Experimental Photography Evaluations (with improvements)

Experimental Photography
Chloe Stead
1

Here I dotted acrylic
paint in a formation that
enhanced the shapes of
the bubbles.
I edited the lighting on
the image on
photoshop. It started out
a bright white, but I
faded it to a duller grey-ish
colour.
On photoshop I
enhanced the bright
colours using the sponge
tool.

How well do you feel you have realised your ideas and intentions and what results have you
got? Ensure you talk critically (compare, contrast, assess) about your work. You should reference
your influences and assess how your work compares.
When I first began the project, I had a clear idea of what I would like to do. I knew what I
wanted from creating mind maps and mood boards, and looking for inspirational work. My main
influence, Sebastiaan Bremer gave me a lot of ideas for my work. He inspired me to use paint
over my photographs. Sebastiaan Bremer uses a lot of small dots of paints on his own work,
which inspired me, and I decided to use his technique.
When I created my mind maps and mood boards I considered aspects such as my colour
scheme, shapes and the content I wanted in my images. I thought about my theme and what I
wanted my images to tell my audience. I wanted my audience to see that my theme is about
fear, and more specifically about the term being “thrown in at the deep end”. I decided on using
the colour blue throughout my work, which is commonly associated with water. I also wanted to
create shapes that reflect water such as waves.
4
When creating my mind maps I also considered using some scannography
along with multi-media photography. I was inspired to use scannography by
Olga Guerra. For my first image I attempted (1) I used scannography. I
decided not to use this method anymore because the scanner and the water
reacted with each other, and the image came out too blurry to use. I didn’t
(1)
like the size of the bubbles in this image. Every time I tried to capture in image
of the bubbles with the scanner, my the time the scanner had scanned it the bubbles had

turned to foam. I decided to use a camera as it is much quicker so I can capture the bubbles
when they are at their best, and because the quality of the image was much better when I used
the camera.
5
Another thing that I considered was using food colouring in the water to make my bubbles
brightly coloured. This again was inspired by Olga Guerra. Image (1.5) is a
piece by Olga Guerra. As you can see she has used scanography, and she has
also used some sort of red colouring in the water. I decided I wasn’t going to
use food colouring in the end as I liked the rainbow colours the
bubbles produced naturally. I realised that I could also edit the colours on
photoshop to give my photograph a tint, and I would have more control of
the colours that way. Though if I were to have used this idea, I would have
put either blue food colouring in to enhance the colour of the water, to
make it look more like how we imagine sea water to look. I may have also
used red colouring, like Olga Guerra has done in this image (1.5). The colour
red has connotations of danger, which relates well to my theme of fear.
(1.5)

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On the left you can see a piece of work
by Sebastiaan Bremer, and on the right
my work. Sebastiaan has clearly used
many more dots of paint to make up his
work than I have. They appear to be
different in size and shape though seem
to be strategically placed to enhance the
child in the image. Like me, he has also
just used white paint. We have also used
dots of a similar size for our work,
though some of his dots vary. The
contents of out images differ a lot. I
wanted to keep my images clean and
simple. I used as little colour and detail
where as Sebastiaan has used images
with a lot of detail and colour. I think that
perhaps adding a lot more detail using
the white dots of acrylic paint, like with
Sebastiaan Bremer’s work, would
improve the look of my work.

7
Qualities:
Consider the aesthetic qualities of your work. How does it look? What do you like about it?
What are the strongest and weakest elements from an aesthetic point of view?
I think that my final image reflects my theme and the idea I wanted to convey quite clearly.
Especially with the shapes I have with the dots. The main theme I chose was fear, though I
wanted to show the idea of being thrown in at the deep end. Feeling nervous about trying
something new, and feeling afraid of not succeeding. I think that the bubbles demonstrate this
idea somewhat. I thought that bubbles might be easier to work with than with water which is
why for this image I decided to use bubbles instead of water which relates directly to my theme.
I also thought that bubbles were much more interesting. I love the way that bubbles create
bright colours on their surface, and I like the shapes they make. Using bubbles enabled me to
follow their shapes when painting on my dots to create wave patterns, reflecting my theme a
lot. The only problem with using bubbles I think is that they do not necessarily link directly to
my theme of fear. Though they have links to water, and they create shapes that I wanted to
include in my work, I think perhaps my audience will not understand the message I was trying to
put across.
(2)
I think that some of my experiments have turned out really well
and look really nice. My final piece only has a small amount of
detail on the bubbles which I think looks better than my piece
with more detail (2) as I think that the way I have done it looks
quite messy. The dots vary is size, each wave differs in shape and
the wavy lines don’t all go across the page at the right angle. If I had taken more time over it and

planned out where I was going to place the dots before hand it would have looked a lot nicer. I
love the effect that dots have, because though you are painting over it it doesn’t look as if it is
covering the image. As you can see with image (2) I have covered a lot of the page with white
dots, though it doesn’t obstruct the image. I think the dots look integrated with the photograph,
especially with my final image. I think that the dots add a surreal element to quite a seemingly
plain image.
combination of really dull colours and then really vibrant splashes of colour. I think that it could
look better if my images were purely made up of large bubbles rather than some small bubbles,
as the smaller bubbles didn’t come out so clear when I printed my images. This was because the
printer reduced the quality of the image. I ended up choosing the final image that I did because
the bubbles in the photograph were much larger than on some of the other images I took. For
example image (2) on the previous page.
8
I really like the images I have taken. The images of bubbles look really beautiful, with the

