HERE is a link to a digital copy of my photobook on Blurb
Evaluation
I think my exam project was successful, as I was able to take some of my best photographs during the photoshoots and experimentation I did for this project. During the project I learned various bits of theory as well as practical work such as creating cyanotype images, using various AI software to reinterpret my images, as well as overall improving on how to frame an image to have a powerful composition. I took many varying shoots that each produced different outcomes, and I was able to incorporate each shoot into the book successfully, as well as the AI generated images which made up the ‘Complex’ half of the theme of the project. Additionally, the ‘Complex’ part of the theme was included in my woodland photoshoots, as their composition and subject matter were complex in comparison to some of my other image. As for the ‘Simple’ half, I created cyanotypes with reference to Anna Atkins using objects I collected during my woodland shoots, which I managed to include into one of my final pieces nicely. I was also able to take some traditional object photographs by using those same objects and placing them on a white background. I am proud of both of the outcomes for both of those shoots as they make up the ‘Simple’ half of the theme very nicely.
What went well:
I think my work using AI software was successful, as I was able to effectively create images that reinterpret my own images using them and create a nice contrast between a real image and a computer generated image. I was able to experiment with various software and landed on Dreamstudio AI, which produced the images that I ended up using in my photobook. I feel like my final pieces were a success, I was able to create many window mounts and some other forms of final pieces that include images from most of my photoshoots.
How I can improve:
Due to the limits of the software, I was unable to include any AI generated images into my final pieces due to their low resolution, however my work using the woodland images will make up for the ‘Complex’ side. Due to my inexperience in object shoots (which made up the ‘Simple’ side of the theme), there is less material for that side of the project, however I think the uniqueness of their composition makes up for that.
For the photobook, I am very happy with the way it fits the theme of Simple and Complex, as it contains both complex themes of artificial intelligence, a woodland environment, the technical nature of photography as a medium, as well as the more simple themes to contrast with it, such as an object photograph, as well as how AI software can simplify creating an image. I think the image on the front/back cover represents this well, as the image started as a fairly complex composition in the woodland, and I edited it to be made up of simpler shapes and slightly more limited colour. I am happy with the way the book links in with my previous book in that the image on the front cover is designed in a similar way, even the text is in a similar position.
What went well:
Due to the symmetrical nature of my sequencing, many of the pages in the photobook have a similar aesthetic and presentation, this idea of a repeating page layout works nicely in making sure each image works well with one another. I think my inclusion of my AI generated images was successful, as I was able to put equal focus on those and the image they were referencing during their creation (the only page where it only has AI images uses images based off of the image from the cover of the book).
How I can improve:
Due to the limitations of the AI software, the AI generated images were at a very low resolution, which means that they may not be in the best quality once I have the book printed (however that blurriness may add to their inorganic appearance). The title of the book (Ancient Woodland Modern Software) was a fairly rushed name, however it does fit in with the themes of the project.
An idea for a front/back cover could be to create a cover similar to my last photobook, where I use an image that has been edited in photoshop to have a more angular and slightly more contrasting look. This
Original Image
To edit the image I used the Filter Gallery – Cutout filter with these settings to create the effect. Unlike the last cover, I won’t be editing the colour or lighting as I would prefer this image to be darker with the same colours.
Edited Image
Here I have experimented with the same technique using another image:
The next experiment I did was to make an image similar to Meeks’ front cover, where the image has had its contrast removed and altered to only have one colour. I chose to use green as it makes up the vast majority of the image I used.
Darker
Lighter version
In the end I chose to use the first cover I made, as I think it fits with the aesthetics of my book being an image of a natural landscape which has been altered in some way.
Title/Text
To start arranging the title of my photobook, I started by looking for the font, position, size, etc. I would be using for my title. I would like to use a serif font, as that would give my book a more classical look, which is largely the aesthetic I was going for for the front cover.
The first font I found was called ‘Bookman Old Style’, the image above is in the bold setting.
The next was called ‘Book Antiqua’, the image above is regular
The next was ‘Papyrus’, above is regular
Another was Garamond – in bold
Next was Elephant – regular
As for the title itself, I thought about incorporating words/phrases such as ‘sublime’, ‘woodland’, ‘artificial intelligence’, as well as their synonyms. An idea I had would be to write a prompt as the title (I was thinking of the list ‘sublime, woodland, artificial intelligence’ which gave me this idea) which would work well with the themes of the book. ‘Ancient woodland, modern software’ was another idea taken from my Statement of Intent blogpost.
