On Tuesday 4th October we went to Le Hocq beach and travelled down to photograph things such as, rocks, landscape and ocean. I took around 300 images of different rock formations and the beach. I then exported all my images over to Lightroom and used the P and X tool to decide which images can be further edited.
P and X tool
After going through all my images and choosing which were the best I came down to around 30 images which I then decided to edit. Below shown are some of my best unedited images from the Le Hocq shoot:
Best unedited images:
I edited my images using Adobe Lightroom and changed many different features on my best images. I edited features such as the tint of the photo to create a warm or cold coloured image. Also, I used the transform tool to make my images straighten up because of the horizon being slightly slanted. I edited around 20 images using these different tools and was happy with how they turned out.
Lightroom Edits:
Overall, I am very happy with the way my images turned out after editing. I like the monochrome photos because the contrast between the brown rocks and sand makes the rocks stand out compared to the rest of the image. Also, I really like the close up images taken of rocks because it shows a very good amount of detail and texture.
I started my sculpture by taking photos of rocks in the studio. I adjusted the lighting before taking the pictures so they would look better.
Then I printed 4 of the photos off on laminated paper. I folded them to create a 3d effect then pinned them down to a mount board. This was the final product
The 16 photos that I have selected to edit further in Lightroom will be the photos which I will use later on to create my zine. Throughout these experiments, I will creatively manipulate my photos in to black and white, change the contrasts/lighting, etc. Then I will print the photos out and use them to make a paper mock-up in class so I have an idea on how I want to lay my zine out as I think that it will be more helpful to help me understand what I want to do and the experience I want to create for the people who will view my book.
Experimenting with editing –
For these photos, I began by doing simple edits which can be seen above which I then synced to all of the others. This acted as a baseline to work with which I thought was better as they would all have the same settings that I can expand with further along the line.
Then I went further into editing for these photos, I started cropping which can be seen in #3, #5, #10 and #12 because I felt as if there was too much negative space and I wanted to create a more focussed point of the photo. I also went through other photos which were slightly wonky and needed to be straightened in the horizon lines because I think that it makes the photos look neater and work better together. I also decided to get rid of one photo which I thought didn’t really work well with the rest of my photos because of the way it was taken and the different textures within it.
I then decided that I wanted to turn these photos into black and white in Adobe Lightroom. I really liked the way that they turned out in black and white as it adds more control into the photo because they have all synced in how they appear which I like as it provides a uniformed look instead. I think that I will use the photos in black and white for my final prints that I will use to create my zine.
To create my 3D sculptures, I took some of my best images from my Stinky Bay and Plemont photoshoots, then printed them out and attempted to make some successful experiments. Below I have included the images I would like to use in my sculptures, which include my most successful photographs from the shoots.
Materials
Photographs
Card
Tape
Scissors
Knives
Glue
Experiments
After choosing and printing out my photographs, I now had to think about the layout of my sculptures and how I would assemble my work. Below I have included some images of the experiments I created and a visual process of how each of them were made, with explanations and analysis’.
This make this sculpture I just printed out three colour photographs and glued them onto card, afterwards I used tape on the inside of the corners of the card to make this 3D triangle shape. I really like the shape of this sculpture as I think that its one of the easiest and best ways to display successful images. I like how this project lets us experiment and see which structures are the most aesthetic and useful when it comes to making photographs more exciting, and this will also give me inspiration when it comes to exams.
To create my this sculpture I had the simple idea to merge two photographs together by sticking 4 images onto two pieces of card (so each piece of card is double sided). I decided to make this first piece black and white as the contrast creates texture within the rocks and this means that this piece came out successful in my opinion, as this was actually my first sculpture I think that this was a good attempt as making these photographs 3D.
I had taken the sculpture from above and adapted it by adding a lot more double sided pieces of card. To make this I added more slits to my images which meant that I could keep adding to the sculpture. I think this turned out successful as I decided that it would be best to add colour images to the piece. The fact that the colour is put at the top of the sculpture means that there is an aesthetic focal point and I think this adds depth to the structure.
This sculpture was created from a sculpture which was already adapted, I really liked making this piece as it was fun to experiment with many different photographs. I think the fact that there is a wide variety of image with different textures, colours and tones makes this my more interesting piece. However, this was my most difficult sculpture to create as it was like a puzzle with the many different slits in the pieces of card which had to be put together.
