Automatism is a concept that I personally connect with. Within art,  automatism refers to a method of creation which seeks to engage with the unconscious mind through suppressing conscious control.

Andre Breton, leader of the surrealist movement defined surrealism as ‘pure physic automatism’ in his surrealist manifesto of 1924.

consistently throughout my own process of creation, I find my best work comes from exploring the environment and engaging with the subject in a way that is primarily ‘intuitive’. Even images that seem preplanned or carefully considered are often spur of the moment ideas that came from the creative energy during the shoot. (See figure 1). Despite the static and rigid qualities of this image, the pose was very much a spur of the moment thing . The creation of images and art as an extension of the subconscious mind is a particular interest of mine and a perspective that I maintain throughout. I’m a big believer that you don’t have to plan too much as I find work is often more exciting when you just let go and allow the images to manifest. In this regard I view automatic creation as a grounding force to me practice.

Kansuke Yamamoto was a Japanese Photographer and poet. He is most recognised for his analogue surrealist works as well as his contributions to the avant-garde movement in Japan. Illogically, he is not recognised as a surrealist despite his work, utilising the distinctive characteristics of surrealism.

Figure 1 ‘Giving Birth to a Joke’ is a personal favourite of mine. The floating lips  feel characterful and add a layer of personality to the photograph. I find lips to be a particularly interesting choice; like eyes they possess the ability  to express the subtleties of emotions and are able to portray stories through their subtle visual language. Here, the lips are still and poised, alluding to a moment of contemplation as well as intimacy. I would imagine the surrounding face to be still, with a purposeful gaze. Furthermore, the posture of the lips depict a stillness that can be felt by the viewer and subsequently prompt them to engage with the feelings of the imagery. As in Laura Marks’s conceptualisation of Haptic visuality, the body of the viewer becomes a mechanism for processing the emotions portrayed by the imagery.

The juxtaposition of body against the sea feels harmonious and cohesive. The gentle motion of the sea feels delicate and ethereal, working to accentuate the delicate nature of the human form. This composition creates a beautifully poetic symbiosis of the female body and nature. The large scale of the body against the sea conveys it in a divine and otherworldly manner, mirroring the vastness and power of the sea.

 

Overall I’m happy with the images from this shoot. I love the that  way the mirror has worked to reflect the landscapes in an intriguing manner. I also think the setting worked really beautifully with the simple styling. In the forest, the dark dress feels harmonious with the landscape. I think the gloves provide an eeriness and while subtle, this really does help elevate the atmosphere of the imagery. I am however a little disappointed with how some of the images look. For example, figure 4 has some elements that work  really well. The horizontal angle, theatrical posing and the hair over the subjects face all work to create and image that feels really interesting. Despite this I feel like there is something missing. Maybe I could have played around more with the setting and brought some other furniture items to ‘complete the image’. I really do enjoy the overall visual language, and maybe this is an image I could develop in further shoots.

I found this tutorial useful. We discussed the previous shoot and how this could become part of my final outcome. As the images are fairly dark, it may be interesting to explore the idea of using illumination behind the photographs, so they can be viewed more clearly. This would also help with translating the feeling of the photographs in a more immersive manner.

Using a plastic sheet hung over  clothes rail, I managed to created imagery that feels soft and poetic. The idea of using the plastic sheet was a little random, though I feel that it has worked quite well in helping me to depict an ethereal and dream like quality to my images.

The first few images were far  too dark initially (see figure 1). While I did shoot in RAW format and was able to brighten them up, there is an overwhelming amount of noise within the image as a result of this post-production brightening. There is something quite poignant about the body language in Figure 1; for me it depicts a particular feeling of pensiveness, like a dreamer lost in thought. I believe this allusion goes particularly well with the style of images and helps bring a sense of coherence throughout the image.

 

I found this crit useful and enjoyed looking at others work. I found it particularly interesting that  none of us would explain our work prior to showing it. I felt that because of this I was able to connect with the work in a more personal manner, rather than seeing it through a filter of  pre-conceived concepts.

I found the feedback from Eloise helpful. I found that it helped to engage with my imagery more closely. For example we talked about how the mirror cuts the body and brings the external space into the body (see figure 1)

Another element we discussed was the notion of touch with touch, this being something I found particularly interesting.

 

 

Fig 2.

 

Going straight into FMP I have felt a little vague and muddy with my ideas, leading to feeling uninspired and a bit directionless. I know vaguely that I want to create feelings of deep connection between the viewer and the imagery but I don’t know exactly what themes I would like the images to channel in order to achieve this. A way of combating the beginning of project funk was to create, hoping to be surprised and inspired by the results. The below images are some of the results.

 

An element that I really liked about this images is the lighting. The candlelight works to create a feeling of intimacy, as the lighting is soft and low, alluding to night time. I believe that the lighting has helped me to create imagery that provides space for connection. What I mean by this, is that the low soft lighting, brings in a sense of quiet and a stillness that naturally draws the viewer into the imagery.