The first photography Interlude where I was not theme setter had a theme of Shape which provided plenty of creative options. I wanted to create an image that would be different from images that other members of the cohort would produce in response to the theme. Based on projects produced by individuals like Philip Singleton I expected to see a number of shape images that made use of rigid lines. For me this expressed most strongly in architecture through Brutalism and the concrete constructions of the late 1960s and 1970s. The Barciban centre being a recognised example of that architecture form. The following article in the Financial Times discusses the renewed interest in Brutalism. However for this project I wanted something more fluid.
There are many photographers who work with fluids to create shapes and very interesting images. One such photographer is Mark Mawson especially images in his aqueous series.
The images he creates using paint and ink in water have a unique beauty. The way the liquids create abstract shapes reminded me of the lava lamps we have at home, which drove me to the random shapes formed within the lava lamp as the subject for my submission to the photography interlude.
As the fluids rise and fall within the lamp driven by the thermal eddies different size shapes form and disperse. After a capturing a range of images I created a contact sheet to down select to my final submission image.
The lighting and shapes looked promising on the few images but after careful consideration I choose an image with a large shape surrounded by a few small bubbles. Some post processing was applied to create the final image. The inclusion of film grain making the place of recording more abstract.
References:
- Financial Times (6th March 2016), Revival of Brutalism
- Mawson, M., (2017), “Aqueous”, www.markmawson.com
