Assessment 2: Make What Will Happen

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Identity

Piece 1 - Vision

“Am I still me?"

Combination of two exposures, each independently exposed on half the page

“I am not who I think I am I am not who you think I am
I am who I think you think I am”
- Thomas Cooley

Piece 2 - Self

Piece 3 - Concealed

“Look past me, but there is nothing here nor behind”

Piece 4 - Reflection

Piece 5 - Reality

“The world below me sings of the same whistles and chimes”

Combination of two exposures, each exposed on one half of the page

Piece 6 - Trapped

“Are these four walls bored of me?”

Multiple exposure of 4 photos

Piece 7 - Caged

“This so home of mine, O how I wish to be trapped in civilisation”

Exposed the borders after partial development to create a non-uniform texture that emulates the dirtyness of the gates

Statement

“I am not who I think I am. I am not who you think I am. I am who I think you think I am” - Thomas Cooley

We seek validation from the world, but in sonder - we will never know what others think of us. We tell ourselves what we think we are like, and that becomes our reality. When we drown our lives in the symphonious cacophony of the world, we lose ourselves.
The way we see ourselves, the way others see us, the way we think others see us - they become one and the same. We bury ourselves in a trapped frame of thought that we so desperately need to climb out of.

My collection of pieces revolves around this very theme of identity, or rather the lack thereof.

In Shan Carroll’s Sun Moon Walk, he utilised large mirrors to displace the object in the foreground, instead giving reveal to the world past the frame of the camera - his environment and the perspective of his photographic subject. I used this mirror idea in Reflection (4): in the perspective of the subject - they see themselves in the mirror.

Simon Terrill’s series of long-exposure photographs of people freeze both the passing of time, and the movement of people into a single still image - which creates a layering between the foreground (subject) and the background (environment). This inspired me to create Trapped (6) - A combination of stills that were merged together through multiple exposures. Instead of animating the environment, the foreground is animated - time passes yet we still find ourselves in the same environment.

I also took inspiration from Sara Oscar, who used analogue editing techniques like dodging, burning and selective exposures. I took this as inspiration to manipulate the photographic paper in several ways to create Caged (7). A low contrast filter was used to create an unnatural flat tone, akin to the mundane feelings of entrapment. In developing the border, I exposed the edges to light after the initial chemical development process in order to create an uneven light texture. I also applied dodging techniques to lighten portions of the image. Yet, slight movements of the paper during exposure induced a blur which created a softness to this otherwise seeming grunge.