Visual Language
These images are experiments in visual communication. The book, On the Road is literally on a road, similarly, the book, Vice is in a vice. I needed to go through this exercise in order to find my visual ‘voice’ before attempting to communicate complex concepts through visualisation.
The aim with this image is to communicate the fragile and unstable feature of natures balance, but after critical examination, I decided to leave this image out of the final exhibition since, though aesthetically pleasing, it does not contribute to the conceptual narrative.
The aims of this assignment are to produce a series of digital images that explore the metaphysical nature of reality through the depiction of sunflower seeds as a metaphor for the nature of existence. A conceptual approach is utilised to achieve this aim, together with presenting and curating the images with an aesthetic that compliments the theme. The conceptual approach to crystallising sunflower seeds were, in part, inspired by Roger Hiorns who undertook crystallisation on a large scale, and Matthew Brandt, who used the environment to shape and form the images of that same environment, eg he used lake water to form images of the lake. Similarly, I wanted to have a seed growing medium, effect an image of a seed. All this in support of the relationship between what is real and what is visualised. Rock crystals were firstly grown on sunflower seeds and photographed. A print of this image was then re-photographed in the seed’s growing medium, producing the following ‘modified’ image. A print of a seed was used in this context to further examine the relationship between what is real and what is visualised. By adding this additional layer, it also allows the real environment to shape and modify an image for the final outcome.
The images above contain signifiers of natures natural destruction. After critical examination of the above image of crystallised seeds, I decided to omit this image from the exhibition since, whilst possessing strong aesthetic qualities, it did not contribute to the conceptual theme. A significant lesson learned from this assignment is that it is important to adhere to the methodology and not get side tracked by aesthetics.
Happy Accident
When researching different types of light and their affect on image quality, the image above was taken using sunlight reflected off a window, this partially polarised light has less glare and produced a warm quality and as a bonus an interesting reflection. Opportunities for a separate project?
The main problem encountered when trying to capture these images was the lack of access to a studio and very limited experience in this type of photography. An ad hoc temporary home studio was constructed utilising trial and error. Trial and error was also the guiding principle in order to build experience in attempting to achieve satisfactory results.
Curating the Images
In using seeds as a metaphor for the circle of life, I wanted to simply curate the images in a circular fashion.
Final plan for curation
Photography Blog 