Night Time Television.

I got around to taking some of my experimental photographs of Televisions in different locations, however without the narrative of children and at night time. I used a range of spots in a fifteen meter area starting with atop a birdbath, then in a glass house, at an outdoor eating area, near a chicken coop, in a garden, and in a garden shed.

I was relatively pleased with this batch of photos as the effect of the TV acting as a large square white light box which worked really well to produce an interesting bleed effect.
I was very pleased with how alien the greenhouse looked with the TV light inside it.
I also like the effect of the light pollution from over the hills giving an orange tint to the sky.

#1 show the effects of a nearby towns light pollution.

#3 shows some interesting blur effects happening.

#20 shows how well the TV can light up a small room.

I particularly like #13 as the singular TV light is enhanced by the light pollution in the background.

I am wanting to go further with this idea of the television light box and maybe experimenting with different colours and environments.

Fun on Mt Victoria

Now here is a great idea, let your phone go out of battery, get on a scooter, fill up on petrol, drive to cool unseen places and take photos. Freedom is one word for it.

Check out the cool photos.

I headed around to to Oriental parade and thought of heading up the to the top of Mt Vic somehow. when I got there I checked out the big orange tower and other insignificant things that were lying around. Including vomit I narrowly avoided stepping in, beer bottles, the orange paint brush used to paint the tower and then discarded, wires, devilish shadows, a discarded rug that looks like a dead animal, spray painted pole creatures, triangular monuments, and landscapes.

I especially like #18 as it is a peculiar sight, a body of water, some land, another body of water, and more land.

I have a mild fascination with discarded objects, especially things which look like something they are not like the rug in #14.

A Comic Tale:

The other word for it is stupidity

The rest of the day turned into a bit of a shambles. I had my camera inside the scooters seat compartment, a bag on my back, a helmet and gloves to take care of and when trying to sort all of this out after taking a few pictures, what should happen but for me to lock the scooter key inside of the seat compartment. 

On top of Mt Victoria with a dead cellphone and no one to help what was there to do but to coast down to Newtown on a lifeless scooter, occasionally kicking for a bit of extra momentum.

At the bottom I borrow a cellphone at Z service station and called the AA who wouldn't help.

I found a nearby mechanics and borrow a screwdriver, hoping either to use it as a makeshift key or pry open the seat, in the end I just got angry, yanking the seat up a notch and shoving my hand in, bruising my wrist, but luckily snagging the key so I could open up the seat and start the ignition, just in time to head home and make dinner.

Harvey Benge as Inspiration

A photographic artist whose work I have looked into is Harvey Benge. The following images are from his books Lucky Box, Killing Time In Paradise, and Four Parts Religion Six Parts Sin.

Thee first image confused me a lot, I knew it was an eggshell, but I thought the circular thing was a camera lens, it took me some time but I finally realized that it was a kitchen waste disposal. The unique close up distorts the image into something unrecognizable. A lot of Benge's photos do this, and sometimes it is the composition of these images rather than the things photographed that are the most interesting.

I have an appreciation for how he has turned such an ordinary sight into something well composed and interesting.

Another reason I like Benge's artwork is that he photographs things that are interesting, as in not seen everyday. Like this axe throwing bulls eye placed onto a tree.

Another interest of mine which Benge illustrates is photographing things usually not thought worthy of photographing, like the trash behind this building,

This trash compresser,

This wooden crate; Benge has the courage to look down to take his photos,

The corner of this pillar which has cracked off and then been painted over like nothing is wrong.

The above photos are places and objects that we rarely think about but often contribute towards.

Another reason I relate to Benge's work is that some of the things he photographs appear to be deliberately placed, whether by himself or someone else.

For example this woman underneath the tarpaulin, it seems to me that Benge has instructed her under there so he can create an image of just her legs. In these constructed images I like to construct a narrative to the scene, a reason why.

In the next image a tarpaulin is once again used, I think it creates mystery as to what may be underneath it. 