Best Work
Below I have included my best sculptures and explanations as to why I think so, I think its important to evaluate and criticise my work as it gives me an idea of what is successful and this helps with ideas in the future.
In my opinion this is my best sculpture (and the image that makes it looks the more aesthetic) this is because of the different levels within this piece and how they were created. I decided that the colour images would be at the front and the back of the piece and the black and white double sided images would be kept in the middle, this was in a attempt to keep the focal points of the piece within the colour images. I think the actual structure of the sculpture is interesting as everything was placed in a thought out way so that all aspects of it would intertwine well and link the whole project together, as the piece is composed from images from both my Stinky Bay and Plemont photoshoots.
Additionally, the different shapes and angles of all the photographs means that a sense of depth is added to the images, this means that the piece is more eye-catching. However, I think that this sculpture is very adaptable, it could have been made better if I had kept adding many more images to it, this would have made it a bigger structure and more interesting. Furthermore, if I were to do this again from future projects I would give the images more contrast, saturation and clarity, as all of these features were lacking and I think this hindered the successfulness of this piece.
One of my favourite parts of this piece is the simplicity of it, with it only being composed of 6 images in total, I think that this draws attention to the photographs and shows how interesting Jersey’s Sites of Special Interest are. I like how much this sculpture illustrates my best images from this project. Whilst making it I decided that the top image should be colour and places further at the front, this was in an attempt to create a sense of perceptive and the fact that the black and white images were taken before the colour one. Showing a change in time and space (from Plemont to Stinky Bay) between both my photographs and my sculpture at the same time.
Furthermore, I like how the portrait image in the middle matches up in some areas with the bottom one, kind of like creating yet another photograph from merging two existing ones together. However, some of the edges of the card in this piece aren’t cut straight and are fraying, this could be a downfall of the sculpture as it isn’t as neat as my one above. I still think that the boldness of this structure is its most aesthetic piece and that’s how I liked making it so much.
I have a total of 215 images and have labelled my preferred images in red so it is easier for me to pick out my favourites and edit them to my preferred way.
Best Images from Lightroom
I saved these images from lightroom onto my m drive so I could access them and upload them into a gallery style for the blog. I like these images because they represent and symbolize a darker side to le hocq, the images are murky and show off the beach as mysterious as if it has a secret.
The images marked in green label my best unedited images, I have labelled them in green so I can move these selected images into my folder to upload onto the blog once again in gallery style.
I left these images untouched as i feel they had a greater impact left unedited, the contrast of the images I felt were perfect for the outcome of the photo, the most i did was crop the image to remove un wanted people or things in the background that got in the way and ruined my photograph.
For this photoshoot, we visited Green Island where we walked along the seafront taking various pictures of items we found along the way and other views which we could see. The weather for this trip worked well with the pictures in my opinion because it was overcast, which can be seen in many photos, this makes it easier when taking photos as the glare from the sun isn’t able to overexpose the images although the blue sky did do this in a few of the photos. I really liked visiting Green island because it got me to look across the seabed at different rocks/objects/etc to see what can be found on our journey and I found a few different things which I think that I could use in the future for my zine to tell a story of what we saw.
The place marker shows where Green island is in Jersey.
A photo of what Green island looks like.
Most successful –
To begin my selection process from my photoshoot at Green Island, I began by going through and selecting my best photos on Adobe Lightroom by flagging the ones which I thought were successfully due to not being blurry/not in focus or overexposed from the sunlight. I was able to gather around 40 photos which I decided to start with as a basis for doing my colour selection below and I think that a few of these photos already have started to work well together with the way they are able to flow and tell a story within them. I really liked the ones where I am looking down at an object on the sand because it shows me following a path and what I could see, which is different to what others could have seen, therefore I think that those photos will be ones which I use commonly throughout the creation of my zine.
Colour sorting –
For my colour sorting, I highlighted the photos in green which I thought would work together in a zine and had the most potential and could be further edited to create my zine. Then I would apply basic editing, shown below, which would help me to further analyse the photos which I want to incorporate into my work. For the photos which I was unsure of I used the yellow filter, I went through these numerous times analysing how effective and well positioned the camera angle/focus is and if it has something distinct in it creatively which would create a story. Most of the photos were repeats of ones I had liked or generic views which I didn’t want to include a lot through out my zine because I felt as if it would be quite boring whereas zooming in on specific objects could be more interesting. Then I used the rating system in Adobe Lightroom, this was where I went through the photos which I had previously highlighted in green and I rated the photos which I was certain and confident to further edit so that they could be used in my zine. This technique made it easier for my to quickly select the images I want or don’t want to see as I could choose which colour I highlighted in and then be able to also select the rating to see how many photos I had already decided to use for my zine creation, it also helped me to see the flow of the pictures together which I found helpful.
