The initial idea was to use natural substances and ones with vibrant colours and I decided to go with the primary colours but that idea quickly dissolved when I started researching on different methods to capture an image rather than using a DSLR camera. After researching unusual methods of photography, I came across x-ray photography that mainly focused on animals and flowers. Not having an x-ray at my disposal, I had to find a new but similar method, that uses a scanner as a photographic capturing device.
I went on to research Scanner Photography (Scanography). Although it is only limited to an A4 paper surface area on the glass, the photos showed an array of colours that were heavily contrasted against black backgrounds and even with the default white background. The photos typically have a very shallow depth of field (usually 12mm). Most of the works shown tended to lean towards flowers being the main subject as they can easily be manipulated on the glass surface and the colours from them were vibrant, however there were a few that had people as subjects.
Scanography is considered to be fine art as it differs from the traditional use of it being used to scan documents, by using atypical objects that are often 3D. This method of creating photographic art started out with just simple photocopiers which gave way to xerox art in the 1960's, these tended to produce images that looked rather haunting and ghostly as the light from the machine couldn't reach around the curvature of some objects. People now use scanners instead because it produces a much clearer and sharper image, with richer colours compared to the photocopiers' images, it also allows for digital manipulation as a scan creates a digital negative. With the affordability of scanners becoming more available to people in the 1990's, it meant that people could now purchase it without renting or hiring someone to operate it for them. Darryl Curran produced 'scanograms' between 1993 to 1997 and they appear to have this dark but chic look and feel to them. Another photographer who uses this method of capturing an image is Harold Feinstein who created a series called
One Hundred Shells & One Hundred Flowers that appeared side by side to each other with traditional large format photographs.
Having never practised Scanography before, I thought that I should just focus on flowers thinking this would be a good start because of the complete manipulation I had of them, and I could begin to see how they would appear in the form of an image. I began by collecting various objects that I would find outside, after I was satisfied with my collection I placed them on the glass surface and carefully placed a black cloth on top of them. I got the idea to use a black background from the images I saw on scanography, it was also partially because the black material would absorb any light that escaped or seeped in. After scanning my first image, I was able to understand how the light and the objects interacted with one another and then rearranged them so that they would layer on each other.
After understanding the images that the flowers produced on screen, I noticed that they looked rather textile and patterned similar to decorative arts and crafts artists like William Morris. I decided that I wanted more variety on the flowers so I purchased two bouquets of flowers and I placed some down as a whole flower and scanned some images, however using the whole flower started to limit what I could with them. With that in mind, I took some of the flower heads apart or pulled the buds off. I eventually had more material from what I already had. I did the whole process of placing them on the flatbed however I saw fit and then placed the black cloth on top, some times I would get rid of the cloth and just put the lid down as much as I could without completely crushing or disrupting my display, this gave me a white background that would work with some of the colours however if the flowers were too thick that it let exterior light in, it didn't work so well.
Although aesthetically pleasing in terms of it being decorative, they lacked narrative. I wanted to experiment with different surfaces such as, cling film; plastic bags; and tracing paper, however I didn't acquire the cling film and plastic bags merely out of absent mindedness. I did acquire tracing paper and was making Japanese-esque paper screen doors, but they were accidentally torn in the process of erasing the pencil guidelines I created in order to cut out the shapes with a craft knife. I believe the images would appeal to the magazine because it shows individuality and a creative take on photography, even though the images shown on the magazine tend to be shot on a camera, some lean towards fine art photography, which is something I wanted to touch upon.
I believe that if I did use these materials, I could have created a narrative that would have began to approach the ideologies and awareness of the environment as a possibility. Like I previously said, it lacks narrative but I think if I managed to put more context in it, it would have a chance with the magazine as it would have fit in with the ideologies as the rest of the photographers that appear on it, all of whom seem concerned with social issues. To further this approach I would have gotten bits and pieces found on the streets that are considered to be litter and perhaps give them a new purpose with the images that I was creating. Another flaw that I would say is that in some of the images, even with methodical placements, there seemed to be too much happening or seemed too 'busy', which deterred me from the initial concept of keeping it simple, like Ars Thanea Studio's image "The Ash" whose concept was simple but had a powerful impact. I did however notice this when I observed the images and opted to stay with no more than a few elements at a time per image.
In comparison to Harold Feinstein's works, mine is minuscule, as he makes more use of the surface and captures a much richer sense from one flower. I feel like my images look like they are from a larger perspective while his seems to more about the detail of the flowers' colours and the veins that ran through the petals. He mainly focuses on the flowers petals as they are what carries the colours which is what I did as well, but I wanted make uses of the greens as they came out vividly on the black background.
I would consider this to be the first iteration as I can see myself using this technique again. What I would keep the same is the use of flowers but maybe with more variety of plant species, and then incorporating it with man-made materials that I find on the ground. Another thing would be to use up more of the flatbed surface area without it becoming too cluttered. In conclusion, I should focus my efforts into making more of a narrative while keeping the aesthetic simplicity of the appearance that the images produce.
