Contact sheet

The photographs have been taken in 4 separate shoots

These photographs are the ones I considered usable based on sharpness and exposure.

I 5 starred my favourite photographs after comparing angle, shadows and sharpness more in depth.

Experimentation

I increased the contrast, saturation and vibrance as well as the shadows and blacks as I wanted to make the photograph look extreme and surreal. I decreased the highlights and the whites as i though it was a bit too much for the eyes considering the amount of colour. I decreased the texture and clarity in order to make the photograph feel more soft and liquid.

I converted the photograph to black and white as I felt colour to be unnecessary for communicating the message but rather a distraction. I used a radial filter in order to preserve the sharpness of the central image as I distort the surroundings by increasing texture and using dehaze. I wanted the photograph to look dark and gritty, a bit hard on the eyes, a total opposite of the pervious photograph as I created them to be displayed together.

For both photographs I used a glass to create the ring around the main object. I wanted to create a distortion, a ripple in reality to represent the polar extremes of delusion.

Final outcomes

I decided to include the essay in the final book as I though it would help me convey the point as well give some background and context to the photographs. The front cover was supposed to be inviting, a declaration of transparency as eyes are the window to the soul. The photographs on pages 12 and 13 portray the idea of the anima and the animus, or the femininity and masculinity, within the shadow. Page 16 touches on the theory of the tabula rasa, we are born without the filter we call the ego, however, on page 17 we can see the transition into the persona, formed by the preconceived notions, the filter of what is acceptable or desirable by its standards. The prism on page 23 is explained by the quote, it represent the idea that the fragmentation of the psyche happens due to the egos filters. The strands of DNA are meant to represent the collective subconscious and the universal elements originated in the inherited structure of the brain, all the parts of you encoded in you DNA, passed on for generation. The last photograph I thought would be a good closing as everything that begins must also end.

I feel that the photobook was able to convey the message successfully in combination with the essay. However, a lot of the meaning derives from the way the viewer interprets the photos for themselves. The message could potentially be delivered better if the photographs contained titles to narrow down the field for interpretation. On the other hand, the purpose of the photobook was to explore the subconscious and photographs open to interpretation offer the viewer the opportunity to take a dive into their own subconscious. It is similar to the work of the reference artist Roger Ballen, who inspired this project, in the way it explores the darker parts of the subconscious such as hallucination and delusion and the psychological shadow. The main difference between mine and Ballens work is that I portray the positive side of duality through colour as well as symbolism. Another difference is that I used editing tools quite heavily in order to portray the concepts in an abstract form. Evaluating the technical side of the project, I feel that I could have played more with lighting in order to communicate the nature of duality. Some photographs could have also been taken with more pressure on the technical aspects most specifically shutter speed and aperture as well as focus. Some pictures came out not focused enough or a bit blurred due to low shutter speed and movement while shooting handheld. Exposure could have also been improved by adjusting the shutter speed and the ISO depending on the conditions. For the future I will definitely use a camera stand as offers stability and gives me the opportunity to properly adjust my camera settings to a certain environment. Overall I am happy with my outcome, a few adjustments could have been made to improve the quality of my work however I feel the imperfections in the project help serve the overall purpose in that it relates to our own flaws.

Digital Gallery

“The pictures are of a psychological culture, a Jungian culture, if you will. It emanates from my own psyche… It’s a hard place to get to, honestly. It has taken me many years to get to that place and to define it visually.” – Roger Ballen

Self discovery is “the act or process of gaining knowledge or understanding of your abilities, character, and feelings”[1] according to the Britannica Dictionary. I think it takes much more than knowing what your hobbies are and what clothes you like wearing. Discovering yourself means reaching to the deep, dark parts of your subconscious and meeting all the “socially unacceptable” parts of the Being you have repressed throughout your life. As Jordan Peterson described in his book 12 Rules for Life, An Antidote to Chaos, “Being is what each of us experiences, subjectively, personally and individually, as well as what we each experience jointly with others. As such, it includes emotions, drivers, dreams, visions and revelations, as well as our private thought and perceptions.’ Peterson expands on the point by stating: ‘Being is also, finally, something that is brought into existence by action, so it’s nature is to an indeterminate degree a consequence of our decisions and choices – something shaped by our hypothetically free will”. [2] It can be a dreadful and terrifying process as you start to uncover your true capacity for destruction and chaos alas it is the only path to serenity and order. Roger Ballen explores the theme of self discovery through his subconscious, the very dark places in his psyche which hold all the repressed emotions and drivers behind choice and decision, places to which the conscious does not have access to. Psyche refers to the complete personality of the individual. In response to Ballen’s work I will produce a photobook exploring the theme of self discovery through my lived experiences. I am aiming to show all the dark and uncomfortable parts of the human psyche, through a series of images where I am staging lived experiences creating a narrative between fact and fiction.

