I was sort of at a loss at the start of this project. I was unsure of what I wanted to say or bring forth in this work. I started with the idea of wouldn't it be weird if someone was taking a photo with their phone of something that is regarded as old timey? Then it evolved into this idea of old and new photo processes joined together.
I found an old civil war photo from the Library of Congress which I used as the edges of the frame, to help develop that visual of the wet plate. As well as using some pictures from pexels, mostly for texture and layered them for a more dated look. The subject of the photo within the photo is my sister from, strangely on the nose, party that we went to recently themed the 1920s. Overall, this project really pushed me to think about how to use even the "dullest" of images to create something.
I found an old civil war photo from the Library of Congress which I used as the edges of the frame, to help develop that visual of the wet plate. As well as using some pictures from pexels, mostly for texture and layered them for a more dated look. The subject of the photo within the photo is my sister from, strangely on the nose, party that we went to recently themed the 1920s. Overall, this project really pushed me to think about how to use even the "dullest" of images to create something.
Source: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cwpb.01036/
In the center of this piece is a woman’s hands holding a cell phone with the camera open, taking a picture of herself. You can see her dramatic makeup, pin curled hair, and vintage inspired outfit that could be reminiscent of early 1900s styles. The sepia toned filter over the black and white image helps reinforce this, along with the layered scratches, stains, and torn edge textures pushing the idea of an aged, worn photo.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is playing with the irony of seeing a smartphone in an antique photo, in a strange inception way where current and past technologies are overlapping. It’s an oddly relatable photo because taking a picture of oneself is a constant sight from when photography was invented till now, but this piece highlights the difference between antique vs modern technology. With a smartphone it takes less than a second and one button to take a photo, but seeing that depicted in a wet plate collodion style makes you consider how much more effort and how much less accessible photography was in that time. The aged nature of the photo may also be touching on how easy it is to save and preserve digital photos, while so many older methods of physical photography can unfortunately get damaged.
This photo still captures the essence and style of wet plate photography despite the modernized content. There’s a very short depth of field, with the content blurring almost immediately past the edge of the phone and the background being virtually unintelligible. The sepia tones and texture on the image are also very common and help sell the “vintage photo” effect. The content is purposefully satirical to push the narrative of the piece, but using a photo of the subject wearing an outfit from a similar time to when wet plate photography was popular definitely ties the theme together and keeps anything from feeling out of place. The technique used to make this piece seems fairly straightforward, but it still seems executed in a thoughtful way that pays attention to detail and accuracy.
This piece mixes old and new, showing the common trend throughout history of people taking photos of themselves, even if the tools have changed. By pairing the look of a worn, antique photo with the modern act of taking a selfie, it connects the past to the present in a playful way. The vintage style, sepia tones, and textures give it a nostalgic feel that make sure the modern content is still reminiscent of traditional wet plate photography. Ultimately, it shows that while technology has made taking photos faster and easier, there’s still some things like the urge to take a photo of ourselves that remain constant.