The accompanying presentation can be found here: https://prezi.com/view/7oyVnvZ2OyNsNu6exN0L/
My mum and I recently had to have our horses put to sleep. Harley was my pride and joy, my best friend, and we had 20 wonderful years together. I miss him.
Some people have said “Well, it’s not like you lost a parent or your husband,” and I know it’s not the same, but that doesn’t mean it’s not hard. Loss in any form can be agonising and brutal, but many people feel their loss isn’t severe enough to mourn or are judged for being too emotional over something trivial. Whatever our loss, however big or small, we shouldn’t feel pressure to justify our grief.
Many artists use photography to help them process personal life events and feelings, but I aim to expand on that idea by encouraging introspection in my audience. Grief is a universal experience, yet deeply personal, and I want to invite people to consider what loss means to them as individuals. I hope that my photography will provide people with a moment of pause to allow themselves to grieve without judgement.
The main areas I would like to explore include the loss of a loved one, health and independence, security, identity and sense of self, youth and innocence, dreams and potential, culture and heritage, and hope for the future. These areas are flexible and may change as the project comes together, but they serve as a starting point to develop a body of work that encompasses the broadest definition of loss to engage with the widest possible audience.
To illustrate loss in an engaging and thought-provoking way, I will utilise digital infrared photography. This technique is not commonly used but can result in ethereal, dream-like images. The camera is adapted to allow through infrared light – wavelengths outside of the visible spectrum – and record them in a way that we can see. In infrared photography, trees may appear yellow or white, skies can turn orange or black, and everything develops an otherworldly hue. Combined with slow shutter speeds, it is possible to achieve surreal, even ghostly images. This technique is particularly suited to my theme of loss as it involves the unseen, a world beyond what is in front of our eyes. By rendering invisible light visible, intangible losses can become tangible. It suggests ideas of spirituality, dreams, reflections, and our true natures. If we have lost a loved one, an infrared image may hint at their presence. If we have lost our sense of heritage, an infrared photo could remind us of what once was. Through this project, I aim to create an immersive experience that is not only visually engaging but also sparks a dialogue on the universality of loss and the transformative power of art in navigating the complexities of the human condition.
These photos are from one of my previous projects. The highest-number filters block out all visible light, so this engine house is purely captured in infrared. As you start to include more visible light, colours enter the image, allowing a great deal of flexibility and creativity when shooting photos. Once shot, there are several ways to process infrared images. Most commonly, the white balance will be adjusted as there is usually a red cast on images directly from the camera. Following that, the photographs may be converted to black and white, or the red and blue channels can be swapped to create a more natural, yet still surreal, version of the image.
The converted camera I have can also detect ultraviolet light. I would like to experiment with UV photography, but due to the expense of the filters needed, I may only have limited success with this.
With the variety of infrared filters and processing options available to me, there is a lot of scope for image manipulation. While some of my photos may purely use infrared, I will also combine it with standard photography. To illustrate the loss of a loved one, for example, I could take a photograph of an elderly couple on a sofa. The entire scene could be shot as a standard colour photo, except for one ghostly, infrared member of the couple. I could take the same approach with a photo of a person looking into a mirror, only their reflection is a surreal, distorted, infrared version of themselves. Conversely, if I can find appropriate archive images of engine houses, I could attempt to return to the same spot and overlay an infrared version of that same engine house, crumbling away after decades of neglect.
I have looked at several artists whose work inspires and informs my ideas. Francesca Woodman and Duane Michals both explore themes of grief, loss, and identity. Simon Marsden and Barnaby Attwell both use infrared photography to create eerie images of landscapes and architecture. Adrian Davies' book extensively covers the technical side of infrared and ultraviolet photography.
Woodman's ghostly self-portraits were captured with slow shutter speeds and careful manipulation of light. Her work hints at the fragility of life, and her surreal influences warp reality into an uneasy fantasy. Her artist page on the Tate website says: "These beautiful and yet unsettling images seem fleeting but also suggest a sense of timelessness." This blurring of reality and fantasy, life and death, the seen and unseen – these are all aspects I wish to bring to my photography.