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist who aimed to understand the nature of the psyche and develop strategies in order to integrate its components into a state of wholeness. “Mans task, is… to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious… As for as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle the light in the darkness of mere being” [3]. However most of the interaction between the two happen beyond our awareness and control, hence a big part of who we are, what we are capable of and the drivers behind our actions and choices, exists beyond our reach or understanding. Individuation is the achievement of self actualisation through the process of integrating the conscious and the unconscious[4].

Jung’s model of the psyche consists of the consciousness, personal unconsciousness and the collective unconsciousness. Consciousness refers to a “realm of personal awareness where one identifies explicitly and knowingly with themselves”.[5] In the centre of the consciousness Jung identified a structure called the ego, which is responsible for creating stories about oneself told to oneself as a way of providing a sense of personal distinction. The ego is expressed as a persona or the appearance an individual displays to the world. However the persona is often far from one’s true self as the ego only allows qualities deemed acceptable or appropriate in society. The ego filters elements of our experiences and characteristics either into or away from the consciousness. The personal unconscious is an idea well understood through Freud’s work. It is a place beyond our awareness where we store all the repressed aspects of selfhood, which continue to interact with the conscious. The collective unconscious, according to Jung is a collection of universal elements originating in the inherited structure of the brain. He has observed patterns and characteristics throughout myths, religions and cultures of communities unlikely to contact each other yet their stories centre around the same roles and elements. He called those universal, inherited, themes and motifs the archetypes. The archetypes are the base for personality, influencing the individuals cognitive tendencies. In the combined unconscious, Jung referred to the repressed parts of selfhood the ego does not want to identify with, as the shadow. More specifically Jung identified within the shadow the animus and anima. Animus meaning the suppressed masculine qualities (Strength, logic, leadership, action…) in a female and anima referring to the suppressed feminine qualities in a man (Creativity, nurture, empathy, grace). All those structures are supposed to work together in circulation, mediating between one another in order to achieve balance and create the Self. The Self refers to who an individual truly is, what they like, desire, what they are capable of. Individualisation is a process that requires radical self honesty and actively working toward true self acceptance. There is no way to separate an individual form its psychological shadow, nor should we try to do so by denying and repressing it. “Good does not become better by being exaggerated, but worse, and a small evil becomes a big one though being disregarded and repressed. The shadow is very much a part of human nature, and it is only at night that no shadow exists”. [6]

I have been deeply committed to the process of Individuation since I realised how lost I was in the persona I have fabricated to protect myself or maybe rather protect the outside world from my true flawed Self. The more I learned the more I understood that the emptiness and loneliness I felt wasn’t due to a lack of acceptance by others but rather a result of rejection of the Self. I learned that endlessly striving towards light takes away from the quality of being human and that rebelling against it completely, in order to satisfy desire (even if the desire is to protect oneself) brings you closer to being a monster than a human. As Jordan Peterson says “A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very, very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control”. In the same way I have found that there is order within chaos and chaos within order and that ambitiously striving for either one or the other can tip the balancing scales into insanity. In this project I aim to portray the balancing of order and chaos, the feminine and the masculine, the light and dark involved in the forever ongoing process of Individuation.

