29 October 2010
28 October 2010
Produced by - Letita Stefanescu
Idea / Cinematography - Catalin Toma
Editing / Grading - Dragos Dulea
Art Direction - Ana Maria Cantabine
1st AC / Key grip - Radu Tancau
Kodak Plus-X Film Stock, UNATC Labs
Thanks: George Blonda, Anca Barbu, Sorin Botosaneanu, Ovidiu Radulet, Ionut Toma, Flaviu Man, Cristian Ples, Flavia Gheorghe, Ismail Jamaludin, Felis Catus, Milkdrop, Ipomoea Violacea
ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY
HAPPY ACCIDENTS OF ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY
A couple months ago I had made some exposures while camping in the Anza-Borrego desert with my Zero Image multi-format 6×9 pinhole camera. I didn’t finish the roll of 120 black and white film on the trip, but on a recent trip I finished the roll and had it processed. When I looked at the negatives for the first time, the image above caught my eye right away. At first I didn’t know what I was looking at or how the image was made. But after looking at if for a while, I realized that it was an accidental double exposure. I knew immediately it was one of those one in a million shots, that even if your tried you couldn’t go back and do it again. The idea of “happy accidents” came to mind and that’s what compelled me to write this blog post.
Even though my life seems to be surrounded by digital imaging technology, I still find time to go back to my roots in analog film photography. As many of you may already know I have a passion for creating my own pinhole cameras and I enjoy the art of lensless photography very much. I have tried digital pinhole photography and find it to be less satisfying as pinhole images created with film or photo paper. During the course of the year I take hundreds of color and black and white film photographs. Some created with vintage cameras, some with toy cameras and some with pinhole cameras. Each camera leaves a unique footprint on each and every roll of film I put into it. Sometimes I’ll load a camera and it will be months before I finally get to finishing and processing the film. The anticipation and excitement of seeing what you “got” must be like a fisherman pulling in his net to see what he/she has caught.
Analog photography is different than digital photography in that it includes the photographer in every step of the creative process. From buying the film, to loading the film, to exposing the film, to processing the film, to printing the film in a darkroom to create the final image. Each step in this creative process makes room for what I call “happy accidents”. You may load the film incorrectly, your camera may have a light leak and expose part of your image, you may accidently double expose your film, you might get fingerprints on the negatives during processing… none of these things can happen during the creative process of creating a digital image.
Some people might say, “So what, I don’t want light leaking on my photos” or “who wants fingerprints on their negatives?” But what I miss the most while working in the digital photography world are the happy accidents that sometimes happen when you use film. With the cost of film and processing the way they are these days, I can see how a lot people are hanging up their film cameras and embracing the digital imaging world. Who doesn’t like the ability to be able to see if the photo you just took was what you had intended it to be? Who doesn’t like the idea of using the same memory card over and over to store your photos on? The advantages I fear outweigh the disadvantages. But with all these new digital advantages, we leave the human element of analog photography behind. I feel that humans are more like analog photography, we’re not perfect, so why should our pictures be that way?
Who knows what the future of analog photography will be, but I know I’ll be at it as long as companies still make film and paper.
27 October 2010
Tate Britain| Current Exhibitions | Eadweard Muybridge
About the exhibition
Muybridge was the man who famously proved a horse can fly. Adapting the very latest technology to his ends, he proved his theory by getting a galloping horse to trigger the shutters of a bank of cameras. This experiment proved indisputably for the first time what no eye had previously seen – that a horse lifts all four hooves off the ground at one point in the action of running. Seeking a means of sharing his ground-breaking work, he invented the zoopraxiscope, a method of projecting animated versions of his photographs as short moving sequences, which anticipated subsequent developments in the history of cinema.
British-born Eadweard Muybridge, who emigrated to the United States in the 1850s, is one of the most influential photographers of all time. He pushed the limits of the camera's possibilities, creating world-famous images of animals and humans in motion. Just as impressive are his vast panoramas of American landscapes, such as the Yosemite valley, and his documentation of the rapidly growing nation, particularly in San Francisco. His dramatic life included extensive travels in North and Central America, a career as a successful lecturer, and the scandal of his trial for the murder of his wife's lover.
I can fly too! Maybe that's why I love horses so much...
To find out more about the exhibition go to:
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/eadweardmuybridge/default.shtm?gclid=CI3FgqCU86QCFdP92Aod9VXWiw
26 October 2010
The Shadow Catchers. A photography exhibition at the V&A
Pierre Cordier, 'Chemigram + Photogram circa 1958 CAT. 13', about 1958. Museum no. E.855-2010, © Courtesy of Pierre Cordier (click image for larger version)
Photographic Possibilities V&A Connects
Tuesday 26 OctoberLunchroom, Sackler Centre
18.30-20.30
Join Photographic Practices at Camberwell College of Arts for an evening of inspiration, networking and discussion. For practitioners and professionals working in the creative sector.
£8, £6 concessions (drinks reception included)
Catching Shadows
Friday Late
Friday 29 October
Throughout the V&A
18.30-22.00
Celebrate the creative potential of silhouettes and bring the processes behind camera-less photography to life with an evening of performance and installations, talks and film.
