User:Annalystad/secondyear/gratuateseminar/projectproposal

Final proposal

Draft Six

What do you want to make?

I will make a photographic project using various photographic techniques exploring the theme of the private image/subject matter in a public setting. With this project, I will conduct experiments on subject matter and intent, pushing a photograph into the realm of the private. I was a part of the generation that went from looking at images to being looked at – when cameras became a part of a communication device. You could clearly see the shift in camera advertising – how it went from pointing the lens at the world to point the lens at yourself in the world. Not something to keep and treasure, just something to share and move on from. I will be exploring techniques within analogue cameras, pushing film, cyanotypes, photocopier and projectors to see how the private image can be communicated in a public space. Within these techniques, it brings up many questions about time, repetition, reproduction and meaning. The final product might mostly photographic with the possibility of some objects amongst them.

How do you plan to make it?

Within the next month, I will learn new techniques in the darkroom, such as pushing film and experiment with Cyanotypes. Karina (xPub) has experience and will help me with Cyanotypes. I am also formulating an email to the principal at my old Junior High School in Norway, I have photographed there before and I believe I have a good chance to make that happen again. Before contacting her, I need a specific idea in mind of what I will photograph and how much time I need there. This particular experiment might be along the lines of projection, or bringing objects in to the space. I am also looking for a portable projector to rent or buy since the school only has a large projector I can’t take out of the building (Simon might have some ideas). I am also keeping a shoot diary, where I am documenting everything around the planning and shoots I conduct. Over the winter holiday I will be looking for objects to photograph, look through old personal archives.

Timetable

15th November

Photograph Vaginal Speculum with Sigrun.

16th November

Barnstorming/discussion with Karina (xPub).

17th November

Brainstorming/discussion with Sigrun.

20th November

Tutorial with Simon about first photographic experiment with a Vaginal Speculum I found in a vintage store in Eindhoven. Talk to Jeroen de Wijs (Image and sound station) about buying chemicals for Cyanotype process.

22nd November

Conduct small experiment with scanning a photograph, print it, scan the print, print the scan and so on.

24th November

Project Proposal Deadline.

27th November

Darkroom experimenting with pushing film and possible Cyanotype test. Finish list of experiments I want to conduct over the Christmas holiday.

29th November

Photographic experiment. Send out email to principal in Norway

4th December

Projector test in studio with analogue camera.

7th December

Hopefully have gotten a response to email about photographing at junior high school, plan shoot and find assistant if needed.

8th – 11th December

Create and prepare presentation for assessment.

12th December

Assessment.

Why do you want to make it?

Today the distribution technology is so excessive, powerful and accessible, this thesis will look at the publicness of the photograph, it’s history of the shift into a communication device and why it is so important to keep some part of the photo a private medium. I will be discussing what shaped my critical approach to images how I was informed by the culture I grew up in. The core of this project is based on a personal experience with a private image and what happened once it went public and how this has challenged the way I look at photographs. The story of how this came project came to life is not special, it is one of the most common things that happens in today's photographic society – the nude image, both a celebration of the body and a tragedy at the same time. At the age of 13/14, I sent a nude picture of myself to a boy, and he sent one to me. I am not blaming my age, being “confused”, young and stupid. I knew what I was doing, and so did the boy. This nude picture of me spread like wildfire through MMS and was uploaded online. I don’t remember how I reacted, how I handled it. I don’t remember much of that year at all. I want people to understand how this incident made me aware of the shift that happened once a private image went public. If this image was analogue – this would be a completely different story. During this period, around 2006/2007, I was a part of the generation that went from looking at images to being looked at – when cameras became a part of a communication device. You could clearly see the shift in camera advertising – how it went from pointing the lens at the world to point the lens at yourself. Not something to keep, just something to share. 

Who can help you and how?

