Feedback presentation

During my presentation i asked for feedback on whether or not the audience believed that this idea of 'faking'the ghost images would work, so i asked them to try and spot anything in the images. Using this theory of eye matrixing i was actually shocked at the amount of results i got (results are in notebook)  They all seemed very encoraging of the idea and actually found it fun to do. this is a great positive to my work and allows me to move forward knowing that the idea and theory behind it works.
I also asked there opinion on a selection of images, very obviously distorted images, or images that u can still tell what they are, and the general consencus was that those images that were less distorted didnt have the same effect when looking for 'more' in the images. they said it was hard due to the shapes being more apparent of what they were. this helps me to make my final selection ofimages because now i know what works and what doesnt!
thank god for feedback!

Idea for fakery

i did have an idea to go along with this idea of faking the images of creating small 'originals' of the images to make out that the images i had taken were found. My idea was to print small 6x8 images or of random sizes and shapes, and say that i found them in an old box *presenting them with this small box* however, when i went to talk to andy in the darkroom about printed on textured paper to try and get the old look he informed me that u dont get them any more and my best bet was to print on 'art paper' using the ink jet. i did try a mock up on my own printer using textured card *see notebook* however the image just looked new. i dont think i would be able to create images with the correct feel and then if i did include it for the sake of it, it would give away the game as it were to my fakery.  While it was a good idea, i think i would need more time to experiement to make sure i got it really right and i dont feel i have enough time to get it finished or to an acceptable standard by hand in.

Richard Page- Suburban Exposures

The work of Richard Page reminds me strongly of the work of Paul Winch-Furness as they both use tiltshift to portray places in a different light.
The work of photographer and artist Richard Page presents luminous images that collectively depict an unsettling and unsettled landscape. Employing shallow focus, the buildings and spaces he photographs appear reductive, where scale becomes deeply deceptive, and our scrutiny can become more intense. The images are taken in areas on the fringes of cities; anonymous places which reflect a new breed of generic architecture, familiar across cities throughout the UK.I find these images alot darker then those of Winch-Furness. Page’s subjects provoke a sense of unfamiliarity, yet the dramatic ambience of the imagery which is somewhat reminisant of Bmovies, a crime scene or something unusual – yet we cannot be sure of what that may be. This imbues the illuminated pictures with an underlying sense of anxiety, which mirrors the climate of fear from our media-driven culture.

Paul Winch Furness

What i like about the work of Paul Winch-Furness is how he creates this world for the audience to reside in. Taking images of seemingly ordinary on a tiltshift lens, he manages to create the impression that these places are not real and everyday. His work is interesting as its a different take of a  seemingly boring subject matter, taking around housing estates and general architecture, and making it look completely different through the use of a technique. Its funny how a simple technique can change the impression the audience gets on a location, such as in my work and well as that of Paul Winch-Furness. Often the impression given by the use of tiltshift is to make the objects/places look more like models rather then reality and in a sence these images still do the same thing.

Brenda Pelkey- Haunts

Formerly a documentary photographer, Brenda Pelkey turned in 1994 to a category of subject matter that currently manifests itself spatially as landscape–pyschic landscape. They have ususual colours and shapes with a mix of mirrorings and creation of unusual dytpics. The exhibition is composed of large-format prints some grouped in panoramic assemblages, others incorporating cryptic text fragments that hint at tragedy. The most recent were photographed in the vicinity of Havre Boucher, Nova Scotia.

None of the fields, forests or seashores contain figures. Photographed at night (or at twilight with a long exposure), Pelkey’s eerily claustrophic landscapes are illuminated with movie lights. The unnatural light and deep shadows transform these ordinary locales into the mise-en-scènes for melodramas

They in a way look like they are from horror movie sets, or even from a drug induced state.
The lighting creates a large part of the atmosphere.

Grace Dieu Shoot 1

With  the shoots at Grace Dieu i wanted to be more presise with my images and what i was doing with the film. The problem with the process that ive chosen it is very experimental and while i like that, it does make it abit annoying when workikng to a deadline and not knowing how your images will appear till after. however by using specific films for different things it may allow me to with ease create the images that i want.

Some of these images came out really well, the main question is if they will work in team with the other images ive taken as part of a flowing collection of images rather then lookign like they were randomly thrown together. alot of the images on this film were more in focus but i still stand by the fact that i like the blured and distorted images better. they are more ambiguous

The priory of Grace Dieu

“Beneath yon eastern ridge, the craggy bound,
Rugged and high, of Charnwood’s forest ground,
Stand yet, but, Stranger, hidden from thy view
The ivied ruins of forlorn Grace Dieu,
Erst a religious House, which day and night
With hymns resounded and the chanted rite.”

Grace Dieu Priory near Thringstone in Leicestershire, is a location with a vibrant past. Who is the 'white lady' that haunts the ruins?
The priory was founded between 1235 and 1241 by Rose de Verdon for 14 Augustinian nuns and their prioress. The nuns at Grace Dieu lead a solitary life and were forbidden to leave the walls of the priory.
They elected to wear white habits as opposed to the traditional black that was worn by nuns of the Augustinian order. The women went on to call themselves the 'White Nuns of St. Augustine'.Rose's remains were exhumed and re-interred at nearby Belton Church. Was Rose's spirit disturbed when she was moved from her original resting place?
The white woman in said to walk the grounds, and with reported more and more frequant activitys.