Roger Ballen

Roger Ballen evolved his style using a simple square format in stark and black and white. His earlier works shows clear connection to traditional documentary photography however it developed into a style described as documentary fiction, combining reality and hallucination. Throughout his carrier Ballen photographed people that could be described as outsiders who’s appearance was more of a physical manifestation of a psychological disturbance. When asked if he himself feels to be an outsider he described the complexity of his work. “I would say that I am not an outsider artist. I like art that reflects something very basic, very primitive and psychological, which has something in common with outsider art but the work itself is advanced photography.”[7] He explained how his photographs are staged scenes, intensified to the absurd as metaphors for the mind itself, including symbolic elements such as animals, drawings, organised chaos, broken objects and fragmented humans[8]. In essence Ballen explores the theme by taking a dive through the depths of his psyche and exploring all that constitutes a Being.

The Protector is one of the photographs from the series Roger the Rat which aims to visually explore the forces that shape the human psyche. In this quote Ballen describes who the main subject is. “I am an outsider, live on the margin and have no place in human society. I am judged by humanity to be insane, to be feared and avoided at all costs. Normality must be preserved; it is sacrosanct, no matter what the cost… Most humans hate people such as me, as we challenge their illusion of stability and purpose.” In this, Ballen manages to perfectly explain what a psychological shadow is, why we repress it and fear it. He continues to explain: “As a rat, I symbolise chaos and disorder. There is little hope of a better world until humanity comes to terms with the unpleasant fact that repression and fear are ultimately the masters of their destiny. I cannot remember when I put this rat mask on for the first time. Maybe I was born with it. I am not sure what is underneath. I never take it off: I sleep with it, bathe with it. I have heard people call me a rat and others a human with a mask. I am unsure whether I am a rat or human. Perhaps my mother was a rat and my father a human. I think I am a bit of both.” [9] Ballen explains that until humanity comes to terms with its shadow and starts to perceive the flawed and twisted as a part of our nature, there is no chance for unification. You cannot fix an issue until you see it.

In conclusion, Roger Ballen explores the theme of self discovery through the exploration of his psyche, in the process identified by Carl Jung as Individuation. This results in absurd photographs of a deep psychological nature. However, to what extent can we actually represent the subconscious though photography? Considering the topic is deeper than the ocean it self, I feel that parts of the subconscious cannot be perceived by vision alone. Maybe, there is parts of it we cannot perceive at all? Given our biological limitations. And even if, does the process of Individuation ever really finish? Do we get to a point where exploring is no longer an option? Or is our consciousness forever expanding just like the universe it self? Maybe we aren’t meant to know it all, maybe we should leave that up to God, after all isn’t sin (literal meaning in Hebrew to “miss the mark”) the one quality that makes us human?

Bibliography

[1]

Britannica Dictionary definition of SELF–DISCOVERY

[2]

Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life, An Antidote to Chaos (2018) ch. 1

[3]

Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962) ch. 11

[4], [5]

Pursuit of Wonder, Becoming Your True Self – The Psychology of Carl Jung (YouTube)

[6]

Carl Jung, A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity (1942), Psychology and Religion: West and East, pg. 286

[7], [8]

[9]

Roger Ballen: The Enigma of Organised Chaos, Alasdair Foster, 20 March 2021, Africa

History of postmodernism

Postmodernism derived from modernism, around the 1960s, as a nihilistic response to modernism, criticising all its ideology and values.

Modernism was a global movement in society and culture, originating in the 1940s evolving through to the 1960s. It sought a new alignment with the experience and values of modern life, by focusing on industrialisation, urbanisation, new technologies and war. It was a rejection of history, conservative values and institutions that were thought to be oppressive and inefficient. It was believed they should be replaced by rational values and institutions. Artists such as Pablo Picasso and Georgia O’Keeffe build on the ideology by creating original artworks that best reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies. This often included innovation and experimentation with form, a tendency to abstraction and emphasis on materials, techniques and processes.

Postmodernism is an objection to modernism influenced by disenchantment brought on by the Second World War and failure of Liberal, Capitalism and Stalinism to deliver the promise of wealth and freedom. “It’s an attitude of scepticism and irony towards rejection of grand narratives, ideology and universalism, criticises objective notions of reason, human nature, social progress, absolute truth and objective reality” – Jordan Peterson. It’s based on the reason that we categorise to marginalise; in order to obtain political and economic power. The collapse of tradition ultimately lead to a societal breakdown where meaning was difficult to discern, and the questioning of the humankind’s place in the universe. Individuals, therefore, ceased to believe in the one unique meaning of art and literature and alternately believed in deriving their own meanings. Artists such as Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol deliberately used traditional styles, recycling, parody, irony and collaboration amongst many other techniques in order to portray that individual experience and the interpretation of our experience was more concrete than abstract principles, embracing the complex and contradictory layers of meaning.