Next I started to focus on the positioning of the title:
Bottom Right
Top Right
Centre (At this point I decided to use Garamond for the title text)
Top right (with Garamond)
In the end I decided to use the top right orientation as it is the darkest point in the image, which would allow for the title to be slightly more readable.
This is how I designed the text on the spine
Layout
Image of photobook without final order of pages
To start creating my layout, I made up the page spreads…
This will be my final layout for the book, I tried to make the sequence symmetrical like my other books as (as said above), it provides a nice sequence and connects all the images together.
This is a version with white paper, personally I think the white looks better for this book as it makes it seem slightly more traditional in it’s presentation, although the layout of the images themselves prevents it from being fully classic.
Final Layout
Below is a list of images of each page spread of my photobook.
(The exclamation marks are for the AI generated images due to their resolution)
My story involves a walk through a woodland area, with the literal and imaginary depictions of the setting both being included.
A Paragraph:
My book won’t be fully story-focussed, as some of the images have little correlation between each other, so it will be difficult to make it the primary focus. It will depict a woodland area, both in a wide view showing of an entire scene as well as the minute details which make up the area.
Designing the Book:
Paper and ink
I would like to use a matte paper for this book as it will give the paper a slightly more rough feel to it. I also think that the lack of a glare will make it easier to see the darker images I will include. As of right now (before creating the sequence/layout for the book) I would not mind using either white or black coloured paper.
Format, size and orientation
I think a similar size, format and orientation to my previous photobook would work nicely, that being around A4 in size and portrait orientation. The portrait orientation will allow for double and single page spreads using my landscape images. A4 size would be good for my AI generated images due to their very low resolution, a smaller
Binding and cover
My book will have an image wrap on the cover (shown above), the image includes themes of the dangerous woodland, however I have edited it to have an artificial look, linking with the AI part of my project. I would like my book to be a hardcover, as it would put greater focus on the image and title.
Structure and architecture
As all of my previous zines/books, I will make my structure of the book as symmetrical as possible, as it allows for an effective sequence and ensures that each type of image (woodland landscape, object and AI image) does not feel out of place in the book.
Design and layout
The book will include double/single page spreads, pages with 2 images on them at once (this is due to the AI image being a much lower resolution compared to the other images). I will juxtapose the AI generated images with the real images that influenced them.
Images and text
I will not be including any text on the book aside from the title on the cover, the title on the first page spread, and on the spine.
In order to help create my photobook, I hope to gain a better understanding of how they are created by researching another photobook. I created a photobook in my personal study project, in that project I studied a book by Troy Paiva. For this project I will study a book made by Raymond Meeks called: Halfstory Halflife. While the subject matter and general aesthetic of the book is different to what I envision my book will look like, I think this book executes its story very well in its presentation.
1. Research and deconstructing photobook:
Front cover of Halfstory Halflife
Starting with the title of the book: Halfstory Halflife, my interpretation of this idea of something being half-story/half-life, especially an image (or collection of images), is something that represents real events in someone’s life, without any filter or staging, which is what I think this photobook clearly represents in the majority of its images, a lot of them being personal, in-the-moment shots. The Half-story part comes from the fact that Meeks has sequenced these images into a book and arranged them with other images of the area.
The front cover of the book gives the impression of a hazy image, like a memory or idea. The cover is wholly a blue shade, further linking with the idea of details of an event being forgotten or altered in someone’s mind. It also reminds me of an old photographic process, such as a calotype, with the way it lacks much contrast.
All of the images in this book are black and white, giving many of the images a far more dramatic aesthetic. Some of the images depict a trip in the woods with a group of young people, jumping into a lake, the lake is never directly shown and is only seen as pure black. Other images are images of nature and some urban locations around them, practically all of the images involve nature of some sort. The vast majority of the images are portrait oriented, with only a few landscapes, no formal/traditional portraits. The images being black and white also remind me of old photographs of memories of youth and such, which I think works effectively with the snapshot style of a lot of the images.
A page spread in Halfstory Halflife
My interpretation of the story of this book is that it is a representation of youth and memories, with a group of youths going for a trip lake-jumping in the woods. The story includes snapshot like images of the group of people, perhaps representing the fleeting nature of memories and time (which photography captures easily), while the more formal/traditional images of the locations could be used to provide a contrast to those snapshots, and perhaps representing how the earth (a location/area) does not change (or is lost like memories) as easily.