Consider the technical qualities of your work? How well done is it? What elements are strongest
and which could need further work and development? Be sure to use technical terms in your
work such as exposure, shutter speed, aperture and talk specifically about any post-production
techniques you have used.
For my work I needed to take really good quality images, use photoshop to edit the lighting and
colours and then paint over them. I had to have a few practices, playing around with the camera
settings and with paint. At home I practiced using scanography to capture my images, and I
practiced using a camera.
When scanning my bubbles, I filled a clear plastic container with a little water and washing up
liquid to create bubbles. I scanned and photographed the bubbles from outside of the container
in order to not accidentally get the scanner or the camera wet. When I tried scanning the
bubbles the first time they didn’t come out very clear at all on the paper. The white bubbles and
the clear water didn’t show up on the white paper. In order to create a contrast so that the
image would show up on paper I decided to put some black card on top of the box of bubbles
when I scanned it. This helped the bubbles show up better on paper. One problem I had with
taking my photographs from the outside of the box is that you could see a
slight glare in some of my images. There is also a logo on the box which I
tried to keep out of my photographs. I decided on using a camera in the
end because I had a bit more control over the way it looked. The scanner
and the water in the container reacted and the images came out too blurry
to use. The scanner also made all the bubbles burst. As you can see from
image (2.25) I didn’t manage to capture any scan images of large bubbles, (2.25)
9

only small blurry ones. I could have perhaps prevented this by being quicker at scanning the
bubbles. Rather than scanning lots of images of the same lot of bubbles I could have made some
new bubbles and scanned one image. If the image didn’t come out how I wanted it I could have
made new bubbles again, stopping me from capturing images of small bubbles.
At home I also practiced with using the paint over photographs. I experimented with dots, like
with Sebastiaan’s work. Looking back at image (2) you can see what my beginning experiments
looked like. The dots are quite messy and a much larger than the ones on my final image. I think
my painting skills improved the more I practiced. I think that I got so see what size dots look the
best, and I think that as my hands got steadier with practice the dots got neater.
On photoshop I edited my chosen images. I wanted them to appear slightly dull in places and
bright in other places. I think I achieved this. The bubbles where they are
really dense appear to be a dull grey-ish white, where as there as some
streaks of vibrant colour that came naturally from the bubbles. You can see
in image (2.5) how at the bottom of the image it is just dense bubble, and
At the top there are larger bubbles and more vibrant colour. I used the
sponge tool on photoshop to make the bright colours appear brighter. When
I printed my images they initially came out too dull and dark. I practiced
painting on them but you could hardly make out the detail so I went back
and edited them on photoshop and make them brighter. I printed them out
again and painted them.
10
(2.5)

How could you improve your work? Could you develop your work further with additional work?
What would you try to achieve with this? Could you undertake further experiments? If so, what
would they be?
If I were to do my final image again I would perhaps add a little more detail. On previous
attempts my dots of paint looked messy so I was being too cautious this time. I would cover
more of the bubbles with the wavy pattern. I may have also added paint elsewhere on my
photograph. Another thing that held me back from adding more detail to my image was time. I
think that it would have taken a long time to cover my image with white dots, especially as I was
trying to be neat. If I were to do another project where I had more time to complete my work I
would add more detail to the image. I could have also experimented with different coloured
paint, though I would want to stick to blue or grey, which are the main colours I used which are
key to my theme.
If I did it again I could have used water colours instead of or as well as acrylic paint. I would have
splashed it over the photograph over a certain section,
so it looks like something had spilled on it.
Another thing I could have done is done further editing on photoshop to improve the quality.
Though the quality looked quite good on photoshop, when the photograph was printed the
quality was reduced. I could have put more effort in to improve the quality on photoshop so it
looked a little better when printed.
11

The photograph on the left is the Photoshop version, and
the photograph on the right is the printed version. As you
can see the printed version is much greyer than the
photoshop version.
I never ended up experimenting with food colouring in the water to make the bubbles. I think I
probably should have as it could have been really interesting. I could have added another colour
to my colour scheme such as red to make my images stand out and stop them from being to
repetitive. I think that red would have been a good colour to use as it is often associated with
death and danger, this is why it is often used for warning signs and labels. It may make people
think of blood also.
12
I think that I should have experimented with water as well
as bubbles as I think that that is a clearer reflection of my
theme. I think that if I had done it right I could have made
the images look interesting. To make it more interesting I
could have incorporated water into an image with a model
or another subject.

