Visual Culture- The Ambrotype.

The Ambrotype, the wet plate Collodion process or the Collodion positive, a process which was first introduced in early 1850's. Although the process was wide spread and not uncommon, the first man to patent the process was James Ambrose Cutting in 1854, the "Ambrotype" was born.

The process itself was similar to the Daguerreotype, except instead of polished metal, varnished glass was used. One side of the smooth clean glass was blackened and varnished and the other side was made light sensitive with a mixture of Collodion and silver nitrate. The emulsion side had to be exposed while the collodion/silver nitrate was still wet. Once developed and fixed, the emulsion side had another piece of glass placed over as protection and then sealed together in a metal case or frame. A beautiful image would be formed, with light bouncing off the blackened background making your negative image appear positive. The thickness of the glass also played a part in adding depth to the image.

Although this process took over from the Daguerreotype, as it was cheaper, it was only short lived. By late 1850's the Ambrotype made way for processes like Tintype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

References

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ambrotype.jpg

no known author. (2009). Wet-Plate Process Details.Available: http://www.thedaglab.com/daguerreotype-process-details/wet-plate-collodion-process/. Last accessed 5 Aug 2009.

National Museum Australia.

The GOAD; without ever being there before the word 'Garden' was a bit misleading,  expecting grass and orchids and gum trees.  To find a big concrete hill with a bunch of metal ornaments and squiggly lines was playing with my perception of a garden.  After hearing about the meaning and symbolism behind just about every small detail in the garden things became a bit clearer.  the Designer Richard Weller, had put in so much meaning, some more cryptic and controversial than others.  I also quickly realised why it is considered Post-modern, Richard Weller had put so many things that reference other artists and architects and almost exactly copying somethings like the metal crafted wall.

The design feat i enjoyed most was the Big Sky window;

(My cameraphone has almost as many abberations as steves 18-200)

With a Large Blue mat to lie on (not flip on) and relax and watch the clouds go by. This has the kind of feel i would expect from a 'garden', relaxing and peaceful. that could be why Mr. Weller put it in, the relaxing garden feel, to escape from all those controversial and powerful messages about aboriginal holocaust and invading europeans.

Bauhaus

Bauhaus; Simple, functional, Minimalist, no bells or whistles. around my house the first thing i found that i thought true to the parameters was my ironing board.

This is a 'No muckin around', straight to the point piece of equipment.  I wouldnt call it ugly, it has rounded smooth metal structure well welded and some wheels for easy moving... how functional. Also not difficult to make in a mass production situation.

Primitivism...

Primitivism, 

uses Characteristics like; Child like/simple brush strokes, Neutral colours and depicts native and raw things like the naked body/sex, animals and trees, shrubbery and waterfalls.  The artists often removed themselves from the sophisticated modern societies and to remote or more primitive or raw communities in rebellion of complicated lifestyles and to try and idealise the simple life as it should be (that was a really long sentence).

As Far as modern or Contemporary Primitivism, thats a tricky one.  one thing that crossed the mind was maybe something like 'the Blair Witch Project'.  using a medium with is not so primitive but in a very raw filming technique, unedited, handheld etc.

National Archives

Examples Of Australian Culture.

One thing that stood out to me most was not something overly patriotic nor specific to Australian Culture. Non the less I think it is a great representation.  It was the Medals  of a returned soldier, found in the small section there that has to do with the Forces.  Even though service medals are not something only Australia has, they are a gentle reminder of how hard many Australian persons had to work to gain this freedom that we are now free to abuse.  although we are not fighting wars for our freedom anymore, i think its still relevant to our culture; Hard working, honest people trying to do what they can to provide a chance for an australian dream (freedom) for our Families.

The Federation Album; was the next on my list of thing i thought important to our Culture.  A collection of photographs illustrations and some documents of events, pre and post Australias Federation; depicting things like the first australian to be awarded his pilots license and pictures of our draft constitution in a chronological order.

...Catching up. National Gallery of Australia.