Basic editing and examples –
For the basic editing, I began by selecting the photos which I had chosen in green and choosing one to begin with to start my editing process. I chose the first image of a scenic view with a small boat included in it. For this photo, I wanted to make it quite overcast and yet still have some colour in it. I achieved this through bringing the exposure down slightly and brining the contrast up so the details of the rocks and the blue of the sky which is peering through the clouds could be seen as the same time. I also brought down the shadows to give the photo a gloomier look which made it slightly overcast, which I wanted. As I wanted to keep the finer details of the rocks to be seen I made sure that the white tones in the photos, which are used to highlight these finer details, was brought up to enhance and work with the highlights and creates a contrast against the black meaning that they work opposite one another. To make sure the colour of the blue sky was apparent in the back of the photos and the sea’s darker green/blue colour was also emphasised I adjusted the vibrancy and brought down the saturation, to make sure the colour wasn’t too overpowering, this then enhanced these through the blue/green tones on the photo, which can be seen to be happening on the scale.
16 best photos –
Why I chose these photos for my 16 best photos which I will experiment with further in Adobe Lightroom to create a story through my zine. This is because I think that they create a good way to show the path that I followed throughout our visit to Green Island showing the different objects and debris that I found along the way and it makes you wonder how it got there, therefore with further editing I think that it will turn our quite well when creating my zine.
Letha Wilson’s practice is rooted in material experimentation. She is known for her synthesis of mediums, expanding the visual and physical dimensions of photography and sculpture. By combining industrial materials such as Corten steel, aluminum, and vinyl with photography, Wilson has developed unique fabrication processes. She prints images depicting the beauty of natural landscapes onto her sculptures, embeds them in the surface of her works, and manipulates them in various unexpected compostions. The natural world is both the subject and content of her work; a metaphor for the role of the landscape in myths of renewal, and possibility.
Wilson’s work has been featured in recent solo exhibitions at GRIMM, Amsterdam and New York, NY; Anderson Ranch, Aspen, CO; the Center for Contemporary Art and Culture, Portland, OR; the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, and Galerie Christophe Gaillard, Paris.
Letha Wilson is a mixed media artist who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, raised in Colorado, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her outdoor excursions amongst the Rocky Mountains have placed the natural world and its photographic image at the root of her artistic interests. She earned her BFA from Syracuse University and an MFA from Hunter College in New York City, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2009.
Image Analysis
I have selected this image to analyse as I think that one of the most prominent aspects of this piece of works is the variety of texture. This stands out as it means that they the colours in the piece become more prominent, the cardboard looking background really contrast with the ripped up looking purple textures within the piece. This means that the piece is more eye-catching and aesthetic, with the blues, greens and purples clear in this image it means that there is a large variety of cool tones, with the background being more of a yellow brown, this means that the colours are pushed forward in the piece. Additionally, I think that the layout of the structure is important is note, as the randomness of the rips means that the piece is of better quality. The shapes in this piece mean that a landscape is formed, with the foreground making out to form a river, the middle creating the textures of the mountain, and the background (where the white area is in the top left) creating the sky.
Noemie Goudal
Noémie Goudal has long been drawn to the meeting point of nature and culture, or as she puts it, the organic as “invaded” by the man-made. Goudal also feels a strong attraction to the theatre, and combines the two leanings in the series Les Amants (the Lovers), in which Cascade and Promenade play a part. However, the two works address the issues in different ways: the one is a photograph of a theatrical installation, its school-play hokeyness meant to underline its absurdity; the other is a staging where a photograph plays the main role. On both stages, real nature is relegated to best-supporting actress.
Goudal
Her Work
Goudal’s studio is located away from the bustle of the main boulevard in a quiet alleyway. It is early April, the sky is blue but the wind is chilly, so it is a delight to be enveloped by the heat of a fire stove upon entering the studio. Goudal’s practice is predominantly rooted in the outdoors, but the artist welcomes me into a space resembling a country house living room, where we sit at a large wooden table for coffee. Next door, a second luminous room opens up. With a glass roof and bright white walls it has the appearance of a laboratory and it is this workroom that houses the evidence of Goudal’s creative practice.