Finally you should consider if the images you have produced fulfil the brief you were set. Do
they match the theme? Are they experimental? Explain your answers using specific examples.
I think that my photographs definitely fit in with the brief. I think that the contents of my images
were experimental. When I was photographic the bubbles I was much more conscious of
capturing the colours and the shapes, rather than capturing a clear image of a bubble. I wanted
my images to have a surreal effect, where when you look at it you are not entirely sure what the
image is of. I think that by using paint over my images made them look even more surreal. The
paint looks integrated with the original image, but you also know that it shouldn’t be there.
Experimental photography isn’t often used for commercial purposes as these types of images
don’t provide a clear representation of the subject. My images definitely don’t depict a clear
representation of bubbles. The paint over the top of the photograph adds a really surreal
element. Experimental photography may be appropriate for some commercial purposes
however, such as advertising a band/musician or for book covers. These are both artistic fields,
so incorporating a different form of art may be appropriate, depending on the style that the
musician or the writer is going for.
13

Blue water colour
White acrylic
paint dotted
over the
sections of
the image
covered in
water colour.
Water colour and printer ink mixing,
creating colour distortion
Can see
movement in
the image,
created by
using the
camera set on a
low shutter
speed
Some dots not just over water colour

Like with the pervious experiment, I knew prior to my experiments what colours I wanted to
incorporate in my images. I wanted to stick to blue and grey colours to reflect my theme. I knew
that I wanted to capture pictures of people as well, as I had decided in my mind maps and mood
boards. I also knew that I wanted to capture movement, again to reflect my theme. The theme I
have stuck with through out my experiments in water, more specifically the idea of “being
thrown in at the deep end”, a phrase relating to fear. I felt that by capturing lots of movement it
expressed the struggles you face when confronting your fears.
My main influence for this image was Maureen Gubia. She is an artist that frequently uses multi
media. She sometimes will incorporate photography in her work, combined with paint such as
oil paint or water colours. Her work inspired me to try using water colours
with my work, and perhaps experiment with different techniques using
acrylic again.
16
Initially I though I might try out finger painting over the top of my images
using acrylic paint. I did some rough experiments, though decided that it
would over power the original image and I wanted to keep it much more
simple. I was inspired to try out this technique from Maureen Gubia’s
portrait of Noah Lennox (3) where she appears to have used messy
splodges and squiggles of oil paint over the image. (3)

I also wanted to branch out and try something different to my first experiment. I finally decided
to use water colours, which is how I came to my final image. Though I still incorporated the
white dots of acrylic paint over the water colour.
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(4)
I decided to then experiment with acrylic
paint further, reverting back to my
Sebastiaan Bremer inspired dotting
technique. Though I like this technique,
one of my images in particular didn’t
come out very clearly as the combination
of white paint and a light background
meant the dots weren’t very obvious (4).
(4.5)
This is another experiment that I did (4.5) with
a different photograph using dots over the top
like previously. Just like with (4.25) that I did in
a previous experiment, the dots came out
messy and all different shapes and sizes. This is
another problem I faced with using Sebastiaan’s
technique. It took me quite a bit of practice to
get my hand steady enough so that the dots
came out the way I wanted them to.
(4.25)

The image on the left that you see above is one by Maureen Gubia, and the image on the right is
my own work . This particular piece of work was inspiring to me, even though it does not
incorporate photography. It inspired me to use watercolour. I think the way we both used
watercolour is quite different however. Maureen Gubia has layered it quite thick across the
page, where as I have used splashed of watercolour down the page. I think that I prefer the way
that Maureen has used watercolour, however I think that if I used that amount of watercolour
over my work the colours would have run too much and the image would be ruined. This image
also influenced the colours I used. As you can see we have both used blue watercolour. In both
of our images there is also a hint of yellow, however in my work that was an accident caused by
the ink from the photograph running when the watercolour was applied. Another similarity with
these pictures is the content we used. We both used people in our images, and in both our
images the people have their heads tilted back.
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Qualities:
The image I have created portrays the message I wanted to get across very well. The colours and
shapes I have used really appear to reflect water, and the ghost-like
haziness of the girl in my final image shows the fear of death, or of not
succeeding . The image captures my models movement which I think
shows the struggle for them to face their fear.
For this experiment I played around a lot with the shapes I could make
using dots. As you can see in image (4.75) I used small shapes and
details. I think that these little shapes add something really interesting
to my image. In a way they sort of accessorise the image. I have also
incorporated wavy patterns into my image, which I intended to use throughout my experiments
to reflect the natural movement of water, and to make my audience realise the message I was
trying to get across. I think in this image though I have sort of gone off my aim and used other
shapes such as crosses, as shown in (4.75) and other ridged shapes. I think this was definitely a
mistake as it defeats the object of what I was trying to achieve using the dots of paint. The
ridged patterns do not reflect the shape of water al all.
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(4.75)
A large weakness of my image is that some of the colours were distorted, due to the
watercolours and the printer ink reacting and this

