Rewrite History
Many people have heard the term "rewrite history". It is one of those terms that we sometimes wish we could do literally. Whether it's rewriting our own history or imaging a big event in history. Through this project I wanted to create an image of what I believe rewriting history would look like. Because there's so much history before us, I imagined the book would be huge and in order to "rewrite" we would have to sit on it. I photographed a journal that I had that had an older feel to it as well as photographed myself in a sitting position. The frame came from the Library of Congress.
When I first look at this photo, I could truly believe it is a historical wet plate collodion. Not only this, but I see a story behind the piece right away. I see a girl sitting on a book, surrounded by a lighter frame with some distress marks. The girl looks as if she’s lowering her face, she could be crying? The girl also looks like she could be reading the book she is sitting on, though there is not much context visible beside her and the book. This seems like the best option though story-wise. This is a cloudy wet plate that has faded plenty, probably over years of damage. I would assume this image would be pretty old. The girl and the book are basically entirely visible, for rather than applying many layers above these elements, you surround and frame them. The low opacity of the girls bottom half in addition to the shadow causes her to get a bit lost, almost as if she is sinking into the book. With all of these elements together, I assume the story is the girl is reading a book, maybe something about her history?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your explanation for the image, I think you story is beautiful, and your technique is wonderfully rendered. This piece is a great replicate of what a wet-plate collodion process outcome would look like. The elements we were asked to use were incorporated realistically and added metaphorical meaning to the composition. There are no cracks that seem to be metaphorical, yet the water staining and fading seem to tell a story. If this isn’t what you wanted the elements you used to portray, then I may move some of those water stains around.
You include many elements within your piece that support the true wet plate collodion process. Using a monochromatic black and white pallete and imitation of low quality, the photo looks historically accurate to its time period. Compositionally, I believe your piece reflects that historical feeling you wanted to portray. The photo looks like it has runs in its emulsion and has a good texture to sell that look. Although you have a really good use of blur that gives the look of long exposure, some elements get a little lost due to it. I wish the photo did not have as many dark spots that “blur” the image, for it takes away from the man and leaves this sort of void space that makes it a bit confusing to look at. Maybe adding some small elements around the book would help give it a idea of spacial relevance. Wet plate collodions come in many different tones, and adding a bit more sepia may protect these smaller elements from fading into the more contrasted areas. You do maintain a shallow depth of field quite well, and I appreciate the time gone into the details.
Ultimately, your technique is accurate and seamless. I found your story to be creative and impactful, something I would read about while looking at this image in an old book. It is impressive that you dressed up and took photos of yourself for this project, it shows dedication to craft. The main images that tell us a story are well edited in but, as I said before, I would love to see them pop more. May that be through brightness retouch or lowering the opacity of some of those darker distress marks/shadows layered on the images. Overall, you did a wonderful job and I would love to see where you take this technique in the future!