As mentioned in my previous post I have recently been exploring scale. Over the past week or so I managed to get some images printed at A0. I was trilled with the outcome for several reasons.
Firstly, (I feel slightly embarrassed admitting this) there was a real sense of achievement. I have never been taught photography, Photoshop / Lightroom- Over the past three years I have developed these skills through my own enquiry; reading lots of books, watching lots of online tutorials, etc. I have not previously experimented with printing macro shots large, so for me to be able to take a macro photograph under difficult conditions, (i.e.:One handed- one hand was completely stitched up!) and for that image to have captured enough detail to be able to be scaled up to A0 without losing any of that detail- for me this was a huge moment! Trivial as it may seem- for me it meant that I had developed my skills which was a huge boost to my self confidence. As a student there is a constant battle with self confidence. You spend so much time trying to build it up, then you find it, then you question / doubt it and sometimes you may even lose it (or is that just me?!) So for me to feel that sense of achievement after lots of ‘failures’ was great!!!
I think the enlargement is successful for several reasons. That immersive quality I have been searching for is there. Where it is there in it’s entirety so that I feel completely content is questionable- but it is definitely there. Secondly there is a transformative quality that I hadn’t really expected. Visually the image has an architectural / monumental quality- particularly when the fingers point up. There is also a sense of the familiar also being unfamiliar. The recognisable body seeming alien due to it’s scale. For me it has been fascinating to listen to the conversations that now take place around the enlarged works. They seem so much more engaged with the works. I had got used to people seeing the smaller images hung up in the studio and reacting with disgust or unease. The large images provoke a different reaction. People seem to engage with the formal qualities. They are able to look without disgust informing their opinion. Some have even compared the stitches to text! I am concerned that the image could become decorative. I want to find the balance between the ability to look without presumption, but also sensing that unease- mainly because of the source of the original concept. The idea of an adult acting out those repressed behaviours of exploring the body as a child without consideration for consequence- to me this is fascinating- but the juxtaposition is uneasy in it’s nature. I don’t want to lose that.
Going back to people finding it easier to engage with the large images- this surprised me. I had expected the larger images to be more ‘in your face’ and maybe more jarring. This presumption lead to a realisation on my part with regards to my creative process. I realise that due to the conceptual element of my process, I often overthink an idea and kill it before it has even been explored. I occasionally think it to the end though presumptions of how the outcome will be. I suspect this type of thinking is what has lead me previously to the dreaded BLOCK that us creative types live in fear of! Admittedly the blocks I have had so far have been nothing that a five minute tutorial haven’t sorted. But…I am aware that I will soon be out of HCA and will need to work through these situations myself. Surely this realisation will help? By recognising what may be a limiting thought I can attempt to stop it in it’s tracks. I need to remember my tutors advice that we only ever need a first step. By only ever having a first step we do not run the risk of limiting our outcomes. We are able to work freely. It is the surprises and mistakes that often uncover hidden treasures that we would have missed had we followed the set format in our minds. Thank you Alli for that nugget of wisdom- I will try to remember it and take it with me when I leave HCA!
Test Strip for A0
