Taking your time over editing

I just remembered something that Elina Brotherus said and which I forgot to mention in my post about her, so quickly want to write it down before I dash out.  And that is to take your time.  Oh - so many contradictions; here I am rushing as I write about taking your time, my time.

I know taking your time over editing is crucial.  I get so frustrated by the need to get things done within a short space of time for the assignments.  Brotherus  talked about waiting at least 6 months before looking at her work and then she makes small prints which help her to make up her mind about what she will use and what she won't.  I am already thinking about possibilities for both assignment 4 and 5 - I have slightly stalled on the exercises but will pick up again tomorrow when out with the kids - but I am very mindful of time, especially as I have so many other things to fit in too.  It feels like waiting 6 months at least to edit would be an amazing luxury.

I know I basically use Flickr as a scrapbook/dumping ground/note pad type of thing - it's a way to constantly be taking photographs and showing them to someone, anyone!  That's fine.  It keeps me involved but there is a lot of unutterable rubbish up there (mine I mean). I just post whatever happens to have come up - like a stream of consciousness.  All sorts of junk and occasionally something maybe worth keeping but mostly I ma just practising and trying things out.  I'm not trying to create a series of anything, or a comprehensive style or anything with any cohesion.

I have posted a few of the assignment images there but it always feels a bit like I shouldn't be - somehow that I'm not valuing them enough by chucking them into the vast chasm of Flickr and losing them really - even though they're always on my page - but I lose something intrinsic about them.  I want to keep them separate and maybe I should in the future.

Some words for A4 that have been floating about my head -  shame, embarrassment, foolishness, discomfort, dreams - forgetting your words, running, falling.

Angela Bacon-Kidwell

I feel so fortunate to have people all around me pointing me in the direction of work that I find interesting and compelling.  Yesterday Angela Bacon-Kidwell was suggested; she is an American photographer/artist who is interested in the unconscious and dreams and connecting to those aspects of ourselves.  This focus of hers is related to the themes and subjects in the work I discussed by Chris Friel which I love so much, but Kidwell-Bacon is finding different ways to express those themes, perhaps they are more tangible than Friel's work, by which please don't think I don't mean better or worse.  But perhaps less visceral and prehistoric, slightly easier to place.  Maybe.

"My photography comes from a lifelong obsession of exploring how my subconscious generates my dreams. As I move through my day, I am keenly aware of my encounters with people, places and things. I mentally record the details of these situations, and the physical or emotional responses that they evoke. These fleeting associations replay themselves in my dreams. The random moments combine to form sleep stories that are rich narratives, ripe with symbolism. With that as my model, I construct sets, use props and invite myself and models to perform in a natural, intuitive way. In essence, I attempt to create a waking dream." (1)

Some of her work has many layers and I found myself wondering how she did it.  On her website in relation to a particular set of images she describes her process:

"Numerous layers of hand painted photographs, drawings and resin make up a single image. The final results are a complex layering process and not complete digital manipulations. The image is printed and re-photographed under various conditions in one final effort to heal the tender wounds that bind my own existence."

I think there are a number of images on her website that are worth thinking about in relation to assignment 4.

Quotes taken directly from her website and I have linked to the Travelling Dreams portfolio where the images I am most interested in for this assignment are.