Work In Progress
- Laura Marsh
- Feb 5, 2021
- 4 min read
The Index and The Icon
Regarding this week’s topic which discusses the authenticity and representation of photographs, alongside other similar visual art forms. I have been thinking about how my work reflects these areas by exploring editing techniques.
The image below was taken using my phone and I have edited it with the app Snapseed. Here I have used subtle HDR effects but many I have enhanced the contrast, contrast of the colours and of the tones to create this dark, soft appearance. The original image was quiet light, which is not what I wanted, but my idea was to shoot the scene and edit in post-production to achieve the look in mind, to do this I used a small vignette to darken the edges and highlight the centre. I noticed the colours in the scene first and wanted to enhance these initially.
In this next image, I used similar editing techniques, but used Lightroom instead to see the difference I could get by using similar techniques on a different platform.
I feel the image below, it the more effective image out f the wo, as the tones are softer, and the light in the centre is dimmer, giving it slightly muted feel.
A subject I have also shot within the previous module was that of dead animal I discover on my walks. This bird below was laying, almost unnoticed on the grass verge of a busy street. It colours and details are muted due to the rain, but I wanted to capture it's peaceful presence. Again, I have used some techniques within Snapseed such as HDR, tonal contrasts, contrast, vintage filter named 'faded glow' to give it a softer feel.
This next image was shot on my Canon and the detail I have been able to captured is in this case stronger than on my phone. This has been edited with both Snapseed and Lightroom to create the same affect as the leaf image above. You can see the HDR has enhanced some of the textures and details, including grains of sand that have blown up or been transported up from the beach by people walking over it.
Leaf Skeleton:
I spotted this leaf skeleton while out this week and I was drawn to the delicate details that make up its structure, almost vulnerable to the world now the leaf has decayed. Using my phone, I took several shots at different angles and vantage points, to assess which could be used. I opted for the closer images, as these bring you down to the leaf's level and its world on the ground, getting closer to the detail. By using techniques in both Snapseed and Lightroom, I feel I have been able to enhance this beautiful, normally unseen element and how fragile it has become. This for me not only represents what I saw but mirrors my own fragility with my own spine. I have created two edits, the second is the image opened within Snapseed and a vintage filter 'faded glow' applied. I wanted to see if this would change the context and representation of the image, turning it into an almost painted image.
This week has made me look at my work in a different light, taking images that i perceived and representational, but by editing I am changing that to make them almost representing more than just the object/item, but what I am feeling and how I perceive the value and meaning of the objects. By editing them, they are not fully authentic but represent a version of what was seen in front of the camera.
Research:
Liz Orton is a practitioner I have started looking into in terms of her work Humanising the Medical Gaze’, a piece that was influenced by her daughters experience of having a non-invasive MRI scan when she was 13 months old. Using collaborative portraits, co-opted algorithms and appropriated cropped images from medical text books, she "seeks to reclaim what makes us human from the hard facts and figures of medical imaging and the ways of seeing that accompany them” (Monarchi, 2019)
The link to my own condition I feel is an underlying aspect of my work, as like the condition itself, it is hidden.
Ori Gersht is an artist that was mentioned me within my first forum by my tutor. His works, 'Fragile Land' (2018) and 'Falling Bird' (2008), are two pieces that drew me in, by his use of colour and staging of his work, both as images and as short film pieces.
'Fragile Land' (2018) explores the connection between Jewish people and their land, where they collected flowers and plants almost to the point of extinction, which is part of Eurpean and Israeil culture. his work may be relevant to next week's topic, but I feel it is a good example of representation and authenticity and his work's relationship with that of paintings, by their appearance, tones and the use of still life. But also shows how photographs and films can change how we see the subjects.
'Falling Bird' (2008) is another piece that is both photography and film and method based on painting traditions, Vanitas and indicates to death and decay using technology to bring it to a contemporary context, his work " explores relationships between photography ad technology, revisiting fundamental philosophical conundrums concerning optical perception, concepts of time and the relationship between the photographic image and objective reality" (Gersht, “Falling Bird 2008”)
Bibliography:
Gersht, Ori. “Falling Bird 2008.” Mysite, 2021, www.origersht.com/copy-of-cells-2013. Accessed 29 Jan. 2021.
---. “Fragile Land 2018.” Mysite, www.origersht.com/copy-of-fragile-land-2018-1. Accessed 29 Jan. 2021.
Monarchi, Christiane. “Liz Orton: Humanising the Medical Gaze.” Photomonitor, 2021, photomonitor.co.uk/essay/liz-orton-humanising-the-medical-gaze-2/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.
Images:
---. “Iris Atropurpurea D01 | Fragile Land 2018.” Mysite, 2021, www.origersht.com/copy-of-fragile-land-2018-1?pgid=jxeupgqj-3dbc417f-98f4-11e9-9ac2-063f49e9a7e4. Accessed 29 Jan. 2021.
Videos:
Ori Gersht's Big Bang. “Ori Gersht’s Big Bang.” YouTube, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 20 Aug. 2012, youtu.be/LBIU2cosqEw. Accessed 5 Feb. 2021.
Ori Gersht's Falling Bird. “Ori Gersht’s Falling Bird.” YouTube, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 20 Aug. 2012, youtu.be/bqPpb-bEIM4. Accessed 5 Feb. 2021.
Figures:
Fig 1: Contact Sheet 1
Fig 2: Laura Marsh, 2021, Snapseed Edit
Fig 3: Laura Marsh, 2021, Lightroom App Edit
Fig 4: Laura Marsh, 2021
Fig 5: Laura Marsh, 2021, Snapseed and Lightroom Edit
Fig 6: Contact Sheet 2
Fig 7: Laura Marsh, 2021
Fig 8: Laura Marsh, 2021, Filter Edit
Fig 9: Ori Gersht, 2018, Iris Atropurpurea D01, Fragile Land
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