I think that the placement of my watercolours looks quite nice, and it has meant avoiding
further colour distortion, though I much prefer the way that Maureen Gubia used her
watercolours. She has used a lot more colour, covering a lot more of the page. She used a much
deeper blue colour as well. This would have also fitted in well with my theme. It could have
been used to express how overwhelmed the person in the photograph is. Using a large volume
of the blue watercolour could have shown my audience the depth of this persons problems, or
the depth of the water when thinking about the phrase “thrown in at the deep end” which I
have used to influence all of my work, and is the message I have been aiming to get across to my
audience.
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changed the watercolours from blue to yellow and green in some parts
(5) as shown in this image. Though these colours don’t look all that bad,
they don’t stand out and ruin the image but they were not my intention
and don’t fit in that well with my main colour scheme.
(5)

To achieve the look of haziness and movement in my image, I
turned the camera to a very low shutter speed. I set the shutter
speed to 6 seconds. In order to just capture the models movement
and not my own I needed to put the camera on a tripod to keep it
steady. I used a studio so that I has access to a clean white
background and good lighting. This improved the over all quality
of the image. You can clearly see in image (5.5) the effect that using a low shutter speed and
high quality lighting has effected my image. Though parts of the background have a yellow tone,
the majority of the background is bright white.
The first part of my post production process which I did on photoshop was fairly quick as all I
needed to do was make some colour and lighting changes. The
lighting in the studio made the image really bright with warm
tones, though I wanted cold blue-ish grey colours with a more
faded look. The high quality lighting and the white back drop in the
studio made it easier to edit the colours to what I wanted them to
be like as I was starting with almost a blank canvas. I was able to
create the blue, grey tones in my image on photoshop, as you can
see from (5.75). It was beneficial to my project that the first part of my post production process
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(5.5)
(5.75)

was quick as the next part of my post production was to be time consuming.
I printed out my work onto a firm card rather than plain paper. Card is generally more durable,
and I wanted to prevent my images from being damaged when painting over them which is why
I chose card.
Like with my other images I added dots of white acrylic paint. I added it mostly where the
watercolours already were. I wanted to give the shapes the drips and splashes of the
watercolour another dimension. I really liked using acrylic paint for this as when the paint dried
it was stiff and gave my images really interesting texture.
22
I splashed my image with blue watercolour, only from one corner of
the image so I didn’t cover my image. I ran into difficulty when doing
this as the printer ink and the watercolour reacted and changed the
colours, though my final image was definitely an improvement on
one of my previous practices (6). As you can see most of my blue
watercolour has turned green. I tried to avoid this happening again
by making sure most of my watercolour only covered parts of the
image similar in colour to it, though I did not manage to completely
prevent this from happening. As you can see from (6.5), my final
image for this experiment, I put the blue watercolour just in the
corner on the image where there was less colour. However because I
let the watercolour drip down the page it ran over some of the bits
of my image with more colour and the paint was turned yellow and
green.
(6)
(6.5)

would they be?
Comparing my work (7) to the work of
Maureen Gubia again (8), she uses
watercolour in a much more skilled
way than I have in my work. She has
used much more watercolour, covering
a much larger area of the page. She
has created really nice shape, texture
and colour in her work. I think that this
looks much better than just using a
small amount of very watered down
watercolour paint. A problem I faced in my experiment was that the colours from the printer ink
and the watercolours mixed and the colours were ruined in some parts of the image which
stopped me from using too much watercolour. If I were to do this project again I would perhaps
try applying the watercolour to the paper before printing on it, then printing my photograph
over it. I would also perhaps put my watercolour across my image horizontally rather than
dripping down from one corner. Another thing I would perhaps do next time is apply a darker
blue shade of water colour. Maureen has used a slightly darker blue than I have which I think
improves the look of hers, however I would perhaps go even darker. I think that darker colours
have connotations of danger to them which I would like to show in my work in order to get my
message about fear across.
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(7)
(8)

If I were to do another experiment like this in the future I perhaps may have persevered with
finger painting with white acrylic paint like I had planned to.
I think it would have looked really nice to paint skulls and skeletons over the top of my models. I
would have perhaps taken my images with a higher shutter speed so that you could see their
faces clearly for painting over them. I may have also photographed my models closer us than I
did in this experiment so that their features are much clearer and to allow space for finger
painting. Photographing my model from a distance makes them appear smaller on the page. In
order to paint over the model I would need them to cover the page so that the paint didn’t
cover up too much of them.
For this experiment I would have also tried using different coloured acrylic paint to dot over my
image. I think it would look nice with a mixture of white, grey and light blue dots rather than just
white dots. Using blue dots could have made it clearer to my audience that I was using the dots
of paint in wavy shapes to reflect the natural flow of water.
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In the brief we were set to create experimental photography. Typically I think that experimental
photography is fine art, its only use to create emotion and present its audience with a message.
I think that my work definitely does that.
My final piece for this experiment is filled with colours and shapes that hint at a message. I think
my audience may be able to pick up on why I have used the colour blue, and why I have used
wavy shapes through out. The original photograph I used for my final piece is very emotive. The
movement is expressive and I think I have captured the desperation and fear quite well. This key
aspect to my final image I think will put across my message to the audience really well.
Multi-media photography is a form of photography not often used in commercial work. It allows
the producer to add things to the image that aren’t already
there, and the image stops being a true representation of the
subject in the image, making it useless for commercial work.
Using paint over the top of my photograph has added a surreal
aspect to my image, which stops the image from being a
representation of real life. The slow shutter speed distorts the
models features and stops them from looking like a clear
representation of a person. As you can see from (8.5) the models
features are barely visible. It almost looks as if she is just a blur of colour. The water colour and
the acrylic paint added makes the image seem completely surreal.
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(8.5)

