For this exercise, given that the text allowed for the possibility of creating digital collages, I thought it would be fruitless to find and scan physical images. So I used royalty-free images from sites like Pixabay and Pexels. I selected a number of images and sorted them into appropriately categorised folders. I started my images with backgrounds like the course text described. I thought that this way I might be able to see elements of a narrative.
I started playing with simple layouts and collages, but as I started to move, add and remove different elements I started to see lots of opportunities for experimentation and fun narrative elements. I also started to enjoy the process of digitally cutting elements and blending them into the images rather than just placing them.
I had never really experimented much with the skills of digital photo compositing, so thought this would be a good opportunity to try some of those skills. Below you can see a gallery of the images I produced.
I really enjoyed spending time in a photographic digital realm. I found the exercise quite liberating and I found myself exploring more surreal aspects. I sometimes had difficulty matching the colour balance, as you can see in the last image. The biggest difficulty I experienced however was, well, out of my control. I was completing the exercise during storm Eunice when my studio space (our home conservatory) was suddenly hit by half of the concrete roof of our garage. It was crushed with me inside, and luckily I somehow managed to avoid any injury.
Obviously, it's been quite a shock. I'm not writing this as some sort of sympathy plea more in relation to my relationship to my creative space that I explored in Part One. Now I am sitting down writing this up on a backup laptop, I have a chance to take stock of things. The shock notwithstanding I actually feel a sense of resentment and loss to have the space taken away from me. I managed to save most things, but I don't have my own creative space anymore. Confusingly I also feel a little relieved. The conservatory was not the best place to work and having to spend most of my time there due to the global pandemic meant that I was feeling trapped and isolated.
I decided not to do the full ten images as I have much to sort out in the wake of the storm. But I am pleased with the work regardless, it puts a horrible experience in a more positive light. Now I need to work out how to finish my assignment without my normal space and equipment to hand. I feel slightly optimistic though, that with time I will have the ability to redefine the space that I create my work in, and maybe I can refer back to my previous exercises to guide my choices.
Not being able to have my normal space also adds significant constraints to completing my work in Part Three, but perhaps those constraints might bring opportunities and outcomes that I had not expected?
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