Book: Dissemination Thoughts and Practitioner Research

When considering how my work could be disseminated and viewed by audiences, I need to be considering how they would appear or look like in different forms. I have already discussed the idea of a zine and how I am unsure if this is the correct format. A peer mentioned in their response to me my forum post this week, as how my work needs to be seen in a larger format or in real life, as a print or a book, to fully appreciated the details within them, and this agree. Having printed my images out in preparation for the portfolio review last week, the small size worked but against the larger A4 prints, they lacked the detail and I felt they needed to be larger.

Fleur Olby: Velvet Black Book, 2018

I have been looking at Velvet Black, a body of work by Fleur Olby. The work was exhibited in London in 2020 and as a small book in 2012. Her work explores the ideas on “nature’s quiet, beauty, sensation and place throughout a childhood landscape” (Olby, 2021) and is almost a tribute to the Victorian era, not only in the works appearance but as a symbol of collecting and tending to flowers and plants. The darkness of her images speaks to me as almost a memento mori to the flowers, with dark backgrounds creating heavy vignettes which focus your eyes on the central on point of reference, the flowers. Much like I do with my own work, darkness and light pulling you in. There is a beauty to what she has photographed, the subjects removed from their surroundings and the details highlighted in the lighting within the still life set up. Anneke French in her review in Photomonitor, describes them as “quiet” and “painterly” (French, 2020) and I would agree. There is a softness that I can see in my own work, reminders of the still life paintings in the composition, lighting and subject matter.

Fig 1: Fleur Olby, 2018, Pages from Velvet Black

Olby’s book is described by French as being fragile, and by having fragile pages and being lightweight, almost mirroring the flowers and specimens photographed and the book itself needing to be handle with care. I have thought about hand making a small book of my current project, Fragile, and I have found some printable linen paper which I would like to explore not only the printing quality, but how it could feel as pages within a book. That relationship between subject and final product could be an interesting way to exhibit my work. The use of text in Olby's 'Velvet Black' interest me also, the book has a poetic phrase as its introduction and specimen names under images on each page, something which I am thinking about for my own work.

Angus Carlyle: Night Blooms, 2020

Within the same article, French discusses another artist who has explored the detail and beauty within the unseen. The lighting again is something that intrigues me when looking at the work. He camera flashlights again the dark backgrounds create vignettes which draw your eye to the subject. Lighting within mine is a key element to the final mage, even though I use natural light and adjust it in post-production, using artificial light in some way could be something to try to add to the lighting within any still life set ups I undertake, to achieve the same or similar look to my work.

Fig 2: Angus Carlyle, 2020, Pages from Night Blooms

The way he uses text is interesting also, as discussed by French. Each page of ‘Night Blooms’ is devoted to a poem Carlyle has written, which inform us about the journeys he has taken and the story behind the images and hints towards the human activity within the areas he visits alongside the wildlife.

French describes the style of the book as being stable and bound together with staples, which I see as giving it some longevity and permanence, whereas Olby’s book seems too delicate to touch. A though I need to keep in mind if I explore print or bound books for my work in the future. Unfortunately, both books are currently out of stock, as I would be interested to actually feel and look through myself to aid in my research, especially Olby’s, to explore the texture and how delicate it actually is.

Below is a flip through of Carlyle’s book, Night Blooms, by Makina Books

Angus Carlyle - 'Night Blooms' (Makina Books 2020)

References:

Websites:

Cornerhouse Publications. “Night Blooms.” Cornerhouse Publications, 2021, www.cornerhousepublications.org/publications/night-blooms/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

French, Anneka. “Everything Looks Different in the Dark: A Review of ‘Velvet Black’ by Fleur Olby and ‘Night Blooms’ by Angus Carlyle.” Photomonitor, July 2020, photomonitor.co.uk/essay/olby_carlyle/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

---. “Velvet Black Editions – Fleur Olby.” Fleur Olby, 2021, fleurolby.com/velvet-black-2/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

Images:

Carlyle, Angus. “Night Blooms,” Photomonitor, 2020, photomonitor.co.uk/essay/olby_carlyle/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

Olby, Fleur. “Velvet Black,” Photomonitor, 2020, photomonitor.co.uk/essay/olby_carlyle/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

Video:

Makina Books. “Angus Carlyle - ‘Night Blooms’ (Makina Books 2020).” Www.youtube.com, 6 Sept. 2020, youtu.be/2gehI49Sq-I. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

Figures:

Fig 1: Fleur Olby, 2018, Pages from Velvet Black

Fig 2: Angus Carlyle, 2020, Pages from Night Blooms