NGA- Favorite Piece.

(pic thanks to (http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=119385)

This is a Gelatin silver photograph taken in 1952; The artist is Toni Schneiders, Born 1920,Germany.  It is a self portrait and part of a rare collection that the NGA holds called 'Camerawork'.  It was Purchased in 1989 by the NGA and is personally signed "Toni Schneiders, Selbstportrait (self Portrait) 1952"

Digital Imaging Movie Poster

This is the Poster I made for Digital Imaging, Most definitely the most adventurous with photoshop I have ever been. Hope you all like, Comments and suggestions welcome.

Peace Out.

lenoevatiR 20-Dada Poem

lenoevatiR 20

The number  when And  are , l be loosed down  from God the sand out of deceive his prison, And to went up which are in shall go out devoured the of the earth, Gog, gather them  and shall Magog, to together years four quarters to battle: is as of the sea.  nations and compassed And they on of heaven the  city: and fire came breadth Satan of  earth, the camp of the saints the thousand about, and the  the  whom out, and them of expired beloved the.

More Images I have been playing with.

The First is a Self portrait done on a long exposure under a creepy bridge on a tri-pod, hoping that no one would run up and steal my camera.   The Second is just one of some still life pics that i took.

Peace,

Fun with new 12-24mm lens... and Photoshop

Once again going out with the intention of shooting Canberra folio stuff I came across this cool church just outside Manuka. Not sure what its called but is a fine piece of architecture. I made this next image mucking around in Photoshop.

      

The image on the right isnt the original, but i put it there to show how it was lit when i shot it.

Canberra, Experimental movement/folio.

Since Julian showed us that image of a highway on long exposure, blured head lights ect. we've all seen that before. But i got inspired and tried to recreate that. I went out armed with my film camera (trying to get some shots for the Canberra folio/ Urban landscape DOF and movement) and of course my Digital tagged along too.  and set myself up during peak hour, and created an image that i was surprised with the result.

This one was from the digital, so i had some fun fixing minor exposure stuff and removing a speed sign from the left centre using the clone tool, makes it look a bit more symmetrical.  I took the same exposure on my film SLR, hope it comes out good.

Peace out.

Portrait Gallery- Photographic Portrait Prize 09'

Portrait Gallery; I really enjoyed the new exhibition, allot of really great work with lots of character, Life, colour, and a great sense of personality and story behind most of those faces.  So picking a favorite  was challenging and finding one that i didnt think deserved to be there was even harder.

So coming away with a list of Five or more favorites that i just couldnt pick at the time, I've chosen the piece 'Ruby' By Chris Budgeon, Digital print.  Unfortunately  I dont think the web image does it much justice, but here it is anyways.

The image on display is a large one, large enough to notice how crisp and precise the details are in the photo, down to the fine blades of grass.  Because,  i think, a sharp well detailed image is a very major aesthetic prerequisite for me to be able to enjoy an image.  Another thing that i need to see to enjoy and image is evidence of intent, whether you know what it is or not, i find it intriguing to see small things like facial expression to show emotion, or in this case how the girl (i presume is Ruby) is lit. The red light from the side, and how the patch of grass is spotlighting her against the darkened background (looked darker on the hanging) made her seem as though she doesn't belong in the scene.  With the added, almost cliche, wind on the dress comes across as ghostly.   These are just some of the aspects of this image that made it aesthetically appealing and intriguing for me.

This next Image on the other hand didnt have any difficulty deciding that it was my least favorite, to a point where i could say i disliked this image.  'Puddled State' by David Wills left me artistically numb.

 ... I didnt like this image because; Its flat and thats not a printing error i think its a dull subject. there is nothing in this image that jumps out at me at all, no sense of character, no feeling or emotion, no sense of this persons self and not even any pretty colours. this could have been compensated with some outstanding technical aesthetics, like some leading lines or pavement patterns or an interesting object on the pavement for the subject to interact with... But there's not. This image is flat on soo many levels.

