South bound - moving in new photographic directions with double exposure landscapes

Time to go home.

I am in Perth and ready to return to English springtime.

Australia is hot and I have had enough heat.

I feel as though I have been away for a long time, and it is time to reflect on what the photographic outcomes have been from my time in New Zealand.

The images that sum up this trip for me are the ones I will share here.

Double exposures of the quieter back roads in New Zealand's South Island. Places where I travelled alone and felt the wide open space and the peace and quiet.

Treading on gravel roads, dry grasses and footpaths I got to really know the landscape and to love it.



I experimented with different exposure levels of the wider landscape and what my feet were standing on.

This one a bit heavy on the grass.....

I processed the images in Lightroom to give a uniform monochrome tone.

I don't feel the need to say where the images were taken.

I want them to remind the viewer of journeys that they might have made.

Dusty roads and dirty windscreens.

Hedges and fences.

Man made structures alongside natural ones.

The series can be seen on my website here


And one is currently showing in Budapest at PH21 Gallery in their exhibition 'Lines and Curves"

Ph21 gallery opening of Lines and Curves. photo: Gábor Ancsin / Képszerkesztőség 

Which makes me feel that all those hours of wandering were worthwhile.

It takes a lot of time to make a new body of photographic images.

About three months in this case, and now I am ready to go home.

An interview with Subject Matter Photographic Art

So much to say.

So little time to say it.

Having fun and loving the long summer days, even if the weather is rather unseasonal here in Gore. Much like Scotland, which can't be bad.

Here is a link to my recent interview with Subject Matter Photographic Art to keep you occupied while I write something coherent about this wonderful country ( New Zealand).


You may read it HERE

On reaching a new milestone thanks to On Landscape magazine

Forest of Dreams © Caroline Fraser

What can I say.

I feel truly honoured to have been invited to be interviewed by

On Landscape Magazine

I have finally reached the point where I feel comfortable to own up to my other life, as a doctor, and no longer feel I have to keep that quiet in relation to my photography.

I was asked to make this print ( above) as a result of the article.

It is from the forest on Deeside, near Balmoral.

It looks so much better when printed on the right side of the paper ( it took me a whole day to work out what I had done wrong.....), and is now on its way to Australia.

Now on with the many forms that need completing in order to get back to New Zealand. The flights are booked.

And there is also the small matter of eldest child's wedding in 19 days time.....

So much to look forward to.


I should probably go and do some shopping .....

only one carrot left...

I am ready. Christmas Bizarre starts in 5 minutes

Caroline Fraser at Christmas Bizarre, Rye this weekend

Frantic 2 days

Last print framed an hour ago.

Cup of tea and a mince pie and I am ready for the evening preview of Rye's Christmas Bizarre.

Yay! ( as my son would say)

Caroline Fraser photography at Christmas Bizarre

Insomnia ....................... a poem for my classmates





Insomnia

It's over

I can relax

I should be fast asleep

But lying here

at 3am


my mind spins on, relentlessly,


wondering how it will fill


the whole uncharted day that is


tomorrow.










Not wanting to be immersed in the domestic bliss

that is a clean and tidy desk,

a spotless fridge.






Last night a programme on botanical classification


"bringing order to the chaos that is nature"


Those words,
my words,
others' words.


They won't go away.

I want to be a photographer

thinking, creating, curating.


Fractals and chaos


Order and classification






My mind won't stop


I'm clinging on





wanting,

waiting,

fearful of stagnating.

What will tomorrow bring?



Happy Red Nose Day ; more word association

7.15 to 7.35 morning walk , Friday 18th March

I quite like photos of intimate objects in the house
especially those taken with 50mm lens.

but how to tie up with photos from outdoors?

I like being outside

Walking the dog

Flickr set “walking the dog”

all about the dog

All about being outside and the feeling that I get taking pictures in open spaces

Photos outside

collage is good

can make expansive views of expansive places

I love that feeling……………..

how would I show indoor objects?

a book?

what of?

teacup/mug

the pig of happiness

trophy

my trophies/his trophies

mine

postcards and stones from around the world

his

silver cups and sailing boats

His and hers

title of a book

idea!!

Comparisons

socks

pants

cups

food

books

likes and dislikes

a celebration of differences

life is not about being the same

would be a positive statement of marriage

family reunion

on our wedding anniversary

who would want to see such a book?

only D and my immediate family

word association in the book

colours, photos, text

A book for grandchildren

What 'grandma' and 'grandpa' like

what would they call us?

A book of colourful things

A childrens book

Could I do that ?

you can’t write a book for grandchildren that you don’t have; that’s really morbid

this project is making me feel sad

photographing indoors is making me think about the children that aren’t here

It has to be a celebration, not a look at loss or death

back to the cancer

It’s still all about dying and wanting to leave something beautiful behind

 

my original personal statement still holds true

it s about the fragility and transience of life

its about beauty and creating something special

it’s about beauty

How could I make a book that isn’t just for my family?

