1 – What was your idea concept and/or frame of reference for this project?
My idea for this project was to explore the idea of conservation and preservation. This can be seen through the use of film and the location of the greenhouse. Moreover, there is the idea of inside and outside at play where the images within the whole image are of a tree that grew naturally outside and juxtaposed with a greenhouse which is typically for plants inside. As the images are plastered on the window it can be disorienting upon first viewing whether we are looking out of a window or into one. This disorientation mimics the idea of being held between life and death when it comes to conservation. The whole image itself also mimics a film reel again playing on the idea of preserving old technologies.
2 – What was your motivation for making this project? list any references.
My main motivation for this project was to use a film camera I had been given by my dad. This project was a good chance to learn more about film and to try something new. The concept came from wanting to explore what is now considered vintage technology.
3 – What aspects of your project work well to support this concept?
Combining film and digital along with the use of photoshop elements helped to convey the idea of a timeline from old to new while also still acknowledging the old. Originally, I had prints of the film that was physically placed onto the window, but thanks to the ip crit I had great suggestions to digitally place them in photoshop and that really helped with control over lighting.
4 – what detracts from this concept?
The main thing that I feel detracts from this project are my photoshop skills. I think with more practice with that tool I could have been more precise with this project. Also, using film was a bit of a learning curve as I cannot see the images I take on the spot and many of the images I took were under or overexposed. The final images used were the best ones I had and although I think they do the job as I intended, I do feel some variety could have helped.
5 – how does your work engage scale?
There is a false scale to this project as the images within the image are in reality quite small but they have been blown up relative to the size of the greenhouse window using photo editing. The final print itself though is also pretty medium-sized and is fitting in portraying all the detail of the work. However, I did think it would be interesting to see it bigger, specifically the size of the greenhouse window because then it would help to sell the idea of looking through a window. I think maybe this piece could also work if it was smaller, about the size of an actual film reel, however, the project merely mimics a reel and is not proportionate to a reel at all.
6 – What role do colour, composition, materials, and/or scale play in this work?
These aforementioned aspects all tie in with the idea of naturalness and architecture. The black and white of the film and then the added green portray the middle ground of preservation and life and death. And the composition recalls the idea of a film. We can also see hints of the greenhouse through the scale of the window as most buildings do not have windows set up like this or to this size. Looking through the top windows, we can also see the architecture of the inside of the greenhouse. moreover, the exposure of the window edges and the rock also contrasts with the darkness of the shapes within the film and allude to the notion of being outside as these highlights are due to the sun. There is also a small orange branch that slightly breaks the illusion as it goes over one of the film images. This hints at the opposite of preservation which I would consider as decay.
7 – what are some presentation qualities of your work that you considered?
In terms of presentation, I considered bringing the class to the greenhouse windows as then you could get first-hand experience with the idea, however, I had to scrap this idea due to the weather and snow and the project would have lost the inception-like quality of an image within an image. Instead, it was presented in the lighting studio as a single image on the blank wall as I feel the image will speak for itself.
8 – What areas of your project would benefit from more work?
The photoshop portion could have been more precise as there is a bit of tearing that occurred when I was resizing one of the images. I think also spending more time with the film camera would also have helped in finding more interesting ways of taking photos.
9 – what did you learn about the process of making this work? any notable experiences?
I learned a lot about film cameras and processing film. And although I had fun playing around with film cameras, I think ultimately I enjoy working digitally. I would still like to use film in the future if it calls for it.
10 – rate your commitment to this project (1 = low 10 = High). explain
I would say my commitment to this project was about an 8 to 9 due to the fact that I went home and took images. Then, back in Guelph to process the film. I also tried multiple ways of presenting the film with the greenhouse, and then finally using Photoshop to put everything I had altogether. For me, the easiest part about this project was coming up with the concept as this has been an idea I had in the works for a while.
a journey that wasn't 