Week 34: Science.

I would deem it only courteous to share with you my personal belief on the action of viewing and the medium of photography, this also runs parallel with the feat of living. I see fit to do this so that all bias is out of the way and set before you. I now see photography as a scientific practice rather than an art, after studying various philosophy essays, books and articles I see life as purely scientific. Photography starts off as a mechanical process and then moves on to a chemical process. Our emotions, feelings and senses are all just merely biological sparks in our body; chemical reactions and electrical signals that determine how we should react to certain sights. Love, hate and all the other emotions we experience are not quite as abstract as we might think. So is there really a pleasure of seeing in my mind? I guess this can be true, but this idea of pleasure being “abstract” is a fallacy that people have come to believe and embrace without thinking. It is purely biological and physically present in our bodies.

I will try my best to demonstrate the pleasurable façade the photograph can create through persuasion and intention. Sometimes you may feel compelled to stare at an image for an elongated period of time, but it is not quite compulsion, it is false admiration. I do not intend to negate photography; in fact, it is the only thing that I am able to label as a passion.

I “look at” and “look for” but never “see at” or “see for.” To look and to see are both verbs, but they are both denoting two separate actions. No matter what, I cannot dismiss that there are different ways to use vision; looking is different to seeing. The mind is constantly interpreting images whether the human is choosing to look or to see, and as far as interpretation goes, we all have certain codes set into our mind about how we are meant to read objects and their surroundings. This can be down to a number of different factors such as culture, race, society or upbringing. These are greatly linked and show the true side of an onlooker’s mindset, and obviously there are other issues that play a part in interpretation however we must categorize to achieve a broad sense of looking. This embedded code is paramount to the reason of looking, whether it is because we are compelled to look or if we are doing it for a certain pleasure.

D.



Suspension of disbelief has proved to be the biggest factor in art being a façade for hundreds of years, and also noticed it in the medium of theatre:

"[...] make imaginary puissance [...] 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings [...] turning th'accomplishment of many years into an hourglass."

(Excerpt from Henry V; Shakespeare: 1598-99)

Song listening to right now: Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

Week 33: What's what.

Being busy keeps me on my toes. I have spent the week taking photographs to experiment with different types of people, and different ways of viewing them. Luckily, I managed to get hold of 10x8 camera for a few shots. The negatives came out in exquisite form, however, I'm not sure I can afford to carry on with the task I have set myself. I take portraits with the intention of relinquishing the onset prejudice that photography has on the human. The output, as such, is a frightening set of judgments that we all see as the correct way to view a certain "type" of person. I aim to pair mood with attitude. I wish to see what's what about a person, and I mean this literally. In a human, what is what? What are they? What are they aiming to achieve and what have they already achieved.

Thanks.

Daniel.

10x8.jpg

This portrait of a person I know very little about seems "washed out" almost. The 10x8 camera allows me to show his true expression pushing through the blur of judgment. I originally judged this man as being slightly "washed out" as a person, but certain things are a little too powerful for prejudice.

Song listening to right now: Happy? - Mudvayne

Week 32: Fading.

This week has had a lot of "fading into the background." I can't put it any simpler and literal than to just demonstrate through a photograph.

D.




The people who stand out in a crowd are those that mask themselves, false personalities that everybody seems to like. The people who are themselves tend to fade into the background unnoticed. You see, personality is a lot like clothing, there are many layers but the only true layer is that of skin. I fade, yet I live to fade.

Song listening to right now: The Coasters - Yakety Yak

Week 31: Playful.

This week has brought me back to Nottingham, a place that I feel can have it's ups and downs. I enjoy being around people that make me feel comfortable. I can feel a wash through me as I look at a different town, a wash that cleanses my mind of all routine. As humans, we don't naturally analyze the mind's routine, but it is this meta-cognition that shows a brilliant and vast desert of dry thoughts. I have been attempting to thwart this standard way of thinking with the aim of being a little more playful with my creativity, if I can pick apart my own mind's routine in the same way I do my body's, I can control how I pick apart photography. I like using humor in photography and I like to be subtle with it, but I also enjoy being playful in the experimental sense. If a human's mind can choose to be playful, instead of straight and sensible, will it be able control the path to achievement in the same way?

Thanks for reading,
Dan.



This was taking on a 35mm in Venice, Italy. I think a lot of what pleases my own mind rather than others, I play with this and see what product I can manufacture. That is all a photograph is to me, a product of my mind.


Song listening to right now: Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

Week 30: Lost.

I am lost most of the time, lost in the sense that I am searching for something to find me. I am searching, therefore I am looking for something to find and with this I am both the lost and the searching.

D.




This image found me. It found me whilst I was searching for my purpose, my reality and my grace.

"I am searching for abstract ways of expressing reality, abstract forms that will enlighten my own mystery." - Eric Cantona

Song listening to right now: Lady Gaga - Speechless