Duane Michals has an interesting series of portraits of famous artists. His multiple exposures of Rene Magritte are particularly intriguing and capture the humour of the surrealist in the form of the “Magritte Man” with his iconic bowler hat. Michals also became close with Andy Warhol and took many photos throughout their friendship. As stated by the DC Moore Gallery, “The subsequent portraits taken over the years illuminate Warhol’s constant self-reinvention.” Like Michals, I hope to capture the nature of my subjects in my work.
Marsden’s work as an infrared photographer is eerie and unsettling. He wanted to utilise the ethereal nature of infrared when visiting haunted houses, aiming to document what the eye cannot see. Marsden said, “I believe that another dimension, a spirit world, runs parallel to our own so-called 'real' world, and that sometimes, when the conditions are right, we can see into and become part of this supernatural domain. The mystical quality of my photographs reflects this ancient order and they attempt to reveal what is eternal.” I am not attempting to prove or disprove ghosts or the afterlife through my work, but simply to take inspiration from Marsden’s attempts to look beyond what the eye can see, dealing with themes like death and decay as they link with loss.
Barnaby Attwell is a Cornwall-based infrared photographer. His body of work, “Welcome to St. Decay” allows his audience to see Cornwall literally in another light, much like one of my previous projects. He uses infrared and false colour to subvert expectations of the beauty of Cornwall, drawing attention to the crumbling architecture. Attwell’s blog is rich with information about his process, and we are planning to meet to discuss our respective projects further.
“Digital Ultraviolet and Infrared Photography” is a book written by Adrian Davies. This resource contains lots of information on both IR and UV photography. It explores the science behind the techniques, as well as their uses. Davies extensively covers everything from lenses and filters to shooting and editing the images. As I continue to engage with this book, I hope to develop and refine my own technique.
My target audience is very broad, as loss is a universal experience. The exhibition will be in Grays Wharf, so I expect most people who see it will be interested in art and photography, suggesting my audience may be well-equipped to develop their own interpretation of the meaning of my work. This gives me greater freedom to incorporate surrealism into my images.
I have some infrared film, but the vast majority of my images will be digital so I have greater control and scope for image manipulation, especially regarding colour. My images will be printed – I plan for my key photos to be very large, and they could be printed on metal or framed. I also plan to create a zine with a wider range of images to accompany the large prints.
To promote the exhibition and gain a wider audience, I will not only use my personal social media platforms but also the Infrared Cornwall Instagram account I created for my previous project. While I don’t know of any specific competitions I could enter my work into (the most prominent infrared competition last ran a few years ago), it is something I am mindful of and will look into further.
References
The Art Story (2017) Francesca Woodman photography, bio, ideas, The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/woodman-francesca/ (Accessed: 23 February 2024).
Artsy (2018) Francesca Woodman, Artsy. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artist/francesca-woodman (Accessed: 23 February 2024).
Attwell, B. (2024) Barnflakes. Available at: https://www.barnflakes.com/ (Accessed: 20 February 2024).
Bvishneski (2020) Introduction to infrared photography, Photography Life. Available at: https://photographylife.com/introduction-to-infrared-photography (Accessed: 16 February 2024).
Davies, A. (2018) Digital Ultraviolet and Infrared Photography. New York, NY: Routledge.
DC Moore Gallery (2017) Duane Michals, DC Moore Gallery. Available at: https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals (Accessed: 20 February 2024).
DPReview (2017) The Magic of Ultraviolet Nature and Macro Photography, DPReview. Available at: https://www.dpreview.com/articles/3980259504/the-magic-of-ultraviolet-nature-and-macro-photography (Accessed: 16 February 2024).
Ferrer, P.-L. (2018) Infrared Photography Guide: Portraits – kolari vision, Kolari Vision. Available at: https://kolarivision.com/infrared-photography-guide-portraits/ (Accessed: 20 February 2024).
The Marsden Archive (no date) The Marsden Archive. Available at: http://www.marsdenarchive.com/ (Accessed: 20 February 2024).
Tate (no date) Finding Francesca, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/francesca-woodman-10512/finding-francesca (Accessed: 23 February 2024).
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