Sarah Michels: November 2013

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Final Project Proposal

My final project will describe something I’ve learned from taking this class, that the hand of the artist can (and often is) present in photography and digital work. Before this semester I had limited understanding of photography as an art form, and next to no knowledge of the technology and digital imaging programs within the medium. But slowly, as I’ve learned, I have come to realize that the photographer—as much as the painter, or sculptor—can be very much present in the work they create (although this is not always true, and I mean this for any medium). And so in this final piece I plan to quite literally leave my mark on my work. I will create a layered image, with the photograph on top. Beneath it, I plan to have either a drawn or painted image of my own making that will be seen through gaps in the photograph, but whose imagery will blend with that of the photo. Here, I will have inserted my own physical handiwork within my digital handiwork. I am working out the subject matter I would like to include. While I keep coming back to the idea of fairytale and make-believe, I would like to push myself a bit and consider taking a different angle than what I’ve done before—maybe something darker, or less obviously fantasy, perhaps something completely realistic. I envision the final work to be hanging upon the gallery wall, and of small to medium size (no bigger than 3x3 feet; I would like there to be an intimacy between my piece and the viewer).

The Photography as an Art Object Summary

In her article “The Photograph as an Art Object,” Felicity Cole describes the evolving idea of photography, and how the theme of the physical nature of photography is growing. She describes various ways in which photographers manipulate prints and negatives, using such methods as sculpture, painting, and embroidery. In doing so, these artists push the traditional notion of photography and manipulation, creating unique “objects” that work against the easy reproduction that is so widespread among digital work today. Cole provides four examples of artists who combine various media within photography: Julie Cockburn, a sculptor; Aliki Braine, another sculptor; Darren Harvey-Regan, who blurs the lines between what is sculpture and what is photography; and Nathalie Hambro, who works with the idea of the photograph as an object in the form of photobooks. All of these contemporary artists combine photography with other media, and in doing so, challenge the boundaries of photography to include the concept of photography as a physical object.