White dots
around the
outside of all the
leaves
Colours edited on photoshop to
make the colours a little duller,
and more green less yellow.
Slightly low
aperture so
all of the
colour fades
out further
away.
Colours did change slightly
when I printed my image, and
when I scanned the image into
the computer.

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I began my experiment with image (a). The image was taken in
the same area as with my final image though from a different
angle. Though on my final image using a certain angle I have
really highlighted the shapes of the individual leaves as they
resemble the shape of droplets of water, I think that the shapes
in this image resemble flowing water. At this angle, the shapes
merge together more and flow across the photograph.
I decided that for this experiment I would try more editing on
photoshop compared with previous experiments. As you can
see from image (b) that on photoshop I have changed all of the
colours of the image to be a mix of deep blue and turquoise,
with still some greens and whites left. I created this by editing
the hue and saturation. By turning the leaves blue I was aiming
to create a more direct link between my theme and the image.
Though the shapes I have photographed reflect flowing water,
the green colours of the leaves in my original image do not
reflect water very strongly. In my previous images I have tried to
include natural colours, and I have only enhanced the natural
colours on photoshop rather than change them completely, like
with image (c). For this image I have only enhanced the
rainbows that have naturally been created by the bubbles and
the light. Although I like the way that this looks, I feel that this
image doesn’t fit in with the rest of the images I have created. It
(a)
(b)
(c)

would stand out amongst my other images, preventing them from looking like a set of images,
which they are meant to be. If I were to do this project again, I would perhaps create a set of
images done similarly to this one. The image definitely fits with the theme, and the colour are
very deep and unusual.
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(d)
Like with the final image I chose, I used dots of white acrylic
paint in order to enhance the natural shapes of the leaves,
rather than to create shapes, as shown in image (d). I wanted
this image to resemble the natural flow of water, and as you
cannot force the natural flow of water I felt it was appropriate
to only follow the natural shapes, not force new shapes.
I think that this would have been a good image to use for my
final image if it fitted in with my other images. What I could
have done is toned the vibrancy of the blue down. Though the
colours would still be unnatural, making it different to my other
images, the colours would stand out less making it look a little
less surreal.

Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results;
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For this piece of work I had a very clear picture of what I wanted
to create, and the message I wanted to put across, unlike some
of my previous pieces. As you can see with images (9), (10) and
(11) there is a clear path between (9) and (11), I didn’t change
my ideas at all, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve. I knew
The content I wanted to include in my image and I also knew that
I wanted to use acrylic paint over the top of it. From previous
experiments I knew that I wanted to use white paint. I used the
paint in the same way as I had done before as well using dots to
create shapes. I knew that I wanted to show my chosen theme of
fear in my image as well. Throughout my images I have been
trying to convey a feeling of being “thrown in at the deep end”
and in this image I tried to do this by using content shaped like
water droplets, and highlighting that shape with white dots
around the edge of the leaves.
Compared to my previous piece of work, this was fairly straight
forward as with my last piece I changed the image I wanted to
use and I experimented a lot with using just acrylic paint, then
(9)
(10)
(11)

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(12)
acrylic paint with watercolour on both images before
achieving my final result.
As with my first experiment, my main influence was
Sebastiaan Bremer.
I got my idea to use dots over the top of my image from
some of his work, such as (12). Similarly to this piece by
Sebastiaan Bremer, I placed dots over my image that
followed that natural shape of the content.

Qualities:
For my final image the quality of the image was quite high. I really liked the
way that the image started out with really bright colour and faded to black
further away from the leaves. It made the leaves really stand out. This is
especially seen in my original image (13). I edited the image to give it the
colours I was looking for in my work, so I needed to make the colours a little
more dull. If you look at image (14) you can see how I changed the original
image. Unfortunately some of the colours I worked to achieve on photoshop
were lost when I printed out the image to paint over. This was due to printer
issues. I tried editing my photograph on photoshop in a way that would make
the colours come out of the printer properly, though I could not get the image
exactly perfect. In image (15) it shows how the printer has changed the
colours of my image that I had edited on photoshop.I used this image because
it was the closest I could get to the correct colours. Despite this, I think that
the colours white, black and green featured in my image go really well
together.
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I really liked the way the white acrylic paint came out over my photograph. I
placed it around the edge of each leaf following its exact shape. It made the
leaves stand out even more. It highlighted the shape that I wanted to highlight
in order to portray my message.
(13)
(14)
(15)

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You can see in image (16) how I have used my white acrylic paint.
(16)
Another thing that I think made my image look really good is that the image is completely full of
leaves and other than some darker shadowy patches there is nothing else. It makes you feel
immersed in the image. It draws your eyes inwards to the dark spaces and it gives you a sense of
the depth, and how it is unknown what is further beneath. This aspect of the image is key to
showing my audience my message and ideas around fear.

