Using the list of artists given above (Esther Teichmann, Corinne Vionnnet, Idris Kahn and Helen Sear)as inspiration, create a series of six to eight images using layering techniques. To accompany your final images, also produce a 500-word blog post on the work of one contemporary artist-photographer who uses layering techniques. (This can be any of the artists cited in any section of Digital Image and Culture.)
I started this exercise by looking at the work of Nancy Burson(1). Over her lifetime she developed an amazing layering technique of layering portraits. I then moved on to Esther Teichmann‘s work. (2). This interview gave me some idea of who Teichmann is. I found no softness in her. She appears to me to be a complicated person. There was no lightness in her, her images are dark reflecting her personality. Corinnne Vionnet’s (3). was a relief. I loved her combining of images, she found, of travel photos, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower and Sydney harbour Bridge. The work looked accessible, understandable. Next up was Helen Sear. I liked her video work best. I loved the idea that videos could be layered. Most references just gave her CV and solo exhibitions.
Looking at other photographers using layers I came across Tom Gill (4). Not impressed with the aesthetics of this image
Then I came to Idris Kahn.(5). (the college Link 1 did not work). For my final assignment in L2: Landscape my tutor had suggested I look at the work of Idris Kahn. He pointed me to the layered images he made of the Becher’s work. I loved this idea and used this to create stacked images for the final assignment 6 Transitions. For this exercise I decided to study the work of Idris Kahn a little deeper. In the interview cited above the interviewer disclosed that she had bought one of Kahn’s works when he was still a student. This was a multilayered image of the whole of Susan Sontag’s book “On Photography“. I loved the idea of this work. I have struggled with Sontag’s work and her philosophies since I first met them at Level 1. This seemed such a fantastic way to ‘devour’ her philosophies… Although Kahn is very serious in this interview, for me the work is playful. I might have entitled it “If Only“…. His work using phrases, that he has made into stamps which he then stamps on paper, multilayering them until a pattern is created, is astounding. He has also worked with music committing whole works to a single image thus encompassing the essence of the entire work. He has also used hard metal surfaces onto which he sandblasts his multilayered texts. These are extraordinary. This young man has truly inspired me.
I have decided to use the work of Kahn as inspiration to create ‘stacked’ images of people moving about. I converted the square images to black and white as I thought it accentuated the shadowy people moving about over time in the images.
This image was made with hand held camera to create five original images from which a stacked image could be created. Because the images were not exactly superimposable I put all five into one file in PS and using the opacity slider and the move tool I moved each image to more or less superimpose it on the layer below. When they were reasonably superimposed I adjusted the opacity of each layer to create the above ‘stacked’ image. I did not want the images to be exactly superimposed so that the result would resemble Kahn’s work.
For this image I used a tripod and I stacked 5 images in Photoshop using stacking mode. The passing people appear as shadows at the back of the pond.
This is also a stacked image of five original photos. Although I used a tripod there was a small shift in position which I liked as I thought it increased the tension of the image.
This is seven images superimposed on one another. I tried the automatic stack but the result was weak. I then manually stacked them in PS using varying opacities in each layer util I was satisfied with the end result.
This is five stacked images which were made from a bus in Aix in Provence bus station. I used PS stacking but this time I used ‘maximum’ for stacking mode instead of ‘mean’. I liked the result. I am aware that I had moved the camera a little as the bus was moving but I liked the result.
I am still looking out for more opportunities to create more stacked series.
- Nancy Burson. 2018. Nancy Burson. [ONLINE] Available at: http://nancyburson.com. [Accessed 16 November 2018].
- Esther Teichmann | 1000 Words. 2018. Esther Teichmann | 1000 Words. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.1000wordsmag.com/esther-teichmann/. [Accessed 16 November 2018].
- Corinne Vionnet. 2018. | CORINNE VIONNET |. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.corinnevionnet.com/works.html. [Accessed 16 November 2018]
- About Photography: Multiple exposure technique . 2018. About Photography: Multiple exposure technique . [ONLINE] Available at: http://aboutphotography-tomgrill.blogspot.com/2016/01/multiple-exposure-technique.html. [Accessed 19 November 2018].
- YouTube. 2018. Meet the Artist: Idris Khan – YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3rzmBb7Y-4. [Accessed 16 November 2018].
- Photomonitor – Book Reviews – Inside the View. 2018. Photomonitor – Book Reviews – Inside the View. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.photomonitor.co.uk/inside-the-view/. [Accessed 15 November 2018].
Digital Image & Culture 