Conversations with Simon and David can be very helpful in discovering different ways within the analogue world and give insight to a world I didn’t grow up with. They give very helpful references to other artist to look at or books to read. Discussions in general with other people who might have had similar experiences and their thoughts and ideas. Possibly reach out to Nora Mørk (A Norwegian handball player) who just a few days ago had a private image of her go public. The principal of my old Junior High School to let me photograph there again. Continuous conversations with Karina & Sigrun.

Relation to previous practice

• School Project – In this project I was exploring the concept of digital privacy and body. I was basing this project of off an experience of losing control over a private image to a public spectacle. I went back to the school where the nude image of me was distributed, to photograph the space that once alienated me through public display. 

• Bodyscapes – Since I started photographing, I have always been drawn to the human body. I have photographed in a non-human way. I created beautiful landscapes that looked like they were from a different planet. With these photographs, I unintentionally made them into pretty objects one can stare at, putting on many layers of distortion to beautify it instead of depicting the body in a truthful way. 

• Archive Project – For this project I dove into a forgotten archive of my late grandfather. This archive is a physical one, stored in the attic at my parents’ house in Norway. For me to get access to such a private family archive I had to use a public application to attain the digital images of the analogue archive. 

Relation to larger context 

Today’s society is a society of being looked at, it’s about privacy and liberty in an accessible public world. We live in an online world, a world where the camera was turned into a communication device. Where images are no longer looked at 20 years later for personal memorabilia, but to be instantly shared and forgotten. 

References

Books

Nicholas Mirzoeff - Visual Culture (Chapter 6,10)

Roland Barthes – Camera Lucida

Charlotte Cotton – The photograph as Conteporary Art

Gen Doy – Picturing the self: changing views on the subject in visual culture

Jo Spence – Family snaps: the meaning of domestic photography

Susan Sontag – On Photography

Artist to research 

Nan Goldin

Sophie Calle

Duane Michaels

Maya Deren

Allan Sekula

Draft Five

What do you want to make?

I will make a photographic project using analogue and digital images exploring the theme of the private and public image and how it might be reappropriated based on context and intent. In this process, I will conduct various experiments subject wise and make experiments to the process itself. By making photographs using an old Nikomat FT-n form the early 70’s , developing the film myself, and play with the developing and printing process. One of the processes I will experiment with is pushing the film to see how an image of a public space might become distant and private with the use of the process. I will also conduct experiments with single images, image sequences and contactsheets – how they affect the viewer and how the image might be reappropriated. These ‘techincal’ tests will also vary with subject matter and intent. I will be photographing on Black and White Kodak film and a digital SLR.

How do you plan to make it/timetable?

While conducting research for this proposal I need to collect more information on surveillance and the disconnection between photography and representation. I need to plan the various experiments, keep a journal of each shoot and document the process. I need to look at other artist dealing with similar questions and explore my own archive. One of the experiments require me to travel to Norway to photograph at my old Junior High School, this needs to be planned with the principal for access to the building.

Why do you want to make it?

I want to make this project based on a personal experience with the naked body in an image and how the off-screen space challenged the way I feel about a photograph. The story of how this came project came to life is not special, it is one of the most common things that happens in today's photographic society – the nude image, both a celebration of the body and a tragedy at the same time. At the age of 13/14, I sent a nude picture of myself to a boy, and he sent one to me. I am not blaming my age, being “confused”, young and stupid. I knew what I was doing, and so did the boy. This nude picture of me spread like wildfire through MMS and was uploaded online. I don’t remember how I reacted, how I handled it. I don’t remember much of that year at all. I want people to understand how this incident made me aware of the shift that happened once a private image went public. If this image was analogue – this would be a completely different story. During this period, around 2006/2007, I was a part of the generation that went from looking at images to being looked at – when cameras became a part of a communication device. You could clearly see the shift in camera advertising – how it went from pointing the lens at the world to point the lens at yourself. Not something to keep, just something to share.

Who can help you and how?

Conversations with Simon and David can be very helpful in discovering different ways within the analogue world and give insight to a world I didn’t grow up with. Also very helpful references to other artist to look at or books to read. Discussions in general with other people who might have had similar experiences and their thoughts and ideas. Principal of my old Junior High School to let me photograph there again.