Another interesting aspect to some of Benge's photography is the use of reflection to blur two images together. This is a bit beyond my current capability but I will consider experimenting with this.

The previous image and the following image both appear to me set up by either Benge or someone else. also both images involve televisions and that is what I would like to focus on. for my upcoming set of photographs.

Sensory Ethnography

3 Sensory Ethnographies.

I will write out a sensory ethnography for each of my three chosen actions
Using these senses:

Sight

Smell

Sound

Touch

Taste

Poetic Description
An interest of mine that hasn't really led me anywhere is to try to write songs or poetry about anything of interest.
Using my sensory ethnography' as inspiration this is what I will attempt to do.

1 Playing Guitar
There are many ways to play guitar, I want to focus on finger picking on my accoustic guitar, especially the movements of the picking hand.


Guitar/Sight
I can see the strings vibrate as they are played. I'm conscious of how I look and my body look whilst playing. I sometimes close my eyes and forget sight.

Guitar/Smell
A mixture of the wood of the guitar, sweating calussed hands, metal coils. Wherever I may be.

Guitar/Sound
Light notes that fade into nothingness, emotive

Guitar/Touch
I can feel each of the strings as I pluck them, each string has a different weight to it. Occasionally I feel the wood of the guitars body. The scratchy top strings. The light bottom strings. The impact of the strings which blisters calluses my thumb and fingers

Guitar/Taste
There is an imagined taste of the things I touch, a woody taste whenever the body is rubbed, A metallic, oiled or rusted taste when feeling the top strings,
no taste when feeling the nylon

Creative Writing

Twisting and turning.
Head full of nails.
Feeding on coils.
Soft?
Loud?

Picking at twine.
Blistering me.
Colour my fingers in calluses.

My fingers are like giraffes.
Each joint, each knuckle, a cervical vertebra.
Fingers feed on guitar strings like a ruminant feeding on foliage.
Grasping and then plucking.
Each bite bringing satisfaction.

2 Driving Scooter
Driving a motorbike/scooter is a lot different to driving a car, instead of turning a wheel you must lean your body from side to side. Also, pulling the throttle instead of putting your foot down on an accelerator is an interesting experience.


Scooter/Sight
The sights of locations. The edges of my helmet. The globe of brightly lit area when driving at night.

Scooter/Smell
Depending on where I am driving and what I am driving past. I hold my breath as I drive past dead possums,

Scooter/Sound
The continual droning of the scooters engine is quickly forgotten when drving through serene rural areas or drowned out when driving through the city. Other sounds hold much interest.

Scooter/Touch
I grasp the handles and throttle with my hands. I am usually gloved and when I forget my knuckles freeze white. The cold attacks me, finding its way through my clothing.

Scooter/Taste
I breathe in long rushes of fresh air. the occasional fly. I restrict breathing to my nose when vehicles emmiting much gas or diesal are ahead of me. Dead possum tastes bad.

Creative Writing

Fall to the left but don't let go, fall to the right still holding on.

Pulling tight. Moving forward.The faster I go.
Air roars around me my chest inflates.
Breathing life? Breathing ice!
Bleach My knuckles. My face is white.

To shake the cold I must go faster
The faster I go the colder I get

Breathing life? Breath of death.
Decomposition taints my throat.
I pull ever tighter and grow ever colder.
Is this my life? Am I getting older?

3 Using a Wallet
Almost everyone has a wallet, our wallets contain a slice of our identity, and are imprinted with our daily movements. I want to focus on taking and putting back a card e.g. eftpos.


Wallet/Sight
A wallet. Stacks of cards. A bulge in my jeans pocket. Sometimes I can see all but the card I want. It is worn, it has an imprint of my character.

Wallet/Smell
Rubbed Leather. Plastic. Money. A piece of Christchurch.

Wallet/Sound
Jingling of keys and coins. Clip opening and closing.

Wallet/Touch
An automatic process I do without thinking. Feel a lump in my jeans pocket. My wallet contains many textures

Wallet/Taste
An imagined taste of the smooth leather.