34
When talking my photograph the camera was set on quite a
basic setting as I didn’t want the content to look true to real life.
The camera was set on perhaps a slightly low aperture which
gave the image the look of fading out slightly. You can see this in
image (17) where the stems fade out to black. I wanted to get
this effect as I feel like it would make my audience feel the
depth and understand the idea behind my work more.
Most of the work that went into creating this piece was post-production
work. Firstly I edited the colours of the leaves on
photoshop to make them look much duller. I adjusted the
curves, the contrast and the exposure. Image (18) shows how
the image looked after I edited it on photoshop. When I printed
(17)
(18)
image (18) the colours came out different, the leaves came out
a much more yellow colour. This meant I had to spend a large
amount of time adjusting the colours to make them less yellow
when printed.

After I had achieved a colour close to what I was looking for originally when I printed my image I
had to paint dots over my image around each leaf. Initially I just painted one layer of dots
though I thought that the dots didn’t stand out enough so I painted a second layer, again all the
way around each leaf.
would they be?
One big improvement I could make to my work could be to spend more time editing the colours
to get them perfect, rather than settling for something close. Editing the colours to how I
wanted them originally could improve the over all look of the final image. Another thing I could
have done is used another printer to print out my image, as the issues I had were with my own
printer. I could have used a college printer, I could have used a friends printer or I could have
used a printer at a library or another public facility.
Rather than editing the colours to how I originally wanted them I could have made the leaves
appear more blue. This would have fitted in with my theme more as it would have been more
noticeable that the leaves looked like droplets of water to people looking at the image.
35

36
Another improvement I could have made is adding more
detail to my image with the white dots of acrylic paint.
Image (19) by Sebastiaan Bremer is one of the images that
inspired me for my own work, though Sebastiaan’s image
is far more detailed than mine. He has made much smaller
dots, and has used more than I have for my image. I think
that my image would look much better if I had added
more detail. The dots I have used on my image make the
image look quite bold and makes the leaves stand out,
where as the dots that Sebastiaan Bremer uses in his work
are a lot more delicate. They fit in much more
with the content and look almost natural. I
would like to achieve this look in my own work.
(19)
Inspired by the amount of detail Sebastiaan
Bremer put into his work I decided to do a
further experiment on my photograph. For this
experiment, shown in image (19.5), I wanted
to create the same effect as I did using the
white acrylic paint, though with much more
fine detail. I wanted the dots to almost blend
in with the background, similarly to Sebastiaan
Bremer’s work. I decided that in order to
achieve this I needed to use photoshop to
create the dots, rather than painting it by
(19.5)

hand. I think that this experiment came out really nicely, though originally I decided that I
wanted to create multi media photography so by using this method it contradicts everything I
wanted to do in the first place.
Finally something else I could have done is to have though more about the content of my image.
I think that the leaves look really nice and work on an aesthetic level though I think that I could
have chosen content that related to my theme much more. I chose the leaves because they
were shaped like water droplets, so I could have captured images of actual water droplets
instead of things that look like them.
37

When talking about your work, consider formal elements such as lines, shapes and patterns as
well as the colour and contrast and also tone of your image. Think about the composition of
your work and where this could be developed.
In the brief we were told to create experimental photography, which is a form of art. Art is work
that serves no purpose, only to portray an emotion or message to its audience. I think that my
work fits that description. My work has no function, it is not to advertise a product or raise
awareness or a cause, it is just to be looked at and enjoyed.
I tried to make my audience realise my ideas about fear and “being
thrown in at the deep end” though I think that the message might
be quite unclear in this particular piece of work as the content is
quite indirect to the message. Though I think through my use of
shape, and how I have shown depth and darkness my audience may
see what I was trying to put across. In pervious work, like (20)
my message has been much more clear. The colour blue is key in the image, reflecting water and
the movement captured in the image shows the struggle. So compared to (20), this piece of
work is not as strong.
I think that my work is definitely experimental as paint is not normally featured with
photography. It doesn’t show how the content is in real life, but makes it seem different and
38
surreal.
(20)

40
Image slightly distorted
from printing and
scanning. Quality has
been diminished.
White acrylic paint used
over the photograph
Shutter speed at 1/4000
in order to capture the
water droplets.
ISO at 2000 to capture
more light.

