the same piece of photographic paper, giving results like the images below. The images create a story in dyads and juxtapositions, the seemingly random throwing together of the images can create unusual twists and add an uncontrolled element to the work, making chance a key factor in the creation of the diptych images.

The image above (lower) is one taken by a friend, illustrating an initial conception of the dividing up of the body over several images. The image above (upper) is an example of the creation of a story through the juxtapositions, the way the balloons in the second image seem to mimic or continue the bubbles being blown in the first image.