Digital Images - Neglect and Derelict (Photoshop).

Digital Pictures - Neglect and Derelict.

Inspiration Images.

Air Pollution.

 Ground Pollution

 Universal Pollution.

Looking at the context of neglect and derelict areas my thoughts looked towards environmental issues and global devastation. As a small project i felt that my work had to be based in a local area with present issues. However local my project is, it still relates to the national and even global environmental issues currently being discussed and dealt with; thus making my work 'On Topic'.

Politics - Neglect & Derelict.

I wanted my photos to portray the neglect and abandonment of certain places in my area. To show awareness of the environment and what the result of our actions has determined. The monotone imagery adds to the negative tone of the issue being stressed. I wanted to show the contrast of nature and man made objects & buildings - A non living fight for survival.

Research - Famous Photographs.

Lewis Hine - This solemn picture portrays the negative atmosphere that so clearly surrounds these young coal miners. Compressing them together to suggest the expendability of the individual and the group. Its ultimately creates awareness to the public on how the coal miner's situation really is.

Lee Miller - Nazi criminals poised as poorly disguised jews and were captured by allied forces. This nazi's vulnerablity is exposed in this chilling image due to the raw 'face on' angle that the picture was taken in. It has a sadistic value, as the allied forces gained power the nazi's vulnerability becomes something to exploit.

Sometimes a picture can explain everything, from the context to the emotions. This picture represents the mass death of mostly jews and other nazi enemies. Its horrific content instantly shocks us; the shock value of a picture can play an important factor in its popularity. By George Rodger.

This famous picture by Nick UT is from the vietnam war thatvividly portrays the laissez-faire attitude of the soldiers towards the burning children. Extremely horific scenes depicted in this snapshot ensnare a cold sense of humanity. The blatant imagery needs no explicit explanation.

This simple picture of men standing around has no obvious context. Its just a picture of a man going about his day. It portrays no extreme emotions. I like this picture for its ambigious context which envokes thought and questioning. This is Phillip jones griffiths. I took a snapshot of an event that was happening but instead of photographing the event he took an image of the reaction.

This polaroid by Jim Goldberg (Magnum Collective) has a simple concept - the context is defined by the writing around the main image. Adding a sense of connection and true understanding of the image due to the personal, informal writing provided.

How does this relate to my work?

All the images shown are taken for the purpose of awareness and allowing people to discuss certain topics that may be taboo or unpopular to talk about. Even though these photographers have a global influence, their image is an originally local issue. By showing us the local issue they make us aware of the global one. I too have taken image of my town's local issue adding the awareness of the global one - Environmental Pollution, The Neglect of our buildings & The Neglect of our Earth.

How to...

Development & Final Development - Pub

I used Fstop 8 with 2 second intervals, but there was not enough light exposure and so the image was very light on all sections. I then changed it to 4 with the same technique which gave me the information of how many seconds of light exposure

it needed - 4

 Attempts (above)..

This is my Final print and I feel that it came out well as the contrast of the light and dark areas is reasonably balanced and the actual angle of the image is unusual.

Development & Final Development - Fishmonger

Firstly i used Fstop 8 with 2 second intervals. This gave me the information for how many seconds I needed to expose the image for - 9. However I added 45 magenta to add contrast. This was a success and made balanced contrasting areas but also gave me more knowledge and familiarity with the equipments technology.

Final piece:

Final Development - Car Park

I like this one the most as i think it expresses the main theme the most - Neglect and derelict. The angle of the image really gives it a sense of nature taking over. I also like the dark tones of nature and the light tones of the sign. It has the ability to spur alot of view points.

Mistakes & Development - Car Park

My constant mistake with blurs is becoming a signature move. On a serious note: I used Fstop 8 with 2 second intervals, i found that 10 seconds was the best exposure time. My first final print turned out too dark so i changed the time to 9.

                                         

Development & Final Development - Bin

I used Fstop 8 with 2 second intervals though this made it slightly too light. So i changed it to 4 - giving me the best exposure time of 7. I also blurred some of the image but learnt from that mistake.

I like this image as its quite simple but can be interpreted in many ways. 'Waste has become natural' 'Our environment is rotting away'.

Final Development - Van

By trail and error this was the eventual final image. I like this picture because its extremely unusual (a van in a swamp). I gives the message of two things that shouldnt belong - a subtle protest against man made objects blending into natural elements. The vast detail isnt so overwhelming that you lose focus of the van.

                                                            

Development and Mistakes - Van

This blurry effect was a mistake due to jogging the light sensitive paper. Thought sometimes this effect can be utilised efficiently, it wasnt an aethetical success with my work.

I used Fstop 8 with 2 second intervals. This was too much light exposure and so turned out very dark. I changed it to Fstop 16 which lowered the exposure levels to an appropriate amount. I did the same technique again with 2 second intervals and found that 4 seconds was the best time of exposure.

Contact sheet - Development

Test strips act as a contact sheet (as a preview) but can be used for one expanded image. It allows you to control the results more as you gain extra knowledge into the ideal amount of time of exposure, contrast quality and other aesthetical elements needing to be taken into consideration when wanting a final print. It may take abit longer but you'll save money and gain extra quality to your images in the long run.

To create a contact sheet is on my blog already. However, specifically, I used Fstop 8 and exposed the negatives on light sensitive paper for 2 second intervals (to a total of 10 seconds). Though I wanted to see what exposure time was ideal so I exposed the whole sheet for 2 seconds. Then i covered 4/5 of the sheet - exposed for another 2 seconds and continued to expose an extra 1/5 each time until it all amounted to 10seconds. I then developed it (this is also explained on my blog). I found this difficult at first but only due to the unfamiliarity of the equipment and technique. Once you 'get a feel' for it all you very quickly become familiar. Your understanding of of light exposure and the whole development process rapidly strengthens as its a very hands on approach. I quickly found that i was able to set up the apparatus and arrange it accordingly due the the specifications of my work.

Contact Sheet - Neglect & Derelict

Producing a contact sheet allows you to preview your work and analyse the quality of your images. This helps when either choosing your desired images or simply to prevent unnecessary mistakes to be made. A contact sheet is cost effect as it can reduce the amount of light sensitive paper you need to use (it also costs ALOT). But ultimately - it saves time!