Monday 15 August 2011

Digital Monsters...

A phone doesn't just ring anymore, it receives little brief digital letters of congratulations or devastating news. The phone can organise your weekly appointments, record sparks of genius monologued earlier that day. and it can also capture those daft occurrences, that you come face to face with in a photograph or video, you'll later show your friends. The majority of my cameras are all analogue, what is meant by this is that i use camera film for those in particular. The minority, you guessed it, are Digital cameras. A mobile phone has a camera built in as standard. If you own a phone without a camera in it, your out of touch with the modern world. Everyone has their phone on them at all times, i know for a fact that i worry if i have left my phone at home, " what if people need to phone me or text me?". I get home and no one has contacted me at all.



Ok so most of the time people have their phones on them. i'll use the camera function to either capture something funny i have spotted, to show my friends at a later date, But most of the time its to record or make reference to an idea for a future project or inspiration in its physical form. I've had the same mobile phone for a while now, its getting old and its getting broken soon to die like the latter before. occasionally the camera malfunctions and part of the image captured has been destroyed. ( you can see where i'm going with this ) The image has been taken but failed part way through the transaction of capturing and displaying the image on the phone. I have currently, two images 'partly' destroyed, the subject matter isn't important at this stage. i guess the worse my phone gets the better the DIGITAL DESTRUCTION gets.


Tuesday 2 August 2011

Sign on, you crazy Diamond...

It has been three weeks since Graduating with a 2:1 in Photography BA (HONS) and i have now passed the denial stage of having to sign on. i have searched hi and low and around all four corners of Swansea to find a part time job. I have been Littering the streets with CV's, i have heard nothing for about two weeks now and money is starting to be an issue. If i want to make work i'm going to have some money for equipment and materials. If i want to enter exhibition Submissions i have to pay a little entry fee, for a chance to be envolved. i'm not looking for a job in Photography Straight away, i know i couldn't walk right into the industry, I just need an average part time job to help fund living costs. IS THERE ANY BODY OUT THERE!! WHO CAN GIVE ME A JOB.

POLARoid Explorer...


It has been about three weeks after i graduated from Swansea Metropolitan Uni, i have shot a single frame of work in a while. I have an exhibition in October in a small gallery by the Mumbles Bay. Instead of shifting work from the end of year Swansea and London shows, to Mumnbles, i want produce new work not only for my enjoyment of my practice but also to build on the portfolio.
A few Blogs back i mentioned a box i had inherited from my Father, the box contained old 35 and 120 mm film but also 20 year old Polaroid film. About two years ago my father delved into his staircase cupboard, waided through all sorts of objects, to reach his old 120 Camera.

He brought the camera out to show me and allow me to play about with, Strangley my Father discovered that he had left a Poloaroid back on the camera with a few shots left to be exposed. The film had been in a dorment state for about 10 years on so would not have been in the best condition. Nevertheless this didn't stop us from firing off a few shots just to see what had become of the stale Polaroid sheets. as we had antisipated most of the Polaroid chemicals had dried out but parts of the Polaroid sheet still had elements of mositure and chemicals still there to expose the Polaroid. I am still working with the destroyed photograph, but giving back a little more to the viewer.

One part of the sheet has an abstract destructive blemish, and the other half of the sheet has left a perfect exposed image. This leaves the viewer a 'teaser' as to what the image is of, yet still partly blinds the viewer to read anymore into what has been photographed. Now that i have a large box of old Polaroid i can be certain that most of it has dried out and will not produce anything on the sheets, but in terms of a Russian Roulette aproach,there maybe some sheets with a little chemical left in them to expose bits of the Polaroid. My goal is to hang six or seven Polaroid on the wall in the gallery. I am currently toying with the idea of presenting them back in there empty Cartridges.