What would it be called?

Professor D and Dr C

ordinary people………

A celebration of differences

His and hers

I like, you like

that tree looks lovely next to that one

And I still like trees next to lamp posts

when will the sun be on it? I could come back when it is……

Red nose day

“Happy red nose day”

I’ll go to Sainsbury and Tesco to see how they are celebrating

See some fun

Should I wear red to work?

litter on the ground; I’ll put it in the bin

back home

breakfast time

working with the weather

Today I have to get on with taking some photos. I have two plans for the day, neither of which I can currently execute because the weather is wrong; I want to try a collage of some houses in my road, but would like a little bright light. Failing that I really want to try getting some more shots in the rain, but the forecast today is for high pressure. Such is life; I also tried to get a video of the dog speed-eating her breakfast, but the camera was cold from being in the car, and steamed up at the critical moments; will try again , but sadly can't give the dog two breakfasts!

Having been to Andrew Watson's talk on Monday about the Segsbury Camp project, I now understand why he mentioned researching glue when I mentioned my interest in collage; he has been there and done that. I could, of course, create digital collages, and there are even websites that will create a Hockney polaroid effect for free on any image that you choose, but having tried it on a couple of photos decided that there was no creative control whatsoever.  Andrew's work with an archeological site involved using a camera on a pole taking aerial views of the ground, something that has also been done to good effect by Andreas Gefeller in his studies of empty buildings in Japan and Dusseldorf. Both photographers have used extremely methodical techniques to create exact plans of the ground; my plan is to be less mathematical and possibly to experiment with scale on a vertical and horizontal plane.

I was amused to see that Andrew's work was displayed in large plan chests, in a similar way to work that I didn't understand at Elusive. This confirms for me the importance of understanding the intention and background of the work; Andrew's use of chests seemed entirely appropriate and practical, in allowing the viewer to get really close to the images despite the entire work being enormous. If I had been asked to look at them without knowing anything of how or why they were there I would probably have passed them by.

www.arch.ox.ac.uk/segsbury-camp.html

 www.andreasgefeller.com/supervisions/works_since_2005

Art books; how precious should we be?

winter rain

Part of the symposium at Camberwell Space on self published books focussed on what constitutes an art book. A certain amount of scorn was thrown upon mass produced self published books such as those from Blurb or Ubyu by Chrystel LeBas, one of the participants in the exhibition "Elusive". Chrystel has produced her own books, working with a printer who she trusts and sourcing her own paper. Coming from a background of using letterpress and as a passionate collector of books, she did not seem to worry whether or not she recouped the costs of self publishing. She is lucky enough to know a graphic designer who has helped her with typeface and design, and has found someone to write an accompanying text. This is a luxury that I do not have. But having seen the difference between my attempt at an "art book" with Blurb, and the touch and quality of hand bound books, I understand where she is coming from. I do, however, think  that she is choosing to ignore publishes such as Steidl and Taschen and 21st editions http://www.21stphotography.com/, who have a reputation for producing beautiful limited edition volumes that become collector's items.
It was generally agreed that  art books come in limited editions, are hand made, and are produced by the artist. it seems that only a very few publishers are working with photographers in a way that satisfies these criteria. Also up for discussion from the editor of "Self publish be happy" http://www.selfpublishbehappy.com/, Bruno Chessel, was the view that art books might include "zines" and pamphlets, in the manner of those originally produced for political reasons. The over riding aim should be a passion to get your work seen by other people, in what ever format you feel appropriate, and if your funds are limited then a low budget option is perfectly acceptable.

creativity in the kitchen

My project is  about my "ordinary life". The dilemma I wrestle with most  of the day is what should I include?

I could take a photo every five minutes, or perhaps every hour?

I could photograph my porridge on a daily basis to show you how skilled I am at using the microwave, and how much sugar I put on top.

Should I take my camera to work, or when visiting friends?

Can I venture into abstractions of normality? ( more than likely I will whether you think I should or not).

All of these thoughts buzz around throughout the day, along with wondering whether to write in my workbook, take more pictures or read something relevant to my subject area.

Today I decided to tackle FLASH; a skill that has eluded me for the last 40 or more years. I got my camera and a bottle of ketchup out on the kitchen table, and the work began. I didn't get very far, because something totally out of the ordinary happened; a man called Martin arrived to clean my oven.

Nothing ordinary about that; never before have I had a man wearing a head torch delving into my oven, down on his knees while I pretended that I know something about flash photography. Turns out that Matin is a keen photographer; he directed me to You Tube to find out what to do. Sadly, the Nikon flash that I borrowed does not talk to my Canon camera; after an hour of messing around I realised that I had no control whatsoever over exposures. I retreated to my computer. 

Martin transformed my oven, and I produced a rather unusual image of a bottle of ketchup.