Making Love to Inks and Fibers

I've now finished printing three images for final review in a couple of days. During the course of making the images I tend to forget how much I enjoy printing on the Epson 9800. 

As nerve wrecking as I find the process of soft proofing and testing, always aiming for a level of perfection, hoping that what comes out translates everything put in, I fall in love with every print that comes out, one step closer to its predetermined life as a precious object of own creation.  Not all prints engage on such a level, some become a verification of a pre-existing feeling of lacking in quality, or a statement of changes that need to be made. Numbers translated into an image on a screen tell many lies that can only be seen when rendered on paper, and depending on which paper they're printed on, they will have different qualities. 

 The Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl is a beautiful paper. It's a very thick with some texture and a slight warm tone to it. The dark tones came out quite nicely with a hint to future shoots to light certain areas with concern to printing. I also realized the importance of color in regards to putting the final series together. As of now it is hard to see how exactly I'll fit the yellow-brown skeletons with the bright pink and greens of the bunnies. I'm sure there is a bridge in there somewhere yet to be found, but am also keeping in mind that not all images will end up in the final series.

The paper upholds the luminosity surprisingly well.  I didn't expect the images to 'pop' out as much as they do. They look amazing, if I may say so myself. The darkness of the images didn't make them look as flat as I feared they would once printed, but rather encapsulates them in an air of mystery, and to me, further enhances the sense of seeing an 'other' place. 

The final three images so far are 40 cm wide including five cm black borders on each side with various heights. The black borders compliment the darkness of the images and bring them together as a whole. The wide borders serve to create a certain distance between the world within the image and the world outside.

Further, I have decided, due to lack of time, to hold off on purchasing wallpaper for the background. I've had a quick look, but have yet to find one that hits the spot. Again there is no point settling for less, so as of now I have only purchased three sheets of black paper with a black, velvet-like pattern to simulate the kind of look I'm after. If this will look remotely like I want it to is yet to be found out. 

For hanging, since the prints for this review will not be mounted, I've decided to cut strips of acetate paper and tape them to the back of the prints to pin in. This way I'll avoid annoying pin marks in the prints later. Due to the thickness of the paper they have already got a few dents from printing and trimming, so I'll need to keep them as clean and safe as possible. 

These are not pictures. These are photographic dreamscapes, precious objects carefully crafted to reflect the borderland from which they came. They are not snapped or stolen, and their roles are not as decisive moments. These images are dreamed, staged, captured, controlled and created.  They are my imaginary visions, pieces of an unknown 'home', and they can only continue to exist through photographs. 

 

The photographs offer a key to the magic of imagination, the universal dream of liberation from the constraints of the physical body into the uncanny.     -K.A Edwards

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness*

This is another of the images from the last shoot. The main compositional elements are working well, but there are issues in the lighting/painting I would like to further resolve, as well as some changes to poses and costumes. 

I don't mind that all the characters are of a less 'absurd' nature, but would like to tie one in as the cleaner in the background to maintain some elements from previous images. His bright, white mask is an issue as it becomes a very obvious focal point within the image, and his character is not as innocent as he seems.  At this point I am leaning towards making him a skeleton yet keeping him more or less as he is. The effect of the vacuum hose is a keeper, as well is his direct communication with us.

 

The character on the ground is pretty much perfect. He reminds me of something out of a Caravaggio, and I am never quite sure whether he is getting up or falling down. In this section of the image I would like more shadows and contrasts around the walnuts, they are just a little too flat as is. 

I love the character of the cheeky, not-so-desperate housewife. Unfortunately the very long exposure time left her looking a lot softer than her attitude (and my will) dictates. It's basically just about 'freezing' her (which is a lot harder than you might think  considering the light is painted on), but when we set this up again I want to make better use of her as whole. Costume, pose, cigarette, drink, clothes draped and hanging around her, the whole shebang. 

Another thing to consider would be to include the sky above them. 

Indeed. 

*name of Austin band we listened to that night. Fantastic name for a band, fantastic name for anything. 

Dream troopers

Another venture into the creative and imaginary kingdom a few days back. It was another ride in the hands of fate, or luck (or lack thereof) on the coldest of nights so far. Despite the freezing cold, raw air and wet ground we set out to find the rabbit hole.

 About three test shots into it my main light source fails. It does not sink into a 'I-have-no-power' sleep, but dies abruptly as things are starting to shape up.

For various reasons the other lights were not suitable under the circumstances. In a bleak hope of finding a similar one hiding in one of my boxes of magic, we returned home from location cold and bewildered. Alas no such light was found, but refusing to abandon the shoot without trying alternatives, we opened another bottle of red and slipped into the dark corners of the courtyard.

 For a night determined to be a royal pain in the rear end region of my body, it won the initial battle, but lost the war. My creative group of nocturnal creatures now counts another amazing being. These people continue to astonish and inspire me with their enthusiasm and invaluable input. I have never photographed anyone before who had such an interest and understanding of what I am trying to accomplish as these people do. They are keys to locks in my house, to toys in my basement.

 The images require a re-shoot mainly due to light, but the ideas and compositions were good, and will result in a more dynamic visual range once resolved. In other words, we accomplished what I was aiming to test in regards to that. All was indeed not lost. I like the images, but know that I can re-stage and re-light them so much better. I do not believe in settling for less. It is worth the wait to make them rise to their full potential. It constitutes what I, in regards to such things, like to call a luxury problem. :)

Another couple of characters emerged and future shoots are looking very promising. I am very happy with the journey so far and believe the final series will be everything I want it to be. I can't wait to continue once final assessment is over.

 In preparation for that I am now focusing on the final post-production on a couple of images, and will start printing the next few days. I will now be printing on the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl. This is a new paper to me, but it's supposed to have similar warm tones to the Crane Silver Rag. I am anxious to see how my blacks and overall dark tones transfer as well as how much luminosity is retained on paper. 

The test prints I did on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk looked promising, but I have decided to go up in size to approximately 30cm width + borders which is somewhat larger than the tests.  I am also considering abandoning the 'fuzzy' edges around the frame of the image. Where there are higher contrasts on the edge it's hard to get a smooth transition between light and dark tones.

As well as printing I am considering potential backgrounds for the images. I don't want them displayed on a white wall and the alternatives so far seem to be black or some kind of dark, patterned wallpaper. I would also like them to be mounted and hung out from the wall, but as of now, this is way over budget.    

(New images to come very soon... in post-production now.)