The book includes text written by Meeks and a poem excerpt by C.D. Wright, the text is largely emotional and directed at a group of people whom he mentions at the end of the book (likely the ones depicted in the book).
2. Physical Analysis:
Book in hand: The book has a rough texture, which nicely mirrors the front cover’s slightly grainy, faded appearance. Despite being a softcover, the book feels very solid and secure due to the thickness of the book, as well as the paper used.
Paper and ink: The paper is consistent throughout the entire book. The book uses matte paper, making the pages less shiny, which I think works nicely with the style of the images as well as the front cover. The paper’s colour is white, offering a nice contrast to the large amount of black seen in Meeks’ images.
Format, size and orientation: The book has roughly 150 pages in total. It uses a portrait orientation, allowing for the predominantly portrait oriented images to fit nicely on a singular page spread. The book is not exactly A4, as it has slightly more width and less height than an A4 piece of paper.
Binding, soft/hard cover. The book is soft cover and has no dust jacket, however it does have cover flaps on the front and back cover pages. It uses a perfect binding.
Cover: The cover has an image printed on it, the colours of the image having been altered to be only a light blue. The image also has had most of its contrast taken out of it, which is what gives it that faded look. It likely uses a type of card as the material, it feels rough, which adds to the faded and slightly grainy look of the image printed on it,
Title: The title (to me) is both literal and metaphorical. As said above, the literal interpretation of the title represents the nature of the book itself representing both a real event and the story (Meeks’ perspective) of the event. The title is laid out in very small, white text with each word (‘Halfstory’, ‘Halflife’, ‘Raymond Meeks’) being on a different part of the page at different alignments
Narrative: As said above, the story is told using both snapshot images of a group of youths likely near a lake, and more formal/traditional images of the surrounding area.
Structure and architecture: The images are mostly laid out as a portrait on one page of a page spread, with the other mostly being blank (however there are a few double-page spreads and two images on each page of a page spread). All of the images are in black and white. The vast majority of images incorporate nature into them, either as the primary focus, or part of the environment the people are in.
Design and layout: All of the images have some form of border on them, none of the images bleed off of the page, except for a few landscape images that bleed onto the adjacent page. There are no inserts on any of the pages. There are only a maximum of two images on a page spread at a time, some having none.
Editing and sequencing: Some of the page spreads, such as the one shown above, juxtaposes a natural image with an image of a person. All the images being black and white (as well as the majority of the images being portrait) allows them to conform to a consistent style. There are far less landscape shots of an area than there are snapshots of people, Meeks likely using them as a contrast to the snapshot images.
Images and text: The book uses very limited text, only being seen on the front/back cover, spine, first and last pages on the book.
As I will be including AI generated images in my photobook, I will continue to experiment with the software I consider to be the best/most appropriate for inclusion in this blogpost. I will be using DreamstudioAI to generate these images as Dall-E 2 did not allow me access likely due to the servers being full.
DreamstudioAI
1
Prompt: ‘Sublime image of a forest landscape at night, incorporate the Fibonnacci sprial in the composition, include a small stream of water, detailed, highly detailed’
Settings:
Image used:
Generated Images:
2
Prompt: ‘Forest setting with sublime lighting, serene atmosphere, golden spiral, detailed, highly detailed’
Settings:
Generated Images:
3
Prompt: ‘Fallen tree stump in sublime forest setting, serene forest landscape, dense vegetation, Fibonnacci golden rule spiral, golden mean, golden spiral, detailed, highly detailed’
Settings:
Image used:
Generated Images:
4
Prompt: ‘Forest setting with dense vegetation, sublime lighting and colours, clear stream of water passing under green log, fibonnacci sequence, detailed, highly detailed’
For my final prints in this project, I will be making 4 pieces of work that take work from both the object side of the project and the woodland side of the project equally. I will create two final pieces using my object images, one using the images I took with my camera and the other using the cyanotype images. The other two final pieces will use images from my woodland shoots, one will use images from my first shoot and the other will use images from the third shoot.
Images I will be using for my final pieces:
(An image of my cyanotypes)
First Woodland Piece (A3 x 4)
For this piece I will create a series of classic window-mount images. I possible, I would like to place this into a black frame to give it a formal/professional look. As I am printing these images as A3, all of the images will be separate from each other.