Relation to previous practice

• School Project – In this project I was exploring the concept of digital privacy and body. I was basing this project of off an experience of losing control over a private image to a public spectacle. I went back to the school where the nude image of me was distributed, to photograph the space that once alienated me through public display.

• Bodyscapes – Since I started photographing, I have always been drawn to the human body. I have photographed in a non-human way. I created beautiful landscapes that looked like they were from a different planet. With these photographs, I unintentionally made them into pretty objects one can stare at, putting on many layers of distortion to beautify it instead of depicting the body in a truthful way.

• Archive Project – For this project I dove into a forgotten archive of my late grandfather. This archive is a physical one, stored in the attic at my parents’ house in Norway. For me to get access to such a private family archive I had to use a public application to attain the digital images of the analogue archive.

Relation to larger context Todays society is a society of being looked at, its about privacy and liberty in an accessible public world. We live in an online world, a world where the camera was turned into a communication device. Where images are no longer looked at 20 years later for personal memorabilia, but to be instantly shared and forgotten.

References to look at

Visual Culture – Nicholas Mirzoeff (Chapter 6,10)

Artist to research Nan Goldin

Sophie Calle

Duane Michaels

Maya Deren

Allan Sekula

Draft Four

What do you want to make?

I will look at the limits of a photograph, off-screen spaces and the privacy within them. The project will contain stories of various persons, in a raw and truthful way. Attempting to communicate something that is not visible within one photographic frame. I want to challenge the frames of photography. One example story is about a mid-twenties female whom is saving herself for marriage and the only person who has seen her naked body is her mother. Over the course of a month she let me photograph her nude, in three separate shoots and locations. In this instance, there is a visible connection with the subject and something that is not in the frame, you can feel the photographer’s presence or the presence of something outside of the frame. The story is not important although the fact that there is a story - is valuable. Moving forward with this project I have a range of possibilities available to me, how to communicate the complexity of a person and how they appear on/off screen. One has little control over what and how any photograph/story is unfolding, let alone how others will interoperate it. By supplying more evidence than one image per person, I will display a contact sheet of images, not to have one image explain a story or a person. The contact sheet suggests more truth, and also speaks to the limits of one photograph.

How do you plan to make it/timetable?

While conducting research for this proposal I need to collect more information on off-screen spaces, surveillance, disconnection between photography and representation. I need to plan a few experiments, voice record as I photograph, or film the entire shoot and the process. I need to look more into other artist dealing with off screen space such as Gregory Crewdson, Hito Stayerl amongst others. Record myself and the conversations I have with others. Different from the story of the woman I just told, there will only be one shoot, photographed on an analogue camera (36 Images), for the sake of keeping it as true as possible, I will also bring a digital camera to the shoot, either to photograph with or to make a video. I will photograph people in their own spaces, and possibly ask them for a personal item and photograph it outside in a public space. I will conduct experiments with different mediums to find out what best helps my concept and how it will be perceived and come together as one cohesive project. 

Why do you want to make it?

I want to make this project based on a personal experience with the naked body in an image and how the off-screen space challenged the way I feel about a photograph. The story of how this came project came to life is not special, it is one of the most common things that happens in today's photographic society – the nude image, both a celebration of the body and a tragedy at the same time. At the age of 13/14, I sent a nude picture of myself to a boy, and he sent one to me. I am not blaming my age, being “confused”, young and stupid. I knew what I was doing, and so did the boy. This nude picture of me spread like wildfire through MMS and was uploaded online. I don’t remember how I reacted, how I handled it. I don’t remember much of that year at all. I want people to understand how this incident made me aware of the off-screen space, what is happening outside of the frame or what evidence could have done to change the truth that they saw. How that personal story of what was going on outside of the picture frame was disregarded once it went public. 

Who can help you and how?

Steve, Marloes and other students can help me find texts that relate to off-screen spaces. I would also like to record our conversations, both as a way for me to come back to it and as a possibility to use it in my project. Discussions with friends about their thoughts, and how they might know someone who wants to be in my project. 