Image analysis

This is a black and white self portrait of Cindy Sherman in New York, USA, 1978. The main focal point of this photograph is the shot of Sherman framing her head to shoulders. Her expression is rather one of disgust aimed at someone off scene. In the background we can see blurred office buildings. The artist started an Untitled Film Series in 1977, in her apartment using her own interior for setting scenes. The collection presents us with images of generic female film characters. Shareman liked to play with the idea of recording fiction with fiction, by playing a character of a character. This plays on the idea of irony, one of the postmodernist ideologies. In this particular photograph she plays the character of a young professional girl, in smart clothing on her first day in the city. This strikes a resemblance to the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s with the core message of the film; trying to make a new identity and exploring one’s femininity. In her interviews Sherman explains, “I’m trying to erase myself more than identify myself or reveal myself. That’s a big, confusing thing that people have with my work: they think I’m trying to reveal these secret fantasies or something. It’s really about obliterating myself within these characters.”

PICTORIALISM

time period :

1880-1920s

Key characteristics/ conventions :

Photography wasn’t being taken seriously as an art form as it originally derived from the need to document science, as a result artists started mimicking paintings through their photography to add on an artistic element.

Artists associated:

• Clarence H. White
• John Everett Millais
• JMW Turner

Key works:

Methods/ techniques/ processes:

Vaseline on lense, madrk room image manipulation, scratching and marking print.

REALISM / STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

Time period:

1904 – 1930s

Key characteristics/ conventions :

Attempts to depict a scene or subject sharply, in detail, just like the camera sees it without post manipulation.

Artists associated:

• Ansel Adams
• Edward Weston
• Bernice Abbott

Key works:

Methods/ techniques/ processes:

Producing sharp images without manipulation.

MODERNISM

Time period:

1840 – 1960s

Key characteristics/ conventions :

focused on industrialisation and new issues rather than victorian values, producing original abstract or surreal images.

Artists associated:

• Claude Cahun
• Pablo Picasso
• Georgia O’Keefe

Key works:

Methods/ techniques/ processes:

Photomontage, experimentation, abstraction.

POST-MODERNISM

Time period:

1960s – 1970s

Key characteristics/ conventions :

Reaction and criticism to values and ideas of modernism, sceptism, irony, phylosohical creteques of the concept of universal truths and objective reality.

Artists associated:

• William Eggleston
• Yasumasa Morimura
• Cindy Sherman

Key works:

Methods/ techniques/ processes:

Deliberate use of traditional styles, recycling work, parody, collaboration and many other.

Identity

• Who you become – influences – family, friends, culture, nature vs nurture
• Who you are? internally / externally
• Cultural, profesional, ethnic, religious, gender, disability.
• Rebellion vs authority
• Mental health as part of internal identity – ocd, depression, anxiety
• Love, respect, acceptance as motivators of identity development
• Restaging memories? Shereman style
• Chapters in a photobook – represents stages of identity development/ parts of identity
• Youth culture (Dash Snow, Les Baker, Graham MacIndoe, Nan Goldin)
• Influence on identity
• Exploration of identity through postmodernist ideas
• Quotes from postmodern literature
• Cartoon by Piers?
• Artist reference – Jim Goldberg, Ryan Mcginley, Nan Goldin, Sam Contis, Daniel Regan, Edgar Martins , John William Keedy, Tyler Rayburn, Cindy Sherman,

Essay Entry

17

In what way have Jim Goldberg and Ryan McGinley represented youth in their work?

The essay does address the hypothesis clearly throughout. It provides insight into the life of adolescents and individuals of specific groups showing both the beauty and adventure of being young as well as the challenges and the bleakness of reality.

The essay are well structured with a sense of introduction, paragraph and conclusion.

