Constructed Realities
- Laura Marsh
- Feb 13, 2021
- 6 min read
Subjective Traces, Spaces, Faces, Places
Within my own work, I do not construct my images or factor in any fictional elements, this purely because my work is observational or ‘as seen’, documenting what I discover on my walks. The closest I believe I get to constructing any part of my work, is during the shooting and editing processes, where I use my ‘human choices’ to create the scene I am looking for, depending on the subject I discover. This would include removing or adjusting any exposure anomalies or creating the ‘look’ or ‘feel’ of the image. Bathes quote, mentioned within the first presentation “Why choose (why photograph) this object, this moment rather than some other?” (Barthes, 2000:6) is a quote that I have returned to throughout my project, as it symbolises the main focus of my objective, and one that will continue to inform my practice throughout my project.
In the images below, which I am experimenting with for my project, I have done just that, and you could say that by editing this way, I am constructing the scene to remove it from its original context to create a new context, but also this way, I feel I retain the ‘fact’ by keeping the subject as it is and without altering or manipulating the image too much.
I am planning to explore with still life within my current project and here I will explore how I decide to construct the scene, using lighting, backgrounds, and the subjects I choose to see if this changes the interpretation of the image and if I am able to balance the fact from the fiction.
References:
Barthes, Roland, et al. Camera Lucida : Reflections on Photography. London, Vintage Books, 2000.
Figures:
Fig 1: Laura Marsh, 2021
Fig 2: Laura Marsh, 2021
False Indexes
This week has challenged me in a way, as my work is not typically associated with constructed photography, but what it has done through the week is made me consider the aspects of my work that are constructed. The post-production editing I do to create the ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of an image I visualised at the scene.
I am intrigued at the concept of the Hunter and Farmer and looking at my work and process I fell I fall into both categories in some form. The Hunter goes out looking for their subject, hunting it down, whereas the Farmer build and creates their wok over time. I see myself more as Hunter, as my work relies on what I find when I am out on my walks and how I feel can determine what I photograph. The Farmer element for me is when I edit my images, I create a different look to what I saw on location to create the context or to enhance the context further. In interesting point made by Charlotte Cotton in ‘The Photograph as Contemporary Art’ made me consider that the fact that I do construct my work, and before I did not consider myself to do so.
“It is important not to think of contemporary photography’s affinity to figurative painting as simply one of mimicry and revivalism; instead, it demonstrates a shared understanding of how a scene can be choreographed for the viewer so that he or she can recognise that a story is being told” (Cotton, 2004:49)
I am creating a scene in my current work that has a meaning and something for the viewer to understand, focusing o not only on the small details I find to show and highlight, but this module I am also highlighting or telling an underlying story of my experience with a back condition.
To construct my images, I will view the subject from different angles and shoot a couple of shots covering these. When editing I will use edits such as contrast, highlights, tonal contrasts, subtle HDR to enhance any details, enhancements to the colour contrast and currently I am using a heavy vignette to almost spotlight the subject, drawing you into what I have focused on.
This photograph I do not feel was as successful in creating the scene I wanted. I have not moved the eggshell, I have cropped the image to get closer as I physically could not bend down further at the time, which has resulted in some grain in the image, I do not feel it is quiet in focus either as well a being slightly over exposed, the natural light was quite harsh. By toning down the highlights I have improved this slightly, but I do not feel it ‘works’ as an image I wanted.
This next image of a skeleton of a Chinese Lantern flower, one I shared earlier, but I have re-edited it since then. Here I have reduced the highlights further, bringing out the details and adding more contrast to make the black deeper. Making the image seem like it is shot under a spotlight when it is in bright daylight on a verge of a pavement. This image I feel is what I wanted to achieve when I saw the flower and almost make the viewer look closely to work it what it is.
My plan to develop going forward is to investigate ways I could experiment with still life at home to create a similar scene, as well as exploring what can do with edits to show my intent and context. My work develops week by week, so I do not have a certain plan, as I do not always know what I will find.
Reference:
Cotton, Charlotte. The Photograph as Contemporary Art. London ; New York, Ny, Thames & Hudson, 2004.
Figures:
Fig 1: Laura Marsh, 2021
Fig 2: Laura Marsh, 2021
Reflection
The idea of the constructed photograph running through all image making is something I have understood from this week’s topic, and originally, I did not think I constructed my images as photographers such as Tom Hunter has done for example, using art to influence and almost recreate a painting within their own work. Instead, I construct in a technical way by editing my images in postproduction to create the image I had visualised in my head.
David Bates discusses this in his book Photography: The Key Concepts. Here he discusses how staging an image is art itself, which is found within cinema and theatre where scenes are set, and that this aspect is also important with documentary photography. He goes on to say, “We might also, like film and theatre studio, employ the concept of gesture or mise en scéne in photography as a way to recognise the work that staging and active mediation by any photographer with a camera contributes to the production of the visual meanings possible from that image” (Bates, 2018:70)
Here to me he is saying that artist and photographers use mediation to portray their message or meanings through their work by machining certain decisions within the process.
“The inevitable work of mediation or construction is involved in all photograph, as decisions about the position of the camera within and toward the event (spatial relations, the lens used, distance, focus, etc.) are what organise the staging of the scene” (Bates, 2018:70)
This reinforces my own understanding and ideas within my own practice, where all photos are constructed by staging myself in the act of shooting, choosing angles and subject matter, something which dictates my image choices and observations.
An artist I have been looking at recently is Ori Gersht and a piece of his work I feel is relevant is called New Orders – Evertime (2018), in which he recreates paintings by historical artists, in three dimensions. He recreates the painting by arranging the replica items identically as they are in the paintings and fires a rifle at them, shattering the objects. As he does this, he captures the act using a high-resolution camera capturing scenes we would not normally be able to see. This work, references the “fragility and fragmentation of the European Union” ( New Orders, 2018) by choosing painting of three painters from different countries, hereby reimaging the original paintings with his own meaning and purpose.
Artist's insight: Ori Gersht | Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present | The National Gallery, 2012
References:
Bate, David. PHOTOGRAPHY : The Key Concepts. 2nd ed., S.L., Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.
“New Orders 2018.” Mysite, 2021, www.origersht.com/copy-of-new-orders-2018-1. Accessed 13 Feb. 2021.
Images:
“A Cup of Water and a Rose | Art UK.” Artuk.org, 2021, artuk.org/discover/artworks/a-cup-of-water-and-a-rose-113945. Accessed 13 Feb. 2021.
Mora, Patricia. “Where Truth Resides: Ori Gersht’s New Orders and Fragile Land.” Glasstire, 18 Nov. 2018, glasstire.com/2018/11/18/where-truth-resides-ori-gershts-new-orders-and-fragile-land/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2021.
Video:
The National Gallery. “Artist’s Insight: Ori Gersht | Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present | the National Gallery.” YouTube, 3 Dec. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_OTO6DGh_Y. Accessed 13 Feb. 2021.
Bibliography:
Lucie-Smith, Edward. Movements in Art since 1945. New ed., New York ; London, Thames & Hudson, 2001, pp. 247–249.
Wells, Liz. Photography a Critical Introduction. 5th ed., London [U.A] Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015, pp. 324–326.
Figures:
Fig 1: Francisco de Zurbaran, 1598-1664, A Cup of Water and a Rose
Fig 2: Ori Gersht, 2018, New Orders 02 - Untitled 02
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