Relation to previous practice

In my previous work I have had a strong connection with the human body, although photographing it in a non-human manner. I created these beautiful abstract landscapes that looked more like they were from a different planet. I had this urge to make the body be beautiful, beautifying it in a way – almost making it into this object you could stare at like a fetish. Now, with discovering this side of myself that I had desperately tried to forget and succeeded with it, I see a red thread throughout my art and how I now can make higher quality work based on a more intense, true, and raw emotional concept. After more research, I have discovered a concept that is consistent with previous work based on the limits of photography and how it speaks to truth.

Relation to larger context

In today’s photographic society we rarely talk about how limiting that world is, and how single images are seen as evidence even though we are all aware of manipulation - even still we see it as some form of truth.

References to look at

Visual Culture – Nicholas Mirzoeff (Chapter 6,10)

Artist to research Nan Goldin Sophie Calle Duane Michaels Maya Deren Allan Sekula

Draft Three

What do you want to make?

I will look at off-screen spaces and the privacy within them. The project will contain stories of various persons, in a raw and truthful way. Attempting to communicate something that is not visible within the frame. I want to challenge the frames of photography. One example story is about a mid-twenties female whom is saving herself for marriage and the only person who has seen her naked body is her mother. Over the course of a month she let me photograph her nude, in three separate shoots and locations. In this instance, there is a visible connection with the subject and something that is not in the frame, you can feel the photographer’s presence or the presence of something outside of the frame. The story in itself is not important although the fact that there is a story - is valuable. Moving forward with this project I have a range of possibilities available to me, how to communicate the complexity of a person and how they appear on/off screen. One has little control over what and how any photograph/story is unfolding, let alone how others will interoperate it. I have two options of how to execute this project, one is to photograph people in their own spaces or bring something that belongs to them and place it in a public space. 

How do you plan to make it?

While conducting research for this proposal I need to collect more information on off-screen spaces, surveillance, disconnection between photography and representation. I need to plan a few experiments, voice record as I photograph, or film the entire shoot and the process. Print out images, develop images, put them together, arrange, rearrange, and go in to my archive – look for clues and do some self-surveillance. I need to look more into other artist dealing with off screen space such as Gregory Crewdson, Hito Stayerl amongst others. I plan to write down phrases that comes to my mind, and see how I can use them in the project. Record myself and the conversations I have with other women. The project might be a series of large images depicting women in their spaces, exhibited in a small exhibition room where the main visuals will be prints, and possibly a voice over in the room or some moving images showing certain details or hints to the story or my thoughts on the bigger picture. I will conduct experiments with different mediums to find out what best helps my concept and how it will be perceived and come together as one cohesive project. 

Why do you want to make it?

I want to make this project based on a personal experience with the naked body in an image and how the off-screen space challenged the way I feel about a photograph. The story of how this came project came to life is not special, it is one of the most common things that happens in today's photographic society – the nude image, both a celebration of the body and a tragedy at the same time. At the age of 13, anno 2006 - I sent a nude picture of myself to a boy, and he sent one to me. I am not blaming my age, being “confused”, young and stupid. I knew what I was doing, and so did the boy. This nude picture of me spread like “wildfire” through MMS and was uploaded online. I don’t remember how I reacted, how I handled it. I don’t remember much of that year at all. I am not asking for pity, all I want is for you to understand how this incident made me aware of the off-screen space, what is happening outside of the frame. How that personal story of what was going on outside of the picture frame was disregarded once it went public. 

Who can help you and how?

Steve, Marloes and other students can help me find texts that relate to off-screen spaces. I would also like to record our conversations, both as a way for me to come back to it and as a possibility to use it in my project. Discussions with friends about their thoughts, and how they might know someone who wants to be in my project. 