What I like about her work: I think that my favourite aspect pf her work is the wide variety of her projects, as she creates many different types of physical structures, such as creating sculptures and I could recreate some aspects of her work by ripping up pieces of paper and merging them together. Furthermore, I think that these pieces of work are very creative and this provides me with lots of inspiration for my future sculptures. From looking at her work if I were to copy I would copy the huge contrast in colours she has in her works, along with the many different environments she recreates with her work, as this means its filled with diversity.
On the 4th of October 2022 we went on a school trip to Le Hocq and Green Island. We were split into two groups and told to photograph the landscapes, houses, rocks etc. My group went to Green Island (also known as ‘La Motte’) which is a very important site for Jersey history and archaeology.
Contact sheet – 360 photographs
After flagging I was left with 95 photographs
After colour coding the first time I was left with 54 images (green and yellow) and the second time I was left with 24 images (green)
Here I went through all of my photographs and flagged them using P (images to keep) and X (images I wouldn’t use). Then I went through them for a second time and colour coded them in order to get my final selection, I did this twice. (red-no, yellow-maybe, green-yes). Lastly, I starred them to get my final best shots (1- worst, 5-best)
Some Best Shots:
These are some images I picked as my best shots because I liked the framing of some of them and just the way the image looked in general.
I decided to try a few different concepts for my Photo-sculptures, mostly trying to experiment with the ideas of shapes and layers.
I decided to use these images for my first sculpture because they are unique and memorable due to the colours overlaid onto them.
I made it so that an image was glued onto each side of a piece of foam board and cut out slits so that they could lock together. Unfortunately there was a problem with a printer so they came out streaky so I decided to just use this piece as an experiment. The pieces I cut out where also too big so it was not held together very securely.
For my next piece I decided to experiment with layering pieces of the image over itself to create a sense of depth. I chose this image because I though it would be easy to split into these layers.
These images show how I cut out layers for my sculpture, the edges are messier than I would have liked and the colours are still slightly off because of the printer. I liked this style more than my last one so decided to do some more pieces with the same technique.
Using the image above I decided to make another layered photosculpture, this time only focusing on cutting out a single element and using the card used for window mounts instead of foam board. The edges are still a bit messy and I continued to have issues with the printer but I still wanted to explore this idea further.
I then chose to use this image because it had pretty simple layers that could be cut, the figure in the foreground, the rocks, and the sky.
This one turned out a lot better than some of the earlier ones, with simple layers and cleaner cuts, using the 3D element to stand out from its 2D counterpart. These cleaner style is possibly due to my decision to use card which I have found is easier to cut through.
This was my last photo sculpture so I decided to be a bit more experimental, starting off by cutting out the usual layers but since the original image was quite detailed I was struggling to cut it out through the foam board. Instead of continuing with the style used earlier I decided to cut out a triangle in one of the layers to make it more visually interesting, as it creates a strange sense of depth.
If I were to do this project again I would try to plan out my ideas a bit more and work on making my pieces neater.
I experimented with how flat images can be physically manipulated, how they can be made to interact with others in a 3 dimensional sculpture using basic material such as foam board, paper and glue.
I created this 3d sculpture using foam board, paper, masking tape, spray adhesive and a cutting knife. I started by rolling the image of jerseys coast line to create a cylindrical image then I thought of away for it to be protruding from another image of a rock which i turned upside down to give interesting perspective then attached another piece of foam board with the sky behind. I like the way the rock opens up where it has eroded over time and the contrast with the sky that I used to fill the space.
this is two images the background is a landscape photo that I placed on its side. I then cut out a black and white image of a seagull standing on a pinnacle I like the white edge that the foam board gave wilts I was cutting it out. I attached legs at the back to hold up at a slight angle.
I thought of this idea from a vase of flowers. from this I curved foam board with an image of the sky on it. I like the jagged curve created by the folding foam board. I then used colourfully offcuts and shaped them to be wider at the top like the silhouette of a flower. i used spray adhesive to connect the images to the foam board and masking tape to hold the foam board in place.
I started with one image of a crevasse at stinky bay that i edited to be two diffident colours on either side I then cut out the middle and spread the two side of the rock then used more edited images of boulders that I cut out and layered behind the crevasse. there are two rectangular piece of foam board attached to the back of the boards that hold it all together, I used masking tape to attach these.