Above are two mock-ups of window mount images.
Second Woodland Piece (A4 x 3)
I would like to lay these images out in a simple sequence, either on plain white foam board, or on a black window mount. Below are screenshots of me experimenting with the layout of the sequence.
Three images horizontal on white foam board
Three images horizontal on a window mount
Three images vertical on white foam board (I will use this for my final piece)
Three images vertical on window mount
After experimenting, I think the vertical layout on white foam board will be the most effective for this piece, as the white offers a nice contrast to the darker images.
First Object Piece (A5 x 4)
I will lay out these images in a sequence, either on white foam board or black window mount.
2×2 grid on white foam board
2×2 grid on black window mount
Horizontal sequence on black window mount.
At this point I quite like the 2×2 grid on black window mount, below are experiments on the order of the images:
After experimenting with the layout and sequencing of the images, I think the last layout (the image above) is the layout I will aim to recreate with my final prints.
Second Object Piece (A5 x 9)
For this piece, I am going to create a 3×3 grid using my cyanotype images in the sequence (or similar sequence) as shown in the image above. I will be using double sided tape to mount each image onto a piece of foam board, which will not fully stick each side to the board, giving them a sense of shape and three-dimensionality. I will then cut this grid out from the foam board and place them in a window mount, giving it a black boarder.
Final Prints
(A few are missing due to bad quality and time restraints)
This is the second shoot where I took images of objects, however, for this shoot I used 10 x 10 cyanotype paper to create cyanotype prints using the objects I collected from my woodland photoshoots. This was the first time I used cyanotypes as the main method for a shoot (although I have created a cyanotype image around the start of the course), so some of the images were not perfect, however I feel like I was still able to produce some good images.
The setup I used for this shoot used a base (the plastic lid) the cyanotype paper, the object I was capturing and an acrylic sheet which kept the object in place. Once the exposure was complete, I soaked the paper in water to stop the exposure and left the paper to dry flat.
The Images:
Best images:
Comparison to Atkins’ work
The objects I chose as subject matter for my cyanotypes (aside from the image on the right) were mainly thicker leaves or twigs, often with a lack of detail due to my inexperience in the medium, however I think this particular image bares resemblance to some of Atkins’ images. A lot of my images are fuzzy around the edges, due to the volatile weather changing the light during the exposure, as well as my own technique in capturing images using this method. However, I think the fuzziness of the images gives them a different aesthetic to Atkins’, capturing the natural changes in light and subtle movements in the objects as opposed to a perfect, scientific representation of the object. During the shoot I tried to capture a sequence of objects like some of Atkins’ images, however due to the thumbnail size of the paper, I was limited in what objects I could use to do this.
Evaluation:
As a first-time attempt, I was happy with the way some of the images came out. It was a very unique experience due to how different the process is to standard digital photography, I enjoyed the process. Due to the volatility of the weather, with the sun peeking in and out behind the clouds, some parts of the images are fuzzier than others. I think the images produced in this shoot will go well with the other object images in the project, and adheres nicely to the ‘simple’ side of the project’s theme (despite being an arguably more complex method of photography than I am used to).
What went well:
I am glad to have experienced this method of photography as by using it, it gave me more experience in the different ways of taking images and knowledge on photography’s history. Some of the more detailed images I took from this shoot are akin to Atkin’s and Talbot’s images in terms of their simplicity, linking with this shoot’s plan.
How I can improve:
Some of the images came out fuzzy or underexposed, this is due to my lack of knowledge and experience of the method, so it was to be expected. Due to the size of the paper, I could only use fairly small leaves and plants as objects to photograph.
This was the first object photoshoot I took for this project. I gathered the objects from the woodland shoots I took previously. I used white foamboard as the backdrop for this photoshoot, giving the images a clear background. I laid this foamboard outside on a sunny day which provided plenty of light, as well as some interesting shadows into some of the images, which I thought would add variety and shape to the images (however they do make some of the images deviate from the style of Blossfeldt and Talbot’s images. I tried to experiment with placing many objects in a sequence to create some juxtaposition or repetition (depending on the image) in some of the images.