Relation to previous practice

In my previous work I have had a strong connection with the human body, although photographing it in a non-human manner. I created these beautiful abstract landscapes that looked more like they were from a different planet. I had this urge to make the body be beautiful, beautifying it in a way – almost making it into this object you could stare at like a fetish. Now, with discovering this side of myself that I had desperately tried to forget and succeeded with it, I see a red thread throughout my art and how I now can make higher quality work based on a more intense, true, and raw emotional concept.

Relation to larger context

Off screen space as the digital privacy/truth in an on-screen world. 

References to look at

Visual Culture – Nicholas Mirzoeff (Chapter 6,10)

Artist to research

Nan Goldin Sophie Calle Duane Michaels

Draft Two

What do you want to make?

I will look at off-screen spaces and the privacy within them. The project will contain stories of human beings, in a raw and truthful way. Attempting to communicate something that is not visible within the frame. One such story is about a mid-twenties female whom is saving herself for marriage and the only person who has seen her naked body is her mother. Over the course of a month she let me photograph her nude, in three separate shoots and locations. In this instance, there is a visible connection with the subject and something that is not in the frame, you can feel the photographer’s presence or the presence of something outside of the frame. Her story is not important although the fact that there is a story is valuable. Moving forward with this project I have a range of possibilities available to me, how to communicate a complexity of a person and how they appear on/off screen. As of now, I need to focus on what stories I want to tell or if they are important at all. One has little control over what and how any story is unfolding let alone how others will interoperate it. The photographs will consist of portraits of people in their homes – telling a story that will stay private.

How do you plan to make it?

While conducting research for this proposal I need to collect more information on off-screen spaces, surveillance, disconnection between photography and representation. I need to plan a few experiments, voice record as I photograph, or film the entire shoot and the process. Print out images, develop images, put them together, arrange, rearrange, and go in to my archive – look for clues and do some self-surveillance. I need to look more into other artist dealing with off screen space such as Gregory Crewdson, Hito Stayerl, and look at Degas paintings of the women undressing. I plan to write down phrases that comes to my mind, and see how I can use them in the project. Record myself and the conversations I have with other women. The project might be a series of large images depicting women in their spaces, exhibited in a small exhibition room where the main visuals will be prints, and possibly a voice over in the room or some moving images showing certain details or hints to the story or my thoughts on the bigger picture. I will conduct experiments with different mediums to find out what best helps my concept and how it will be perceived and come together as one cohesive project.

Why do you want to make it?

I want to make this project based on a personal experience with the naked body in an image and how the off-screen space challenged the way I feel about a photograph. The story of how this came project came to life is not special, it is one of the most common things that happens in today's photographic society – the nude image, both a celebration of the body and a tragedy at the same time. At the age of 13, anno 2006 - I sent a nude picture of myself to a boy, and he sent one to me. I am not blaming my age, being “confused”, young and stupid. I knew what I was doing, and so did the boy. This nude picture of me spread like “wildfire” through MMS and was uploaded online. I don’t remember how I reacted, how I handled it. I don’t remember much of that year at all. I am not asking for pity, all I want is for you to understand how this incident made me aware of the off-screen space, what is happening outside of the frame. How that personal story of what was going on outside of the picture frame was disregarded once it went public.

Who can help you and how?

Steve, Marloes and other students can help me find texts that relate to off-screen spaces. I would also like to record our conversations, both as a way for me to come back to it and as a possibility to use it in my project. Discussions with friends about their thoughts, and how they might know someone who wants to be in my project.

Relation to previous practice

In my previous work I have had a strong connection with the human body, although photographing it in a non-human manner. I created these beautiful abstract landscapes that looked more like they were from a different planet. I had this urge to make the body be beautiful, beautifying it in a way – almost making it into this object you could stare at like a fetish. Now, with discovering this side of myself that I had desperately tried to forget and succeeded with it, I see a red thread throughout my art and how I now can make higher quality work based on a more intense, true, and raw emotional concept.

Relation to larger context

Off screen space as the digital privacy/truth in an on-screen world.

References to look at

Visual Culture – Nicholas Mirzoeff (Chapter 6,10)

Draft One

What do you want to make?

