Photography 12
PLACE AND TIME
Photography is visual communication, as photographers we choose the way of seeing the world around us through our lens, by our sharing stories, ideas and feelings.
Big Idea:
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To create a photomontage that reflects the interconnectedness of individual, community, history and society.
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To inquire and research this idea through visual storytelling.
Method
Cyanotype - is the “original” sun-printing process, one of the earliest photographic techniques. Discovered in 1842 and distinctive for producing rich, Prussian blue monochromatic prints, Cyanotype was popular well into the 20th century as an inexpensive method for reproducing photographs, documents, maps and plans (hence the enduring architectural term “blueprint”) and famously, for making impressions of biological specimens in the field (“photograms")
Part 1
Assignment
Creating the negative
Visual symbols are a powerful and immediate connection to our cultural heritage. They are a reflection of cultural myths, legends, values and history. This is where art finds roots and inspiration.
Collecting - Documenting
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Identify and focus on part of your history that you would like to honour. Then research and document photographically artifacts that relate to history/story/culture. Possibilities - Journals, stories, cultural artifacts, objects, symbols etc.
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Involve your family members to learn about their history, personal journeys, hardships, achievements, talents.
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Think about yourself and the connection/similarities you may have with this individual.
Bring your collection to class and photograph in the studio using the table top lighting set-up.
Layer using photoshop and blend modes to create a negative that will be printed on a 8" by 11" piece of acetate
Don't forget to Inverse your negative, then place on server and I will print your negative.
Part 2
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Connecting surface to narrative - journal entry, poem, page from a story, musical notes etc
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Applying the emulsion to the surface you wish to expose your negative onto
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Exposing you negative using UV light - this will be demonstrated in class.
Cyanotype - is a contact print process and you will need a negative the same size as the size of the print you want. A cyanotype with a blue image on a white background is obtained using a negative transparency. This process was developed in 1842 by the English natural scientist and astronomer Sir John Frederick Herschel (1792-1871).