Creative Writing

Heavy.
I am heavy but I am not rich.
Curious?
More of a reflection than a fruitful wish
Contents
Methods of unlocking. Change.
Heavy
Weighing me down. A reminder not a burden


Public Transport
Pull out, Scan, Stuff it in.
Grocery Shopping
Pull out, Swipe, Stuff it in.
Building Access
Pull out, Scan, Stuff it in.
Every day
Pull out, Use, stuff it back in.

Lost
Without you I cannot live my day
Need
Without you some things block my way
Have
In my pocket first thing every day

Makara For Photography

Makara really lends itself to landscape photogrpahy. Especially during the golden hour.

The above image just fits my current interests perfectly, the two themes I want to focus on is the use of television and the use of discarded/forgotten objects. 

Unfortunate how TV's are becoming more and more redundant as technology advances more and more quickly.

8AM in the morning looking up the Valley of South Makara Rd. The fog hasn't yet lifted and the man made structures of windmills and transformers rise from the green trees and mist.

The sun brings warmth and light. The neighbours horse is silhouetted against a backdrop of morning sky and sunlight. Of central importance is the sun, followed by the horse, followed by the spacious sky.

Contact Sheet

Below is the contact sheet for my first shoot which I did on the 22 July 2013 at approximately 5.00 PM.

I found this location whilst driving from Lower Hutt towards Wellington. I pulled into Belmont Domain near the river and climbed through some trees and over a large pile of tree scraps.
I approached the place with a little bit of caution, remembering being told not to die whilst trying to take photos, with a bit of caution I continued.

Just looking around was incredible, I could see the old shack which I used as my starting place. I saw the tractor which was the only useful looking thing there. I saw the orange Ute which stole most of my attention, it looked awesome.

I love the images of the Ute. I love how naked the vehicle appears.
9 Profiles the truck, emphasizing a lack of doors and pickup tray.
10 Is looking through the Ute, emphasizing the lack of glass in the window, the sight of the steering wheel almost gives life to the vehicle, but the forgotten location ahead reminds us of its uselessness.
11 Shows the empty space in the front where there were no seats no carpet, a puddle of water, and no signs of human life.
12 Shows off the empty front of the vehicle, no motor, nothing to give the vehicle life.
13 Shows the lifeless machine against a backdrop of the motorway where other vehicles are being driven by people, helping them throughout their everyday lives. This shows off how disposable this pile of metal is.

I chose to title them with numbers as it shows the order I would like people to think I shot the images in.

Introduction

The first week back studying has been and gone and at the time I didn't think I accomplished much, but I think I must have been listening.

I am a student in my second year of study, continuing design in culture and context. In the past year and a half I have been the person in the group who has always thought of really crazy even slightly silly ideas and thought them plausible, not that that is a bad thing, it just means it takes longer to create some decent work.

So my first idea was television. Is it relevant? I don't know. Last year as a part of my DSDN101 stop motion project, I took a computer out into a forest and set it up to work using lots of extension cords, it worked really well. (I also have this idea that smashing a working television with a baseball bat would look awesome but maybe that's besides the point at the moment). Setting up televisions in a forest and photographing them is cool but what does it mean?

I expanded on the idea. I have noticed with my niece and nephew and other young children too that technology is become more and more a part of everyday routine. I wanted to use the television as a metaphor for this, completely removing the children from typical child environments and replacing them with the television. For example, a television in a baby cot, a television on a swing, a slide, in a sandpit, in a car seat, etc...

In reality this was harder than I expected, televisions are REALLY BIG. I am currently thinking of something else I could do, however, on my way back home from my Television attempt I saw a place that just looked really interesting and just went exploring with my camera. Here is where listening becomes important, I remember hearing the words "You will never get better at taking photos unless you take photos". This was a place that looked interesting to photograph so I went for it. I also remembered something along the lines of "Don't Die!" and this stayed in my head as I was unsure if I should have been there.

I shot some cool pictures. I will get these up in a contact sheet soon.