The essay shows confident use of language, punctuation and specialist terminology to express complex ideas with authority.

The essay shows deeper analysis of an artists oeuvre

The essay shows evidence of further reading in the context of politics, history, art and religion

Presents use of direct quotes, summary and commentary from others to make an informed and critical argument.

The student included photographs listing name of artist, title of work and year of production.

Contact Sheet

All those were taken in the same shoot

Those are the images I flagged as usable after evaluating exposure, sharpness and overall aesthetic.

Experimentation

Firstly I increased the exposure as the ISO was too small and the picture was a bit under exposed, increased the contrast because the shadows and the darks became greyish and I needed to add some depth, for this reason I also decided to increase the shadows. As the photo was a bit too dark I decided to increase the whites as well. I wanted to picture to be a bit more mellow so i decreased the texture because adjusting the balance and increasing the contrast made it a bit to gritty. I also decreased all the other colours and increased the red and pink as I felt like the monochrome format would also help keep it simple and mellow.

First I turned it into a black and white image to eliminate the distraction of colour, then I increased the contrast and the texture options to make the textures even more prominent as well as increases the highlights and the blacks. I had to turn down the shadows as they spread too much and took over some of the textures.

Firstly, I increased the contrast to make the imperfections stand out more as well as increase the shadow and the whites, i turned downs the blacks so that the picture wasn’t too dark. I decreased the texture setting so that it didn’t look so gritty. I turned the temperature down to make it colder.

Increased the exposure as the picture came out a bit dull, increased the contrast and increased the shadows to make the picture more dramatic and turned down the temperature to give it a more cold colour and turned up the texture to make it sharp

This photo was very underexposed so i turned up the exposure and increased the contrast, highlights and shadows to make it less dull and add tonal range.

Final Outcomes

The photograph is rather mellow as the textures are smooth and the colour pink adds to the calmness and joyfulness of the photograph, in addition I think pink represents a certain kind of gentle feminine power almost as a good mother. This creates a nice contrast to reality as rocks are usually rigged with more bluish and earthy undertones. In this photograph we can see a variety of rock sizes as well as flowers growing from underneath. Through this I wanted to show that rocks aren’t just rough, dull, lifeless objects but rather a strong but gentle foundation for life to strive and a crucial part of our mother earth.

In this photograph we can see a few types of plants and fungus growing on a rock which makes it full of different, interesting textures. The photograph is monochrome as colours would be too much considering the amount of textures, and would definitely be distracting. The grey colours also convey the neutrality and the balance of the natural world. The rough textures attract the eye and intrigue the viewer, giving them loads to look at. In addition I think rough textures convey the inconsistencies and imperfections of nature well. Strong, hard textures also represent the masculinity of nature, evoking the feelings of stability and conveying the longevity and resilience of the sublime which is able to withstand the test of time.

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Evaluation: Overall I enjoy the detail and the texture of the photographs. I could improve on adjusting the camera settings and sharpness next time maybe by taking a few pilot shoots.

David Hockney

David Hockney is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. His work is characterised by the exploration of traditional techniques such as oil painting, print making and digital reproductive technologies as well as fascination with light and mundane realism. His contribution to the Pop art movement made him considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century.

He studied at the Bradford College of Art and the Royal college of Art, London where he received a gold medal in the gratitude compensation. He went to teach at the university of Iowa, Colorado and California in 1964 and permanently settled in Los Angeles in 1978. The city’s intense light and “California modern” aesthetic influenced his work.

Much of Hockney’s work was autobiographical including self portraits and incidental scenes of his friends such as the Pool with Two Figures.

In the early 1980s, Hockney started to experiment with photocollages he called “joiners”. He started off with polaroid prints, then 35mm, processed, coloured prints. Using multiple prints of a single subject he would arrange them to make one image. Since the photographs are takin from different perspectives and slightly different lighting, the final collage gives an effect similar to Cubism.

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Here you can read more about David Hockley’s joiners.