Black and white kent shoots part 2 *

I went back and shot some more images around rochester cathedral as well. the images like the other kent black and whites came out far better then that of the colour images, both in atmosphere and style.

 while exposed for a similar time as the previous shoot these images came out alot brighter (due to the weather being brighter) but  they are not to overblown really. some of the exposures here i really like, and again they have great atmsophere as images, im deffinatly sure that this is the technquie best suited to my images in this project.

Black and white kent shoots part 1 *

Here i revisited the locations in kent that i  shot in colour  with a black and white 35mm film and the difference is remarkable. I really think these images in black and white are a vast contrast to those in colour. i started the film with an revisit to kits coty but again not feeling inspired i left the film and used the rest in rochester, however i do have some great images from both locations, that are possible for use as final images.

Rochester- Location details *

Growing up with an interest in the paranormal and hearing storys about all the haunted locations back home has finally come in handy. Growing up heavily around rochester has allowed me to get to know the locations perfect for this project. the main 'haunts' as it were are the castle and the cathedral. All these locations i have shot before, namely for a commision based around the story of edwin drood. The most famous of ghosts in rochester, said to walk many of the locations including both of those i have shot, is Charles dickens, who lived alot of his life, and wrote alot of his books around the area of rochester. Each year there is a festival in his honar.

Rochester castle
This shell of a norman castle is one of the most well preserved in the country, which is weird as it does look like its going to fall out. many storys surround the ghosts that haunt this castle. There are two more prominant ghosts that are said to be seen. The first is Lady Blanche de Warren. the lady in white who is said to haunt the battlemants at easter. the story goes they were defending the castle against the Black Prince, Simon de Montfort. her husband to be, Ralph de Capo, led the battle against the King's enemies.

One of the rebel's men, Gilbert de Clare, was a rejected suitor of the ladys and he still bore a grudge. During a brief lull in the fighting to mark Easter Sunday, he sneaked into the castle, she fought hard against him and tried to push him away. Ralph saw his fiances plight and, being an excellent bowman, fired an arrow at de Clare. The arrow struck de Clare's armour but bounced off and went straight into lady Blanches heart.and she died instantly. Every Easter she is said to be seen in the castle and grounds with an arrow still through her heart trying to change her fate.

Another ghost that is said to haunt the castle is a roman soldier, even earlier, who is said to be seen walking the now dry moat. Itis assumed that he drowned in the moat during another battle. 

Rochester Cathedral 

Opposit the castle is the cathedral, said to be haunted by the most famous of ghosts, charles dickens. It is said that upon his death he wanted to be burried in rochester cathrals graveyard (which ironicaly stretches into the castles moat), and yet because of his work in literature he was burried among the greats in westminster abbey. Now he in spirit is said to return to rochester. As well as old Charlie, ghosts of monks whom once resided in the cathedral are said to walk the hallways of the cathedral, still in there habits. 

Experiments in colour part2 *

Another location close to home is that of the historical city of rochester. here two of the bigger places that are haunted i have photographed. (see location info) again using colour film to experiment to see if it was the location that didnt feel right on my preivious shoot, or the style of the colour imagery.

While i do prefer these images to that taken at kits coty, i agree with my previous statement that the colour film does not give the same grittyness and feel as the other images taken in black and white. The use of vintage film gives the images a almost retro 70s feel which is not atall wat i want from my images. while some of them have come out interesting they are just not what i am looking to produce from my work. the images that i prefer here are the darker and more monotoned images.

Martina Lindquist- ragskar island

The work of Martina Lindquist has always been atmospheric, but what drew me to her collection based around ragskar island was her use of colour.  In a similar way to Chrystel Lebas' work The images are too dark. they dont look correctly exposed or they look as if they have been photoshopped. however it is this darkness on the images that give them a creative style. they stand out. they feel gritty and dark, moody and brooding. this is a good idea to play around with the contast between light and dark within my images and the effect it would create.

Experiments in colour part1 *

as stated before i wanted to try out an experiement in colour on my holga 35mm, and i decided to purchase some out of date film to try and capture the essence of age within the images. with being at home, i decidedto shoot my first few in colour to see how they would of come out. the location of this shoot was kits coty as the history is stated before.

the only problem with kits coty is there isnt really alot there thats very astetically pleasing to try and shoot, so trying to make the images more interesting i was messing aorund witht idea of double exposures and moveent to see how they came out with the colour film.

Overall i was pretty diapointed with these images. the colours dont really allow the images to have that same sort of atmosphere as the black and white images i was achieving. while some of them did come out interesting i find the colours abit distracting in these images. but then again it maybe that it was more that i found the location overall not that easy to photograph, unlike most of the other locations i have or am visiting kits coty has been reduced just down to a few stones. maybe experimenting with colour in a different location will make the images more inspiring?

Chrystel Lebas- Hidden nature

A fascination with darkness and the unseen haunts the work of London-based French photographer Chrystel Lebas . Using a panoramic camera with long exposure times ranging from two to six hours, Lebas creates sweeping, mesmerising landscapes, which explore photography’s relationship with time and movement. Her work, hidden nature focuses highly on colour and light to create interesting atmos. The images all follow the same palete of colours which is minimal and a cold bluey temperature. This affects the images in a way to create more haunting images. They seem to linger in the darkness and shadows, and even in the light, the images appear not to be in real light, only lighter. Some of the images look more dark then light and looks like the photographer hasnt paid much attention, but infact that is the effect that was aimed for.