Friday, October 07, 2005

photography, society and the built environment

This is the first draft for the panel that I will be presenting for my elective called "photography, society ...." in a couple weeks. This is not the panel that will be shown at the EBHouse.
For this one, the idea for the layout, and also for the actual pix that I took during the studio, was to go from the general to the detail... with steps in between. This is generally the way photo-journalism is approached, so I haven't really invented anything on that one, but what I am trying to express is the approach to a design project, going from a very general idea and going deeper and closer into details. This was even more relevant in an intensive studio setting when the changes and the level of resolution appears very clearly in an extremely short time. The thinking process has to happen fast and the decisions have to be made even faster because of the time restrictions and the need to have something to show for at the end.
It's really good though because in normal 14 weeks studios, the strong initial ideas never make it to the end, they are somehow lost in the process and as much as we try to hold on to them, they are never quite so powerful when the main concern becomes the color of the tiles in the bathroom...
Of course, in one week, there is no time for tiles, and there is no time to afford to lose anything, so all the strong powerful, and sometimes good ideas stay with the project because that's all we've got, no time, just ideas and decisions to make.
The idea is that the first photo, the biggest, is a general view of the studio itself, which then starts to break down into smaller photos of the general studio atmosphere, then portraits and then details. As the pictures get smaller and there are more of them, the viewer is actually forced to move in and get physically closer to the photos to look at them. As in a design situation, we focus on smaller and smaller things as the design progresses. Even our face gets closer to the page...
The other thing about the layout is that it is very dense, all the image are compressed into one block and from far away, would probably appear as a mosaic of colors. You do need to know that the panel it will be mounted on is 82x102 cm, which is huge, and at the moment, the first photo in this first proposal is about the size of an A3, so that gives an idea of the scale. Anyway, The block of photos is very dense and I guess that I was trying to express the intensity and business of the studio, rather than having lot's of white between the photos, there will be white around, but not in between them. The studio was concentrated in one time (one week), one space (studio space) and I think that it should also be concentrated in that manner on the pannel.
We are allowed to put text on our panels but I don't think I want to do that, I hope that it speaks for itself as it is now, but i might be wrong. I will be showing it to my tutor on thursday, and if any of you have suggestions, they are all welcome, i just want it to work....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think I would add some text (handwritten and/or typed) and a few scribbled drawings, Christo (the Bulgarian, not the Aussie) style. Check out some of his compositions for the wrapped up Reichstag, Blue umbrellas, Pink water lilies, etc., the works of art he sold in order to finance his projects. Perhaps they could go on the white borders you mention or on some pix. Just an idea.

sweet potatoe said...

thanks mothe, that's a good idea actually, i'll have a look and i think i may even have a couple pix for a project in paris, on the trees, with cellophane a wires etc.. and a woman too...

Anonymous said...

Of course, I am all for even more hard-core collages, with bits and pieces of pencils, shreds of paper, cork and various other "girl's best friends" stuck on too. I love the irregularities of the volume they create and the mixture of image and reality. Wish we had made it to the basement to show you examples of my past works ...