We are now getting into it. After processing our own film, we made our contact sheet. I did it before a couple of times and I enjoy it every time. 

First, Adrian showed us where everything is in LCC darkroom. Then how to set the enlarger in order to prevent any light from spreading around the space ruining all the work.

When the negative was ready in the easel, we tried different exposure times on a piece of sheet of photographic paper, blocking the light by using a black cardboard.

  

1. Exposing the paper doubling the time. We found the correct exposure being between 15 and 30 secs.

2. Giving 5 secs between exposures. We tried a 17.5 sec.

3. After that, we raised the contrast on the enlarger from 2.5 to 3.5 to enhance it.

4. Final contact sheet at 17.5 secs 3.5 contrast.

I learned that in order to have a consistent contact sheet and exposure time I need to be consistent in my exposure when shooting.

Alessandro, Claire and I went to our first Studio session to try and do some practise with studio lights. Studio lighting can be intimidating, at first. The studio is big, the flashlights have many controls and I tried to remember all the safe health and safety rules the technician told us during the studio inductions. So many things can go wrong!

Anyway, we managed to use them quite easily. After trying different light modifiers on one flashlights, just to see the differences, we played with two or more lights. 

Initially, we wanted to recreate a portrait with plain white background so we placed one flashlights each side pointing at the white background. Then we placed the key light and took a light measure. After practicing a bit, we managed to achieve a perfectly white background by adding 1 stop light power to the background flashlights.

                      

We also tried black background (no lights on the background) and adding a soft halo behind Claire's head. 

NOTES

- We suffered very much because it was too warm inside the Studio, I think we left all modelling lights on Max instead of Rel.

- Music is important.

More from kellianderson

On Sunday 30th October, we went to see this exhibition in Brighton with Selina. We travelled together by train and arrived at Brighton at 1.30 pm.

Unfortunately, we had the time to only see two exhibitions, as they were all closing at 4 pm and it was the last day.

Anyway, the first exhibition was STATE OF CONTROL.

                      

As soon as we walked trough the door, a guy welcomed us and showed the place, an office rearranged for the exhibition. CONTROL consisted of 5 different parts. 

The first one was dedicated to the work of SIMON MENNER, Fake arrest and Hand to hand combat. The images belong to the STASI archives and were meant to be a sort of visual instructions on how to deal with dissidents among the population. 

The pictures are not professionally made, they serve the purpose of literally showing actions to be taken in various situations, like the fake arrest and hand to hand combat.

"Many of these snapshots seem absurd; they may even be amusing. And yet we ought not to loose sight of the intention that led the STASI agents to take them. These photographs document the repressive measures taken by a totalitarian state in order to create terror and fear among the population." (extract from Menner website)

Opposite to Menner's images, we saw RAFAEL MILACH's, The Winners, works. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE RAFAEL MILACH WEBSITE.

The caption said:

"The Winners is dedicated to winners of various state and local competitions held between 2010-2013 and supported by the Belarusian authorities. The list of the winners also includes the best in contests promoting beauty or public space maintenance. Winners are present in kolkhozes, schools, public institutions, nightclubs, village discos and on Boards of Honour in almost each Belarusian town."

These incredible images (about 50) were installed on plywood, not completely attached to it. The viewer had the possibility of guessing what every single image was about and then pulling it up and read the real caption. This part of the exhibition was my favourite. The images were so outstanding and weird! Apparently there was a prize for everyone and for everything.

   

   

1. Zhodino. Natalya and Konan, the best couple in love.

2.Volozhin. Arri, the multi-champion in dog beauty contests.

3. Elena, the best milkmaid of the Slutsk region.

4.Natalya, the winner of the contest for the best lookalike of Jennifer Lopez.

5.Asinovshina. Olga, the mother of the best large family in the region of Smorgon.  

In the second room, on one side, we saw JOACHIM SCHMID's work, X MARK THE SPOT.

Here for Joachim Schmid website.

The images in the series were about tourists taking picture of theirselves on the X marked in the large street were JFK was assassinated. The interesting about this work was how they were taken. A webcam was positioned in a building in the exact position from where the shot went out.

Opposite to Joachim Schmid work, there was SARAH PICKERING, Public Order.

Here for Sarah Pickering website.

"Riots and scenes of civil unrest are a daily occurrence in a small town called Denton. Despite the heavy police presence the violence is only ever temporarily suppressed. Another day brings more trouble - an incident at the underground station; barricaded streets; an injured civilian to bring to safety.

Denton is a set used by the police, designed to provide a realistic backdrop for a riot. The violent aggressor is defined here by the estate he could inhabit. Although absent from the photographs, his identity can be pieced together from the elements of social stereotyping in this purpose-built environment. The Public Order series of photographs documents the attention to detail and simultaneous lack of realism within this artificial environment. This is a living invention, a fantasy placed within the real world - an attempt to make violence and disorder tangible and knowable."

 

 

Another interesting space was the CONFESSIONAL BOOTH. In it, you had the possibility for a session of Portfolio Review.

ANITA STRASSER. Making space more liveable.

Last week, during the Language Development class, Adam gave us a little exercise to do. He brought some booklets of a past exhibition, named FRAMING URBAN NARRATIVES.

At first, we analysed the three single words, trying to figure out what the exhibition could be about. Then, we opened it and watched at the images without reading the descriptions. The exercise consisted of attempting a visual analysis just by watching them. He also gave us a scheme to follow when analysing an image.

This was my attempt

Go to FRAMING URBAN NARRATIVES website

The technicians at LCC started giving workshops. This part of my course is the one I am looking forward doing.
The first workshop was about film processing and the making of negatives. We can use a big machine to process our colours film that takes about 10 minutes. Love it!
For black and white processing, we can use the traditional method, the same I use at home. The great thing at LCC is that there is a drying cabinet (I hang my negatives in the shower at home and it takes forever). The chemistry is provided by Uni.

Make up in the tube, London 2015

Today I start writing about my journey in Photography. My name is Flavia and I am a London based photographer. I am currently studying at UAL, Graduate Diploma in Photography. I went through the gates being an amateur, now I think and dream photography all day (and night) long.
I am starting this blog as a diary, trying to make order in my everyday experiences and sharing my own thoughts and findings.
This blog will contain all ideas, projects and works in progress. It is meant to show my mental and creative processes approaching photography issues. I have always been convinced that photography does not need explanation at all, that photographs (as good photographs) should be able to speak for themselves. This is slightly changing with time. I now feel that being able to talk about photographs is a plus and an invaluable skill for anyone approaching photography. I am not very good at explaining myself with words and, I think, this is the reasons why I approached photography and why it is so fascinating to me.
Now, I have to admit, although I still think that good photography does not need so much explanation, I see visual analysis as a very useful instrument to understand better the process behind a photo. I am naturally forcing myself to read deeper, ask many questions and guessing the answers towards a better understanding.

My interests in photography are in portraiture, black and white and street photography. I love alternative processes. After one month at University, things are changing a bit. I am now keen to explore many different fields, such as fashion photography and commercial. I am very curious about which direction my photography will go from now 'till the end of the course.