Bibliography

Areas of Photographic Practice A Bibliography

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Updated Pro- Forma

I thought, it'd be a good idea to re-do my pro forma, I've made my project evolve and it wouldn't make sense to leave the pro-forma the way it is, some areas will be the same because there's no need to change them; so here it is!

Areas of Photographic Practice

Name: Imogen Jones

Working title: Persephone

My idea stems from looking at the literacy inspired works of Tom Hunter and Dina Goldstein, whose effective use of literature enables them to create (in my eyes) successful narratives. I have a huge fascination for Greek Mythology and Symbolism so I used motifs found in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and the myth of Persephone to influence my own narratives; for example the symbol for fertility was the pomegranate, as seen on early Greek Statues c1200BC. I’d feel like I successfully incorporated this use of symbols into my photography.

I wanted to produce this body of work as I felt that my interest in Greek literature would create an original narrative, as I am so fascinated I believe that this did show in my work and that I kept focussed on it. What started as a piece to perhaps show the expectations placed on women to have children even in today’s world turned to something that made me think about forced marriage, a very real problem in some parts of the world. The images I produced with this in mind had an eerie feel to them, especially with the symbol of the pomegranate to represent the “ripe fertility” of young girls forced into marriage, used from the Myth of Persephone where a goddess is forced to marry a God (Hades).

At first I wanted to just have the image of the pomegranate by itself, alone on the bed; representing how alone these girls may feel. But after a couple of shoots I felt like I could show the whole myth within one tableau, inspired by Dutch Still Life paintings. My project evolved completely after I decided to do this, I researched further into the symbolism presented in the myth and found I could show the seasons through symbols meant for the Gods.

I knew that realistically I only had one shot for the shoot as the deadline was approaching, I knew what I wanted to achieve lighting wise and drew a rough sketch of where I wanted the different components to be. In the studio I only needed one light, as the artists of Dutch Still Life painted as if there was only one light source coming in from the side. Dutch Still Life’s are also usually set on a table and I wanted this to be shown in my own photography, but I also wanted to create an illusion of a bed; the pillow cover I used for a semi-backdrop also generated texture similar to that of an oil painting.

The work would be shown in a gallery, although I used the contemporary method of digital photography the image itself looks like an antique oil painting, especially in the old frame I bought from a charity shop. There would be a slight assumption that the audience would roughly know the myth, but as shown in the virtual gallery I would have quotes from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter displayed on the walls, and perhaps a hand out describing the myth. So all in all the work would be for any audience interested in galleries, whether my work would affect anyone of a certain age or gender I’m not too sure, I’d hope it’d affect women and promote some sort of change too.

Virtual Gallery

Using online software I was able to curate an exhibition, showing my work. I included the quotes from The Homeric Hymn to Demeter and also a couple of other photographs just to show another direction I could go to. However, I will still be just submitting the final image as that would be the main piece, and the only narrative.

Final Image(s)

Following the crit with Lawrence we decided on a final image, but there were some problems with the image:

The black on the left hand side of the image doesn't gradually fade out like the right side, try to blend it in a bit more, if it looks too fake don't use it. At the same time we discussed that I was also trying to show the illusion of a bed.

Here I have tried to blend the black and rusty orange, and think I have done an ok job but will ask my cohorts for a second opinion before I commit to printing either of the images.

Studio Shoot - Refined Images

As there were so many images to choose from, from the contact sheets, I decided to create a separate post for the refined images. Some images may crop up twice, this is intentional as you may notice that I've added a filter to make it look like the photograph was taken on canvas as I am aiming for a painterly aesthetic. However, I'm not sure whether I'll use this as I don't want it to appear over the top and unsubtle; after Monday's crit with Lawrence I will make a decision. I know that I will be ordering my prints from DSColour Labs using an artistic paper rather than gloss/lustre in order to make the photograph look like a painting.

Studio Shoot - Contact Sheets

Below are the contact sheets from my session in the studio, they show the tableau I designed (and then some). I wanted there to be only one light source, and for the images to be dark and dramatic, taking inspiration from Dutch Still Life Paintings.

Tableau Design

The image below is a drawing I did to show what I roughly want my tableau to look like, I have included symbols of the main three characters:

Hades - The Skull
Demeter - The Ear of Corn
Persephone - The Pomegranate/ The Flowers

Within this personification of the Gods, there is a symbolism for the four seasons

The Pomegranate - Spring
The Ear of Corn - Summer
The Leaves - Autumn
The Skull - Winter

I will also include flowers to represent spring, and Persephone picking them when she was taken by Hades, I may put a flower in the skull to represent Hades' eye for Persephone.