Image analysis

This image shows an elderly couple solving a crossword puzzle. I chose to analyse Hockney’s joiner because he captures something not many artists do, and that is time. He said “Photography seems to be rather good at portraiture, or can be. But, it cant tell you about space, which is the essence of landscape. For me anyway. Even Ansel Adams cant quite prepare you for what Yosemite looks like when you go through that tunnel and you come out the other side”. He also quoted “The space is the illusion, but the time is not the illusion”. Almost all photographs only capture a frame of a certain moment in time, Hockey’s joiners consist of multiple pictures taken at different points in time, they show the development of emotions throughout time. Time is also highlighted in the process itself, as he took each individual shot in a space of an hour, he had to wait for them then put them together. The overall tone of the photograph is rather dull, very blueish grey, influenced by the colour of the walls, the objects on the table, the hair of the subjects and even the weather outside. Although the picture is cool toned the warmer colours in the faces of the subjects create a pleasant contrast, standing out and so acting as the focal point of the photograph.

This painting by Pieter Claesz is a still life composition, a vanitas meaning to reflect the viewers own mortality. Like in most of his paintings Claesz used a monochrome pallet, this helps convey the message without the distraction of colour. The dominant colour in the painting is brown, it evokes feelings of sadness and isolation. The dark tones make the painting quite dramatic and depressing. There’s not much negative space making the painting claustrophobic which in a sense represents the urgency to live life as it is only brief. On the left we can see a gap toothed skull and a bone, this is a Memento Mori (“Remember that you will die”); a reminder of the certainty of death. Right behind, on the left hand side, there is an hourglass, a symbol of fleeting human existence. The empty overturn wine glass symbolises the emptiness of wealth and material possessions. The reflection in the glass calls to the idea of self reflection. Underneath we can see some sheet music which usually represents the brevity of indulgence in the senses as a luxury.

Still life is an art of capturing inanimate objects (natural or man-made) for their qualities of form, colour, texture and composition. Early Netherlandish still life painting presented skulls, candles and hour glasses order to convey the transience of life and futility of materialism. Often combined with flowers or fruits of all seasons to symbolise nature’s cycle. Those more morbid themes represent a genre of still life called Vanitas.

History

Still Life was first introduced in western art by the Egyptians 5000 years ago. In their ancient religious beliefs, when a person died, if they had lead a righteous life they would be rewarded with eternal life in the field of reeds. However, in order to retain eternal life the persons body had to retain the same physical appearance it had on earth (mummification). In addition, the tomb of the dead had to contain all the things they would need in the afterlife including food, and although actual food was put into tombs, it was limiting as a person living an eternal life would need a lot of it, so the ancient Egyptians also painted images of food on the tomb walls. Those paintings included the same items as most modern still life including fruit, vegetables, bread, fish and other animals as well as wine.

The Egyptian tomb paintings were created for religious purposes. However, during classical times (8th century BC – 6th century AD) still life became an object for home decoration and a display of wealth. Ancient Romans used Bodegones; representation of common objects of daily life including food: platers, glasses, jars, fish, vegetables and fruit; to decorate their kitchens. Bodegones remain a popular subject for still life in the modern times.

Other examples of ancient roman still life include the Memento mori, used on tomb stones as a reminder that no mater who you are death always happens. In the image below, the wheel symbolises the passage of time and the butterfly represents the transformation of the soul as it leaves the constrains of the earthy body. Those themes carry on in todays vanitas.

Although decorative still life fresco murals and mosaics occasionally appeared in antiquity it wasn’t until the Renaissance it became an independent painting genre. The first painting to be considered still life was painted by an Italian painter, Jacopo de’Barbari, in 1504.

After fighting off the Spanish inquisition the Dutch Republic became an independent country over the course of the 17th century, dominating international trade, brining in staples and luxury goods from around the world. The rise of middle class who wanted to decorate theirs homes and an increasing demand for secular subjects in paintings other than portraiture are what contributed to the Dutch Golden Age of still life paintings. Amongst the famous Dutch and Flemish painters who specialised in still life art were Willem Claesz Heda, Wilhem Kalf, Jan Fyt, Frans Snyders, Jan Weenix…

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After World War II until the rise of Non-objective paintings, France became the centre of still-life painting, with artists such as J.B.S. Chardin, Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh or Pablo Picasso dominating the scene.

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