Author: Erin

Throughout the duration of the down time brief I found the idea of downtime but interesting and challenging, i wanted to push the idea of working towards leisure in my final images. I really enjoyed learning and gathering new ideas from this brief, the workshops of stacking and animating and the single shot films were all ideas and concepts that I had never been taught nor heard of before. 

The idea of having a balance of labor and leisure was a big part of this brief. We had discussions about the ideas of labour, leisure and tea breaks especially during our stacking workshops. It comes full circle that without labour we would not feel a sense of leisure and to justify leisure there must be labour, tea breaks sat in the middle of this giving us time away from labour but in a labour filled environment. In our stacking workshops Antonia always stopped the class for the idea of a tea break, we were encouraged to get a snack or make a drink by ourselves for a few minutes, logging back on when we were ready to get back to work. In this time we would also talk about what the idea of tea breaks really meant. 

The duration of the brief was filled with new and interesting ideas and techniques to pick up, we learnt new software: photoshop and premiere pro and had workshops on creating animations with each new software. I created animation works on the idea of “tea time” and coming together for given breaks in the workplace. 

My overall ending ideas for the brief changed the way i looked at the photographing of leisure as a labour, although i included both labour and leisure there is a clear defined line between both in my way of working: creating humorous leisurely pictures combined with the labor of developing and scanning the film the images were taken on. I also wanted to include the ideas of lockdown within my work: for example, who ever has enough time to dust leaves in their busy 9-5 day jobs? No one ,but during quarantine we get up to strange and interesting thighs like excessive housework. 

If I was to continue the downtime brief further I would really like to explore more aspects of exaggerated leisure. I had some interesting ideas for the brief that I couldn’t capture due to covid lockdown restrictions. I am really interested in eccentric and big costumes whilst doing basic ideas of leisure for example, a 1700s dressed woman graffitiing ect.

A challenge I was presented with was sharing the work behind the camera. I decided to document the process of creating my images of leisure combined with the labor of the work of film photography. 

I made my work into a time series. The one thing I was really trying to avoid was my work being a step by step when I just wanted to show the process behind the leisure. 

Initially I was going to create this challenge with a single cut video with the camera attached to me. This idea didn’t work out the best as the camera kept slipping and with it attached to me I couldn’t see what the video was picking up so I then decided to take a picture sequence instead.

One artist that has been referenced through the year within theory and studio is John Miller, who recently had an exhibition with Elisapeta Heta called Pouwātū: Active Presence, where he shared old pictures of his work. His practice heavily relates to the protests and movements in Aotearoa focusing on Maori and Pacifica, Culture and community. Much of his documentation used in the Exhibition Pouwātū was taken during the movements of the 1970s, including Maori Women’s Welfare gatherings, Polonesian Panthers gatherings and The Maori protest. His recent exhibition involved gathering old film slides and scanning in old work celebrating transformative events in Aotearoa’s history. I can reference John Miller’s work in relation to mine due to the use of analogue photography and the labor behind it. 

Gregory Crewdson, who has been photographing for nearly three decades, is another artist who has shared thoughts about analogue work. The majority of Crewdson’s art depicts suburban homes and neighbourhoods. His art is meticulously prepared and frequently accommodates dozens of people. Crewdson is recognised for methodically arranging each shot, blending light, colour, and production design to create bizarre, suspenseful settings. His photographs have their own interpretations of aesthetic beauty and nature.

What I am interested in is that moment of transcendence, where one is transported into another place, into a perfect, still world. —Gregory Crewdson

Following my trial film pictures, I wanted to explore the idea of the labour in leisure, by taking side by side comparisons of analogue and digital work through humorous leisure. 

My research after my last film camera and development trial wasn’t so much through the work of others but rather how to use my equipment correctly. The main issue I had was chemicals spreading unevenly on my work, this was due to my poor execution of rolling the film onto the reel before placing it into the development tank. To fix this mistake I watched a few step by step youtube tutorials and practiced with old developed film and my reel. I first did it a couple times in the light to see how it rolled on, next I tried it several times in the dark to see if I could do it, when it came to putting my real film roll i wanted developed into the reel I made sure to place there reel in a way that I knew where the slots were before turning the lights off. After my reflection and research my new batch of film came out much better. 

Along with creating the labor of analogue into leisure based activities, my work became quite humorous and ironic as I had my mum partake in dumb acts of leisure including:

Working on the computer on the lawn

Sunbathing on the driveway

Dusting the trees

Reading a book on a car bonnet

 Drinking a cup of tea in a tree

References:

“How to Load Film into Developing Reel.” n.d. Www.youtube.com. Accessed October 12, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsr5SKP7eQU.Harrison, Liam. 2018. “The Complete 9-Step Guide to Developing Your Own Film – Format.” Www.format.com. July 24, 2018. https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/how-to-develop-film-35mm-120.

With the extra time given during lockdown I decided to try out some film photography and home development. The majority of my pictures were taken whilst at the dog park. The labor of the work of a film photo is much more time consuming than a digital. 