41
I began my final experiment with image (e). The content of this
image is extremely similar to my final image, as I was trying to
capture falling water. I took the image from a different angle to
my final image, as I was facing downwards looking at the pool of
water created below. I think that this may have been better than
the angle used for my final image. The camera angle is facing
straight forward though slightly on an angle making the droplets
look as if they are falling diagonally across the page, as you can
see from image (f). I think that image (e) shows fear much more
as it gives the audience a sense of depth, and more of a feeling
of falling down with the water droplets.
Compared to my previous experiment (g), the content is far
more direct in showing my theme. The theme I chose was fear,
and specifically the phrase “being thrown in at the deep end”,
making reference to water. Like the phrase I aimed to make
references to water, which I have clearly done so in this image.
With the previous experiment I only made a subtle reference to
water, by using shape.
Like I did during my previous experiment, I tried out using
photoshop more than with my other experiments. During my
previous experiment the I decided the colours I used were too
vibrant, and that in the future I would use the same colours
(e)
(f)
(g)

42
though tone them down.
Image (h) shows one of my
images from the previous
experiment. Image (i) shows
how I edited iage (e) on
photoshop. As you can see,
like with image (h), I have
turned it from a yellow-ish
tone to a more blue tone. I
edited the hue and saturation
on photoshop like I did with
(h) however I turned down the
vibrance.
As with all of my images
throughout the project I have
painted on dots of white
acrylic paint. In most of my
images I have just used the
dots to enhance the natural
shape rather than create new
shapes, such as image (g). I
have done the same for this
image. I have added a small
(h) (i)
(j)
amount of detail to the
ripples in the water to
emphasize their shape and
make them stand out.
Though I think that this image
should be very effective in
expressing my idea, arguably
more so than the final image I
have chosen for this
experiment, I decided not to
use this one for my final
image as I felt that the
second image I created was
far more clear and high
quality than this one.
Especially in image
(e), the image is very unclear,
and you can hardly make out
what it is of. The water
doesn’t stand out like with
the final image I have chosen.
I think that although there
are many good qualities of
this image, this was the
deciding factor.

This particular piece of work was quite a last minute idea. In my
previous photographs I don’t think that my images showed the
theme of my work as directly as they could have. The theme I
chose for this project was fear, and the saying “thrown in at the
deep end”.
I wanted to photograph water all the way through this project to
reflect my message, which I feel that I didn’t do enough in my
previous photographs. I decided that in order to get a
photograph that truly reflected the message I wanted to show
to my audience I would need to take more photographs that
showed a direct link to water.
In order to get some inspiration for my images I looked back at
my previous inspiration, Sebastiaan Bremer. I looked at (21) in
my previous evaluation, and critically compared my own work to
it. I decided that in order to improve my own work I needed to adopt some of his techniques. I
did en experiment before where I tried to copy the way that(22) the dots Sebastiaan uses over
his photographs look so faint and almost natural (22). I liked the way this experiment turned out
however I had to use photoshop, and I decided originally I wanted to create multi
media photographs so I feel that using this technique may be starting too far from my original
idea.
(21)
(22)

I did find this image particularly inspiring as the content directly linked to my theme. One issue I
face is that I don’t live near enough to the sea to go and take photographs, especially because
this was a last minute idea. I needed to take photographs of water close to
home. I took this particular photograph on my kitchen counter surface with
water from the tap.
44
I also took some inspiration from the colours Sebastiaan used. I really like the
contrast of the very light and very dark places in his image. As you can see in
(23) all of the top and centre of the image it is very dark, and the bottom is
very light.
Throughout the project I have used dots of white acrylic paint to create me
shapes and patterns on my photographs, so for this image I knew prior to taking
my photographs that that’s what I was going to do.
(23)

45
(24)
(25)
(26)
Qualities: Consider the aesthetic qualities of your work. How does
it look? What do you like about it? What are the strongest and
weakest elements from an aesthetic point of view?
For this image I really tried to put emphasis on my main message.
In my previous image (24) I tried to do this using shape, and the
way that depth is shown in the image. In another periods image
(25) I tried to do this through colour and how movement is
shown. For my final image I wanted to show my theme through
the content and movement predominantly.
In my image I have chosen to have falling water as the main
feature. The falling droplets of water in my photograph could
signify allowing yourself to be vulnerable, or “taking a dive” and
trying to face your fears. I think that the droplets look really good,
however the droplets closest to the top of the image were not as
in focus as the ones at the bottom, which I think slightly
diminishes the quality of the image over all.
As I had done in all of my previous experiments I painted on dots of white acrylic
paint, creating shapes and patterns with them. I used them to put emphasis on
particular shapes within my photograph. In this image the white dots have been
used to put emphasis on the downward flow of the water. As you can see in (26)
the dots form swirling patterns around each other, which was used to reflect the
natural flow of water.