I want to make a semi photographic exhibition exploring the physicality of image making and the difference between analogue and digital capture. While studying this concept I will look at off-screen spaces and the relationships through images and the relationships with them. The physicality of the image is exploring what an image actually is, what kind of truth does it hold and how does relationships with an image start and how can one erase the image one have seen. The project will contain stories of human beings, in a raw and truthful way. Attempting to communicate something that is not visible within the frame. One such story is about a mid-twenties female whom is saving herself for marriage and the only person who has seen her naked body is her mother. Over the course of a month she let me photograph her nude, in three separate shoots and locations. In this instance, there is a visible connection with the subject and something that is not in the frame, you can feel the photographer’s presence or the presence of something outside of the frame. Moving forward with this project I have a range of possibilities available to me, how to communicate stories, or how to leave the stories untold. By telling the story – one breaks the mystery but can a more accurate account of the reality of the process. If one leave the story untold – it creates a more intimate relationship with the viewer, although leaves a bigger room for misinterpretations. As of now, I need to focus on what stories I want to tell or if they are important at all. One has little control over what and how any story is unfolding let alone how others will interoperate it. As I am writing this, the stories might not have such a big impact on the project as I first thought. The main aspect of this project is not the stories, but the relationship one might have with an image and how it is distributed.

How do you plan to make it?

While conducting research for this proposal I need to collect more information on off-screen spaces, read about the physical image and discuss stories with others. I need to plan a few experiments, voice record as I photograph, or film the entire shoot and the process. Print out images, develop images, put them together, arrange, rearrange, and go in to my archive – look for clues and do some self-surveillance. I need to look more into other artist dealing with off screen space such as Gregory Crewdson, Hito Stayerl, and look at Degas paintings of the women undressing. I plan to write down phrases that comes to my mind, and see how I can use them in the project. Record myself and the conversations I have with other women. The project might be a series of large images depicting women in their spaces, exhibited in a small exhibition room where the main visuals will be prints, and possibly a voice over in the room or some moving images showing certain details or hints to the story or my thoughts on the bigger picture. I will conduct experiments with different mediums to find out what best helps my concept and how it will be perceived and come together as one cohesive project.

What is your timetable?

Timeline of what needs to be done and the order which those things will be done.

Why do you want to make it?

I want to make this project based on personal experiences with the naked body in an image and how the off-screen space challenged the way I feel about a photograph. The story of how this came project came to life is not special, it is one of the most common things that happens in today's photographic society – the nude selfie, both a celebration of the body and a tragedy at the same time. At the age of 13, anno 2006 - I sent a nude picture of myself to a boy, and he sent one to me. I am not blaming my age, being “confused”, young and stupid. I knew what I was doing, and so did the boy. This nude picture of me spread like “wildfire” through MMS and was uploaded online. I don’t remember how I reacted, how I handled it. I don’t remember much of that year at all. Although there is one incredible strong memory of a conversation I had with my brother who was only 10 years old at the time. He came up to me and told me his friends had seen a naked picture of me and asked me if this was true, I denied it - this is the most painful memory I have. I am not asking for pity, all I want is for you to understand how this incident made me aware of the off-screen space, what is happening outside of the frame. This image was meant for a specific audience, one person only, and the consequences that came with it.

Who can help you and how?

Steve, Marloes and other students can help me find texts that relate to off-screen spaces. I would also like to record our conversations, both as a way for me to come back to it and as a possibility to use it in my project. Discussions with friends about their thoughts, and how they might know someone who wants to be in my project.

Relation to previous practice

In my previous work I have had a strong connection with the human body, although photographing it in a non-human manner. I created these beautiful abstract landscapes that looked more like they were from a different planet. I had this urge to make the body be beautiful, beautifying it in a way – almost making it into this object you could stare at like a fetish. I believe I have been afraid to handle the look of a real body and therefore only exposing the beauty. Now, with discovering this side of myself that I had desperately tried to forget and succeeded with it, I see a red thread throughout my art and how I now can make higher quality work based on a more intense, true, and raw emotional concept.