After taking the shots i then In the complete dark open the film canister and pull out the film, placing it into the film reel, the film reel holds the film so that chemicals can touch every part of the film, because i’m an mature developer sometimes I mess up on rolling the reel and the film may stick together meaning some pictures don’t develop properly.  This can be seen on my final picture, one i took of my brother the same time as i took the slow shutter speed pictures on my dslr.

Then I place the film reel into the development tank, this is a light proof container meaning I can then turn on the light to see if my chemicals are up to temperature using a thermometer. I pour the chemicals in and give the container a bit of a shake to ensure it is getting all the pieces of the film. This developer stays in the tank for a few minutes before I put it back into the bottle using a funnel.  Then I do a water rinse and hang the pictures to dry. To digitise my images i use a scanner, i have a budget scanner from Kogan meaning it doesn’t do the best job so i have to fix the images up in photoshop after. 

The labor in getting these images off the film camera is quite extensive and I feel that it is quite ironic that my pictures are of leisure, a stroll in the dog park. 

Long Exposure Photography is a technique that requires a slow shutter speed. I find this technique extremely interesting in the work as it creates a sense of realism. It also helps in the labor shoots by creating a sense of movement. 

One artist’s work style I am interested in referencing is Alexey Titarenko, a Russian photographer whose style was influenced by the social construct of the final days of the Soviet Union.  

These images result in a peculiar yet recognisable movement in the scene. We know those shadows are people, He turned crowds into shadows by shooting with long exposure settings and intentional camera movement as well. I am most interested in the imagination and ability to get the most out of his situation, proving that it’s not the tools, but the skill of the artist. 

A lesser known but similar artist Jay Vulture also uses long exposures to create feeling in his architectural photography. His work in black and white creates a gloom over known landscapes. Jay also runs photography workshops sharing tutorials and processing ways.  

References:

• City. 2014. “Alexey Titarenko.” Alexey Titarenko. 2014. http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/cityofshadows.
• “Vulture Labs | Book a Workshop.” n.d. Vulture-Labs. Accessed October 11, 2021. https://www.vulturelabs.photography/book-a-workshop.
• “Black and White Cityscapes by Jay Vulture.” 2015. Sortra. February 9, 2015. https://www.sortra.com/black-and-white-cityscapes-by-jay-vulture/.

I decided to create different works of labour in a single photograph by using slow shutter speed to express movement in my work. 

The first series of works I created were of my brother driving to location. This is a follow on from my labour in a single shot video. The photos are of my brother driving to his next house for his installation of a heat pump. I used slow shutter speed to capture the fast movements the car makes as can be seen out the window.

The second series of works is my brother cutting up pipe and tightening up a valve with the gal wings of his ute up being used as a sort of portable workshop. He usually does all preparation before entering households especially in covid lockdown conditions. Again I used the method of a slow shutter speed to create a sense of motion in my works, as can be seen with the sawing movements.

In Thursday’s class we were tasked with creating labor in a single shot. A two minute video showing processes of labor without any cuts or edits. 

The first work I created was a video of my brother working out of his ute, he is an electrician and his job is to go round and install heat pumps or fix them all working out of the ute. He organises his tools in his ute before driving to his next stop. My work was a staged recreation of his work, when he closes the doors to the truck this symbolises his movement between houses.

My second work revolves around what is labor and what is leisure. We took my puppy to the Kakamatua inlet to help her socialise with other dogs. Because she is so young there is a large amount of work that goes into caring for her and keeping her entertained throughout the day. The question I am trying to project here is what is labor. I see taking care of my dog as a labor but we pay for dogs to keep as pets and provide us with leisure unlike working being a labor and then being paid for that labor you produce.

Charlie Chaplin

How could I not use the king of animation himself, Charlie Chaplin as a reference in my research. One of his works I found super interesting and humorous is the silent film labeled ‘the circus’. Specifically his work on the mirror maze. Chaplins work is inspirational to the idea of animation in our brief as he is a well known name amongst the film world. His work on silent films are super interesting to look back and reflect on, seeing each photo join into place. The reason I think that the circus silent film is so interesting is due to Chaplin never mentioned it in his autobiography and was a film that later did not seem to want to look back on. 

Jill Kennedy

An animation of artist Jill Kennedys that I think is extremely interesting is a work titled ‘One Minute Enlightenment. This animation appears to have the main focuses be cut out of a magazine and begins with a cat’s face whose eyes are spiralling. This definitely fits with the theme of the work as it  is based around the 1970s decade, with stop go animation on exercise and music. There is also a sound track behind this work which is extremely upbeat and pop.

Cites Sourced

“One Minute Enlightenment by Jill Kennedy.” 2012. CIRCUIT Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand. January 3, 2012. https://www.circuit.org.nz/film/one-minute-enlightenment.

“Charlie Chaplin – the Mirror Maze (the Circus).” 2018. YouTube Video. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G09dfRrUxUM.“Charlie Chaplin : Filming the Circus.” n.d. Www.charliechaplin.com. Accessed October 5, 2021. https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/1-Filming-the-Circus.