Experiments

I have been experimenting more with disposing the photographs. I did three different baths with the fred meyer prints; coke, bleach, and liquid plumber. The result was that the bleach prints changed colors in certain areas, either orange or blue, when it dried the layer with the ink cracked and some areas fell off. When I did the bleaching to the archival prints there was no color change but all the ink dried up and fell off. The coke has worked the best, toning the prints caramel, the fred meyer prints had some cracking and a little bit chipped off. The liquid plumber discolored the prints and when it dried all the ink surfaced chipped off.

Even though the coke process seemed to work very well, when all of the prints dried all buckled. I'm glad that I went through with the experiments, as it was really interesting seeing how the chemicals affected the ink surface. With that being said though, I feel that the prints would present themselves better without soaking them.

Coke

Yesterday, I started experimenting with the disposal processes that Tom O'day discusses in his artist talk. I went ahead and bought some tubs to hold the mixtures and the photos to be disposed. I ended up deciding to use old archival pigment print from the beauty of color project. For the first mixture, I used some good ol' dollar store Shasta cola. I let the coke and photo mingle overnight. Today, I emptied the tray and rinsed the photo. Turns out that the cola did not affect the pigments at all, but it did stain the paper a beautiful golden caramel color.

Now onto the next experiment, perhaps liquid plumber?

Photo Trip

I decided to take an other photography adventure to the Swauk Prairie cemetery and Liberty. I barely was able to locate the cemetery with the crappy directions that google gave me. The cemetery was much different then any other cemetery I have ever seen. Most of the cemeteries I have seen are veterans cemeteries and are very well maintained, to the point of never seeing any weeds in the grass. The Swauk Prairie cemetery nearly looks completely abandoned except for the fake flowers that had been laid by various grave sites. Some graves were very visible while others had bushes growing all around them. Overall, it was a truly sad experience photographing the decay of the cemetery. I suddenly became very aware how forgotten some of the people that were buried there.

After going to the cemetery, I ventured to the homestead site of Liberty. Liberty is the home of one of the oldest gold mines in Washington. Surprisingly, most of the structures in Liberty are old but well cared for. There was one structure right outside of Liberty that was badly dilapidated. The building looked like two small shed like homes built right next to each other, so close that they at first appear as one. The section of the house on the right was so crocked compared to the left side of the building that was being held up straight by a small tree.

In general, I found this adventure to be far more successful. I found more of what I think I am going for.

Coal Miners Trail

Today, I ventured out to the Coal Miner's Trail that runs between Roslyn and Cle Elum to take some photographs. The trail had some old mining rumble from the numerous mines that are no longer in use. The area where I took the most pictures was a concrete structure that is slowly falling apart. At the top of the structure on the hill, there was this super interesting concrete building/machine that I'm guessing processed the coal ore that they were previously mining. Covering most of the structures was all kinds of tree, bushes and moss. Unfortunately, I was hoping that the trail would lead to mine number 9 but I was unable to find the turn off trail.

After I got home, I uploaded the photographs to lightroom. Looks like I got at least a dozen photographs that might be interesting to include for the project.

More artists and Ideas

I was inspired by Georges Rousse work, where he photographs inside abandoned buildings. Though, Rousse adds a twist. Not only does he photograph the abandoned structure, he also captures a visual illusion. Rousse paints a geometric shape over the entire area inside of the frame where he intends to photograph. From that particular angle, the optical illusion is successful and the viewer is able to see the shape that appears to have been just edited to have a different color. His work is very inspiring because he could have taken a much easier route and just digitally alter the images to include this shape, instead he leaves the structure altered.

While reading the assigned section in the Cotton book, I realized that Bernd and Hilla Becher have a similar concept that I plan on working towards. The couple goes out and photographs similar structures in different locations and presents them in a way that allows for deep comparison. I mostly find their way of presenting the images to be very visually satisfying. Their work also captures the economical issue of when the economy leaves behind an industry and the buildings are left to decay.

This lead me to the idea of how to possibly enhance the economical issues, specifically relating to the advancement of technology. I thought about how Polaroid cameras quickly become a huge hit, my parents even had one, and then even quicker became a thing of the past, and is discontinued. Maybe, I could use a Polaroid camera to photograph abandoned locations in Washington to truly enhance and incorporate this idea of technological advancement and how it too is playing a part.

Artists

I have been researching artists that relate to my project concepts. One of which is Vaugh Wascovich, I feel as if he was able to hit the nail on the head with his series Welcome to Hard Times. His images capture a certain essence, that fleeting moments when the building, structure or whatever was discarded and is quickly decaying to the lack of attention and appreciation. I'm hoping to capture that same essence that is present in Washington state. I find Wascovich's work very interesting in that he does not attempt to create perfect prints in the darkroom, instead he allows the imperfects to further his concept. I then connected these imperfections to the recent artist talk at Central. The second speaker Tom O'Day discusses cases in which he took finished art pieces and submerged them in liquid plumber and other chemicals that eat away at the work of art. I found this to be very enthralling, perhaps I could experiment with purposefully "damaging" the archival pigment prints to solidify the overall concept of my project.

Another artist I have been looking into is Nina Katchadourian. Previously, I was introduced to Katchadourian's work entitled Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style. I had no idea that she has many other photography projects. Her project about mended spider webs and patched mushrooms, I thought are really interesting. While reading about her work in the Cotton book, I was surprised by how odd it truly is but then I kept thinking about to two series. What if I portrayed man-made objects in nature as helpful and positive as seen in Katchadourian's work, instead of being negative and even harmful?

Preparing

I was busy working on getting ready for some upcoming shows recently. I got together and submitted a simplified artist statement, an image list as well as high and low resolution copies for the 2014 Pingyao, China international photography festival. I submitted to the 34th annual spring Nikon phtography contest with an image I shot at a park in Bremerton, Washington while on a trip visiting family. I also worked on printing, matting and wiring two archival pigment prints for the 2014 spring juried student art show.

All in all it has been quite a productive week. Now I'm just crossing my fingers and hopefully I will be able to show my work in one of the events!