Free, drop-in
Susan Derges & Garry Fabian Miller: Shadow Catchers
Evening Talk
Friday 5 November
Lecture Theatre
19.00-20.00
Listen as Susan Derges and Garry Fabian Miller present the ideas and techniques behind their work and discuss the status and development of camera-less photography.
£8, £6
Camera-less Photography
Guided Tour for Visually Impaired Visitors
Tuesday 23 November
Meeting Point, Grand Entrance
14.30-15.30
Join Exhibition Curator, Martin Barnes, for a tour of the surreal and beautiful images in the exhibition.
Free, booking essential
Camera-less Photography
Guided Tour & Talk for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Visitors
Thursday 9 December
Meeting Point, Grand Entrance
14.30-15.30
Join Exhibition Curator, Martin Barnes, for a tour of the surreal and beautiful images in the exhibition. BSL interpreted.
Free, booking essential
Craving, Collecting and Caring: Photographs
Seminar
Saturday 22 January
Seminar Room 1
13.30-16.30
Consider the principles and practicalities of collecting and caring for vintage, modern and contemporary photographs with V&A Curators and Conservators, and Michael Hoppen of the Michael Hoppen Gallery.
£26, £21 concessions
Shadow Catchers
Symposium
Friday 4 February
Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre
10.30-17.30
Listen as artists, curators and writers assess the practice, content and legacy of camera-less photography. The artists in the exhibition discuss their practice with invited speakers Marina Warner, Martin Kemp, Penny Black and Nigel Warburton.
£26, £21 concessions, £5 students
Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography
Lunchtime Lecture
Wednesday 9 February
Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre
13.15-14.00
Exhibition Curator, Martin Barnes, discusses the creation of the exhibition, the art of camera-less photography and the show's unique and beautifully crafted works.
Free, no booking required
Courses & Workshops
The Art of Photography: From the Beginnings to Now
Short Course
Tuesdays, 12 October - 14 December
Seminar Room 1, Sackler Centre
18.30-20.30
Join V&A Curators to investigate the key photographers, processes and ideas which shape the history of photography and attend the Shadow Catchers private view.
£300, £240 concessions
Camera-less Photography: Catching Shadows
Workshop
Friday 12 - Saturday 13 November
Design Studio, Sackler Centre
10.30-16.30
Get inspired by a Curator-led tour of the exhibition before you learn how to make your own stunnning camera-less images.
£120, £96 concessions (includes materials)
Digital Design Drop-in with Barbara & Zafer Baran
Wednesday 24 November
Digital Studio, Sackler Centre
13.00-16.00
Meet Barbara and Zafer Baran, collaborative artists using camera-less photography. Watch as they demonstrate their artistic process and chat with them about their work.
Free, drop-in
Digital Photography Courses at the V&A
The V&A offers a range of digital photography courses for beginners to advanced practitioners:
Introduction to Digital Photography
Thursdays, 7 October - 2 December
Digital Studio, Sackler Centre
14.00-16.30
Explore the potential of your digital SLR camera, study original prints and learn the basic technical knowledge required for taking pictures. Suitable for beginners.
DSLR camera required
£240, £192 concessions
Advanced Digital Photography
Thursdays, 7 October - 2 December
Digital Studio, Sackler Centre
10.30-13.00
Develop advanced creative photographic techniques as you explore composition, exposure and photographic style through small practical assignments or photographic narratives. For those with a good understanding of manual camera control.
DSLR camera required
£240, £192 concessions
Photoshop Skills
Mondays, 11 October - 22 November
Digital Studio, Sackler Centre
10.30-13.00 or 14.00-16.30
Learn essential Photoshop techniques and experiment with creative effects to turn your photographs into artworks.
Suitable for beginners
£156, £126 concessions
Families
Drawing with Light
Sunday 23 January
Design Studio, Sackler Centre
10.30-17.00
Join artists Rob and Nick Carter to discover how to draw in the dark with torches and fibre optic lights.
Suitable for 8 year olds and above
Free, drop-in
Supported by Ilford
25 October 2010
Mood Boarding Fun: LOLA'S DIARY
I get very frustrated when I can’t communicate my feelings and emotions. I came up with the idea of having my own memoir where I can say whatever I want whenever I want. And that’s how Lola’s Diary and the idea of short movie clips came to life…
This is Lola’s journey of discovery. I truly enjoyed making it and can’t wait to start another one…
Below are the picture clips from the short film I have made:
Expanded Cinema
What does the term – Expanded Cinema really mean?
Expanded Cinema is a comparatively a new visual medium, that combines the power of film with other visual art forms. It is within this medium that a physical relationship occurs between film and the other visual arts. This is perhaps one of the reasons why expanded cinema is one of the most exciting prospects for the visual arts in the future.
Expanded Cinema means many things. It can be engaging some of the following categories: the elaboration of screen space, multi-projection as inter-related image, environmental documentation, environmental, participation/events, installation, performance and other works which were a mixture of some or all of these. It is important to say that expanded cinema is a dynamic, evolving art form. One of its major contributions is its inclusion of live performance by the artists.
Yet expanded cinema is all around us. Today we are used to seeing galleries filled with moving images, film and video, not to mention the excess of images that surround us in the urban environment – images that we absorb and which in turn absorb us.
THE SOUTH BANK - A LIVE STAGE