Peace Out.

Australian War Memorial

Well a bit out of order and maybe over due, But i will start with a comparison of the similarities and differences between photographs of old and of new found in the AWM.

(Left - Right)

James Quinn 1871-1951; No date for the painting, but lets assume its around 1940.

Nancy Bird-Walton; yet again no exact date, from what i could gather it was around 1942.

David 'Dare' Parker; c. April, May 2003.   (Images courtesy of awm.gov.au)

Firstly a similarity of earlier portraits, painted or photographed.  Both of which i found have a similar feel to them; Flat, quite neutral facial expressions and stance, easy to hold positions, could be similar because there was old fashioned mentality about what a portrait should look like or because the camera exposures took almost as long as the paintings.

Now moving on from 1940s- 2003.  One of the main changes in portraiture in particular, apart from obvious change in technology (hence changing the manner in which these photographs are taken) I found is the style.  More modern portraits tell a bit more story about the person, capturing more an essence of the person rather than just a nice picture.  In the above examples, even a quick glance at David Parker (right) could tell you that he is a photographer and with a rugged kind of background we might guess he is field photographer.  Whereas to look at Nancy Bird-Walton (middle)  It would be very difficult to tell that she was part of the Woman's Air Training Corps or the president of Australian Woman's Flying Club. I think maybe if this portrait was retaken today it might be taken in front of an air-craft or holding a pilots helmet, or something of the sorts.

National Portrait Gallery

'Martin Sharp' (c 1986)

By Gary Shead

(image from www.Portrait.gov.au)

I was originally drawn to this picture because of its surreal, carnival like feel about it. unfortunately in this image you cant see that 'Mickey Mouse' like character bottom right has a 3D hand that comes out over the frame.  After reading about Martin turns out this feel was rather fitting.  Martin was not only a cartoonist, But Head designer and artist of Sydneys refurbished Luna Park, also a well respected australian Pop-artist. I really like this oil on canvas, its vibrant and creates a good picture in my head of this mans character.

'Michael Klim' (c. 1999)

By Anderson & Low

(www.portrait.gov.au)

I really thought this was a beautiful Photograph, using symmetry, shadow and Black n White to build this image of strength and power... along with the 'hero-like' stance he is in.  Michael Klim won Gold for australia in several world championships and Some gold for australia in two Olympic games along with some world records. Power and strength is a fitting way to portray this Australian swim legend.

Circus Brothers

New Look at an old photo, I revamped this picture of myself and tom as a farewell present. (tom moved to Newcastle to study Graphic Design at the university of Newcastle.  still learning photoshop stuff, Had some Trouble placing a border in (a white one) tried the brush tool but thats not really effective for drawing straight lines, also tried the rectangle tool, but that didnt seem to keep the rectangle there... it disappeared. any one familiar with how to make borders?? its probably something real simple, i just didnt realise.

Peace Out.

DO NOT CLIMB TREES.

Getting  a bit more experimental with photoshop, this was a picture taken at manuka pool for my cousins birthday (was freezing).

Peace out.

First Photoshop experience

Ok, Well, here is the result of some purely experimental photoshopping, nothing snaz just playing with some sharpening filters, contrast tweaking, and marginal colour adjustment.

and by the way, im pretty sure images look completely different on PC than on Mac, i made these on mac, but then looked at them on  pc and looked considerably more dull allot less sharp and colour variations... oh well

Peace Out.

Just some of the Photos from Lanyon park (same place as the other one), I took but tom Edited.   

Bit of a rushed shoot (for Portfolio)

This is just some of a few photos out of a series, these are untouched by photoshop... Mainly due to lacking knowledge (only just bought it).

Peace out.

Trying out Posts and Photo uploads.

Well, This is my first post in the Blog.  Nothing Amazing to post I'm afraid, Just this Photo of my self and Tom doing a Acro-Balance on a pier.  I took this photo on a timer, that was difficult in soo many ways.

Peace out.