conversations with Eddy

Conversation(s) with Eddy/Dad

(The lucky gal who I spent Valentine's Day with!) - Paugburn in Process

I spent a better part of eight hours today in the lab with Piper, and worked on eight of the nine plates that I have chosen to make the collage with. I have been doing a lot of thinking about this. This has a potential to be heavy on concept - I have been racking my brain to think of reasons of the conscious decisions that I make and how they can effect my concept. What is crystal clear to me and in MY head does not always translate that way.

MY RESPONSES and QUESTIONS and THOUGHTS...so far...some minor tweaks in concept:

-I'm not sure black and white is working for me. I am hesitant to print entire plates in color (they are about 5x7 each), its not the look I was going for. I wanted the work to be in black with color accents. The color macquettes work really well for me, I enjoy seeing the colors of his flannel and skin, and I don't get that same amount of "color" in the conversation when its in black and white. In fact, for me, I can imagine these assembled in my head, and it is more macabre than enlightening. I want the images to speak lively of the conversation - of the personality. I feel like these black and whites are more...well....I think they will evoke a negative response as opposed to a positive one. Though the feel from the macquette is not "negative"...I am pushing the viewer to this by printing dark and mysteriously.

-There is a good level of contrast in some of the prints (which is ok...I had intended on printing with multiple levels of contrast to add a visual narrative to a "variation" the the variety of emotions he showed during our conversation. I really wish his EYES had more detail. I feel like that is something that should be very closely paid attention to. I like that his salt and pepper hair is a focal point, his glasses (old looking), his wedding ring, his flannel and his teeth are all personality traits of his that are emphasized. I did not ask him to prepare for this. I wanted my father as is - as I had popped in for a conversation. We shot the images in his work office - his space - natural light with a 50mm Sigma macro. 

-I like that I was able to maintain a rich black in my blackest blacks. It took a but of spot inking and a tender touch, but it seemed to work well. I wish though, that there was a greater level of detail in his shirt. I do like that the focus points I chose in many of the individual images retained their crisp DOFs, like in his moustache and glasses, my fathers signature look.

- I have many questions as a result of my last 2 photo shoots:

When David Hockney assembled his collages, he took the images with a regular 35mm camera and had them processed via 1-hour photo. This seems too easy, almost insulting to consider - but the variation in the processing of the images worked in Hockneys favor. I chose to use printmaking for a couple reasons. Firstly, I wanted the challenge. Secondly, I am finding a niche in using my skills as a photographer, and applying it to other art forms. Its very clear that there IS a proliferation of images out there (and photographers for that matter)...and because of that over exposure, I find that many single photographs, most of the time (with exceptions), are flavorless...as is. Anyone can snap a single photo now. I try to take that overabundant flavorlessness and add a little spin. A spin indicitave of our generation, and the new ways "we" are "seeing". By we, I mean mankind, and by seeing, I mean what we understand to be. This includes theories of multiple realities and space-time ----> a relatively new way of understanding the universe. I am using this "view", much like hot air ballons and the Eiffel Tower gave photographer new views - much like planes, trains, and automobiles gave artists like Giacometti and Delaunay new "ways of seeing". Picasso understood it well. For me this multi-level view - is a way to understand and translate to everything, including personalities and identities. Its like a facet of science applied to the way we view each other through photographs. There will never be a single image in existence that captures the essense of my father. There is no "Kodak" moment of my father - he is not represented by one moment in time alone. My father is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Glancing at a collaged record of a converstion not only between the camera/photographer and my father, but also betweeen a father and a daughter, gives the viewer a more varied view of my father - this collage gives my father more of an opportunity to speak to the viewer, from many angles, as to who he is and how he wants to be represented by the camera - and ultimately how he wants to be remembered. We are not made up of only one memory or moment, but many that work together to build the picture of who we are.

- I noticed that, due to the very nature of the method by which I am moving around and clicking the camera, I am playfully invasive. Does this ruin for the viewer the authenticity of the intent? My intent is to record a conversation on film- the position changes, the varied facial expressions and the texture of the person being photographed. Whether it be light hearted or serious, I am trying to show the varied complexities in personality and presence through conversation (and mannerisms). SIMULTANEOUSLY I aim to challenge the viewer to re-assess the reverse effect of photography of this type of image assembling and collaging. The act of taking a photo causes a 3D world to be translated to 2D image. This type of arrangement is in a sense, re-assembling that 3D world into a 2Dwith a varied multiplicity of views. (the side of the face AND the front of the face). [In this case, my father shifted positions many times, and appeared serious in from of the camera. At another point he relaxed, and rested back in his chair. At another point he felt he wanted to pose. My father and I had light hearted conversation; school, weather, work. Sometimes he looked at the camera, sometimes not. However the big factor in presentation of my father is ME, and when I chose to click.]

- QUESTION: I am using mainly people I am familiar with (family and friends) to do the collages. How would the content change if I did this with a complete stranger? How would the "unknown" benefit me and/or  add to my concept? What type of conversation could we have and how would it reflect on what I as the photographer AND the converser view the personality and mannerisms of someone with whom I am unfamiliar?

-I like that this concept is loose, it allows for interpretation of a variety of different emotions and conversational interactions - for series work.

-I would like some feedback on what I discussed above, and the introduction of color. Is this new concept interesting? (Personality in Images and new views through conversation?).

-I understand these are not assembled in the blog, but what do YOU as the viewer SEE in the images? What was your reaction to the translation of the color macquette to the black and white print? Where would you like to see color?