One thing that I experienced with previous work such as (24) was that the colours of the
photograph when (26) printed out looked different to how they were on photoshop. This
happened again with my final image. I think it slightly diminishes the quality, however I didn't do
anything to correct it this time as I didn't think it was too different to how I wanted it, and I think
that that was about as close as I was going to get it to the desired look. As you can see (27)
shows the colours of the image straight from photoshop, and (28)
shows it when it has been printed and scanned. The colours of (28) look
a little duller than (27). I also think that printing out the image has made
it perhaps slightly grainy, where as (27) shows how smooth and even
(27) (28)
the colours looked on photoshop.
46

Compared to my previous photographs where the
majority of the work was post production work, I
spent much more time focusing on getting the
camera setting perfect.
I had to take many photographs before producing
this one in oder to get the shutter speed, ISO
setting, white balance and angle correct. (29) and
(30) and two examples of photographs I took
before getting the shutter speed and ISO setting
correct. As you can see the water is not as defined
as my final image. As the water is pouring so fast
and the shutter speed is too slow the camera doesn’t have enough time to pick up a clear
image. These images were taken with the shutter speed on 1/2000 and the ISO on 1600. I
decided I needed to change the shutter speed setting to 1/4000 and the ISO to 2000 in order to
give me the best result. The ISO setting controls how sensitive the camera is to light. I needed to
tchhea nISgOe setting along with the shutter speed other wise the camera wouldn't have time to pick
up enough light, and the image would be too dark.
47

I knew initially that I wanted to use the cloudy light white balance setting. The cloudy white
balance setting makes the image look much warmer. I wanted to use this setting to get that nice
contrast between the darker and lighter places in the image.
For this photograph I decided to use a different type of lens to previously. Before I used a basic
lens, thought this time I decided to use a lens specifically designed to take detailed close up
pictures. I chose to use this lens because I wanted to capture a detailed image of the water
droplets. The specific lens I used was a Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor.
After taking my photograph I needed to edit my photograph on photoshop. I didn't need to do
much to the image as it was already almost how I wanted it. All I did was
brighten it slightly, and change the Gamma and Offset settings to make it a
little less vibrant. You can see the changes I made in (31) and (32). Image
(31) shows the photograph before I edited it at all, and (32) shows the
photograph after editing it.
(31) (32)
I finally printed out my image, and painted dots white acrylic paint onto it in swirling formations.
I didn't plan out where I was going to paint it as I feel that I have had enough practice on
previous photographs to know what I was doing.
48

would they be?
As my idea was quite last minute I feel perhaps I may have rushed myself in order to get the
photograph completed in time for the deadline. I did take quite a few
photographs before this one, however I could have spent more time taking
photographs so I could have had more options. I would have taken more
photographs after I found the correct settings, rather than taking them in
order to find the correct setting.
49
A problem I faced with all of my images was printing quality. Such as with
my first image (33) where the printer turned the image much more dark and
grey. This time the printer lowered the quality and vibrancy of the colours
(34) (35). As you can see in these images the printer had lowered the image
quality a lot. Next time I would perhaps try using a different printer. I would
find a better quality one, for example at college. I could have also spent
more time on postproduction work, compensating for how bad
quality my printer is.
If I were to do the image again I would perhaps plan out where I
would paint on the dots on acrylic paint. I painted on the dots quite
randomly this time. I knew what shapes I wanted to create but I
didn’t plan where. I feel that in order to get the best shapes possible
I could have planned out what I was going to do before hand.
(33)
(34) (35)

(35.25) is a photograph
created by Corrie White.
She does a lot of water
Photography. Though I think
It is clear that we were
aiming for different
outcomes, looking at her
work there are a few things
that could help me to
improve my work.
It is clear that she has used an extremely high shutter speed in order to
get a really defined image of the water falling. The ripples in the water
are also really defined which I think looks really nice. In my image (35.5)
the water droplets look slightly blurred, and the ripples don’t look as defined. Like Corrie, I
should have used a higher shutter speed to get that definition.
50
(35.25)
(35.5)
Corrie wont have needed to print off her work, meaning that she hasn’t lost any of the quality
from the image. Because I needed to print my work however, some of the colour quality has
been lost. Though I needed to print off my work for this particular project, I will take this into
consideration for future projects.

The brief we were set asked us to create experimental photography. As I have discussed
previously, experimental photography is a form of art. Art is something that serves no purpose,
only to be looked at and enjoyed. Art is also something that shows meaning or a message from
its creator.
I think that my work definitely fits this description. I have not created this work with any
intention or purpose, only to show its audience a message, and portray the theme I chose. I
wanted my audience to feel a sense of vulnerability. I wanted them to understand what I was
trying to express using falling droplets of water. I definitely made improvements to the content
of my work since my last piece of work (36). For this piece of work
I definitely didn’t make it clear enough what my theme was. There
were some aspects such as the shape, and how I showed depth in
my photograph to I felt this wasn’t enough. So for my fourth
experiment I thought hard about what I needed to change in order
to make my message clear. The content I used, and the shapes
both reflect my theme very well I feel.
The work I have produced is definitely experimental as it combined different media together,
which is not commonly done. Painting over the top of an image definitely adds something very
different to it. With the paint over the top the image looks textured, which is often difficult to
create with other kinds of photography.
51
(36)

Experimental Photography Evaluations (with improvements)

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Experimental Photography Evaluations (with improvements)