Contact Sheets
Editing
Firstly, I used the ‘Pick’ and ‘Reject’ tools to choose which images I may use and those which I consider weak and will not use. These are the images I thought were strong:
Next, I gave each image a star rating which allows me to see how strong each image is, with 5 stars being the images I will definitely use in my final pieces. Below are my 5 star images:
Next I used the colour selection tool to further narrow my selection down, below are a selection of 4 star and above images:
Best Images from this Shoot
These are the images I chose as final images, as I believe they are the strongest in terms of composition. I did little to no editing for these images as I think the lighting and colour provided by the sun was enough (I did use the spot remover and cropping tools to clean up some images).
Black and white versions:
Comparison to Blossfeldt’s work
The biggest difference between my images and Blossfeldt’s is my inclusion of a shadow. This shadow is due to my use of natural lighting as opposed to balanced studio lighting from both sides. The lack of a shadow in Blossfeldt’s image gives them a more scientific aesthetic (due to them being images for his students to study art from), while the inclusion of the shadow in some images (such as my twig image) gives them a more complex and interesting appearance. A lot of Blossfeldt’s images capture complex and unique looking plants and flowers with many lines and shapes, however the objects I chose as subject matter were fairly simple in shape, as I chose to adhere to the ‘Simple’ side of the project theme.
Evaluation
Overall I am content with this shoot as a first try, as I think the images themselves are strong and are fairly different in comparison to my previous work. I do like the shadows in some of these images, as they give some of the objects a more interesting shape, however, their inclusion does make them different to the shadow-less images created by Blossfeldt and Talbot. I think the colour on some of the images (especially the green) are nice to look at and provide a nice contrast with the brown leaves/twigs. The black and white versions of the images are closer in style to the scientific images I was referencing, and could offer a contrast to my other images in this project, not only colour-wise, but also compositionally.
What went well:
Considering I don’t photograph objects too often, I feel like these images will make a very solid addition to this project, and will tie in nicely to the cyanotype and AI images I will create later in the project. I like the way these images were framed as they look uniform, even while I was trying to create something slightly more artistic out of these images.
How I can improve:
As said above, I feel like my inclusion of a shadow, while it is difficult to remove the shadow from a shoot involving natural light, makes my images stray from the scientific methods of Blossfeldt and Talbot, as I chose to incorporate the shadow artistically in some of these images.
This was the last woodland shoot I took, unfortunately a lot of the images came out blurry despite me making sure the camera focus was correct. I was still able to create some images that I think are strong, and the different location I used for the shoot gave me aesthetically different images than the previous images.
Contact Sheets
Editing
To start my image selection, as usual I used the ‘pick’ and ‘reject’ tool to select the stronger images from the shoot:
I then use the star rating tool to grade the images on their quality, with 5 stars being the strongest:
I then gave each image a colour, with green being the images I will absolutely use in my final piece, and yellow being the images I may use for my final piece.
Best Images from this Shoot
Edited versions:
Black and white versions:
Comparison to Lebas’ work
A glaring difference between Lebas’ image and my own is Lebas’ use of colour; her images are far more vibrant and contrasting than my own, which have a darker and gloomier aesthetic. A lot of images from this shoot use a scene with an open sky over a wider landscape, which differ to Lebas’ more enclosed landscapes where the sky and landscape is obscured by the dense trees. Another big difference between mine and Lebas’ images is that she uses a very wide lens to capture a large amount of the scene, while I used a standard sized lens. This shoot in particular focussed on the sublime aspect of my plan, meaning the dangerous aesthetic, which I took Lebas’ images as inspiration for, is slightly lost in this shoot. There is likely a difference between the times of the day these images were taken, mine being slightly earlier in the day than Lebas’ images, as well as the kind of weather; I suspect that Lebas took these images during more overcast weather.
While writing this comparison, I wondered how the images would look with a higher amount of vibrancy similar to Lebas’ aesthetic.
Evaluation
While this shoot was fairly unsuccessful in terms of the quality of the images due to a lot of them being blurry, however I was able to gather some images that I thought could be used for the final piece. The final images from this shoot look different to the previous woodland images as a result of the different location as well as the way I framed the images, this will give my final pieces more diversity in terms of aesthetics.
What went well:
Some of the images have a colour to them that invokes a feeling of my interpretation of the sublime, which was captured especially in the sky due to how I took the images during the golden hour. I think these images are very different to others within the woodland theme, which means they could be a good addition to my photobook.
How I can improve:
Some of the images are fairly dark and muddy (as a result of poor quality lighting from some positions as well as the blur on some of the images) leaving them in a poor quality.
