I have been wanting to apply for my fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society for a long time. This is the highest level of distinction awarded by the society to its members, and requires a number of criteria to be fulfilled. These include ..... Fellowship Criteria
Over the years I have had a number of projects where I have thought 'at last...... this could be my fellowship project'........! All I need are 20 images on this topic or that; whether it be multiple exposures of trees, long exposures of water, black and white images of seaweed, or altered images of beach litter and plastics. The topic has to be important to me, and the quality of the images needs to be cohesive and exceptional. So I get started on a project, and collect maybe 16 or 17 good images, and then eject some because they don't fit well with the others, and then others because they are not quite perfect, and then I get tired of that project and find myself putting it aside and moving on to something new. This has been going on for some 8 or so years now, and I wonder why I still want to make the grade. It is something do do with wishing to achieve the same standard as those whose photography I admire. Not necessary, but it would be a good feeling. And I do like a goal. Part of me is afraid that I will fail, and is avoiding the feelings associated with that. Then along came 'fellowship by book', another way of presenting my work rather than as prints or digital images, and I told myself that I need to do it this way, as making books is my thing, and if I can't get FRPS by making a book, then I might as well give up now. Some more time went by, and I made books with 16 or 17 images to fit the words that I had chosen to accompany the photographs. Findings and Forest. And a concertina book 'Under a Cold North Sky' of snow and ice with 15 images. Each time I didn't quite manage to meet the criteria. I made the books because I had something to say; not for the FRPS but because they were what really mattered at the time. So now, this year, I have decided to take a different approach. I have paid a not inconsiderable sum to submit for the FRPS this October, as a driver to make a book that does meet the criteria. A cunning plan to make me get on with it...... Except I can't decide what the book should be about. or what it should look like. I have thought of making it about water, as that is my favourite subject. I even wrote a poem to get me started., but I found it contrived and corny. I don't have something important enough to say about 'I love being beside water'. So I came up with a plan to write a book about why I take photographs, and why I take many fewer than I used to. A sort of confessional about my photographic journey. Autobiographical even. A journey that started after breast cancer and a need to find a way to express how good it felt to be alive. i have written some words, and rewritten them and refined them. They don't feel right yet, and time is passing, but I am working on it. Slowly but surely. I have tried some images in my publishing software, and am a long way from deciding what format the book will take. This book needs to be special. It needs to tell a good story. And most of all it needs to come from my heart. And in case you are worried, I can always defer until 2024 if I am not ready, but at least I have a plan.
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Wet cyanotype process. What is that?! I have been experimenting with this process recently. I was intending to work with seaweeds whilst away at Vashon Artist Residency, but they proved quite elusive. A little bit of kelp and some sea grass, but not much else. So I experimented with other things, such as found beach objects and paper bags..... because that's all I had at hand. And that is the beauty of this process; it is perfect for experimentation and almost any relatively flat objects can be used to create your prints. So what is it? The cyanotype process involves mixing two chemicals to make a light sensitive solution. The solution can be painted onto paper, cloth or any other substrate that you feel like trying; even pebbles and egg shells. Traditional cyanotypes are blue. The solution is painted onto the paper away from any UV light, and allowed to dry before exposing. Objects laid on the paper are left out in the sun to develop over minutes or hours depending on the UV availability on a particular day. Sunshine is faster than cloud..... This very traditional approach has been around since 1842. You can read more about the history of cyanotype and how seaweed was one of the first subjects for this process in an article from Kew Gardens here Wet cyanotype is a method that I embraced initially due to the technical issues of finding a dark place to coat and dry my papers. Always one to look for an easy option, I decided to try the messier, more organic approach of wet cyanotype, which avoids the need to wait for the paper to dry in a dark place. For the wet process the paper is coated away from UV light, and exposed while still wet. Now the fun begins. Objects are placed on the paper and a variety of additional substances can be added at this stage. These include coffee grounds, soap bubbles, salt, turmeric and vinegar. The plate is laid out in the sun to develop. When the paper has fully changed colour it is ready to wash. It is now ready for rinsing in tap water, after gently removing the physical elements from the paper. What I love about this process is the unpredictability and detail brought out by the additional elements added to the paper. The image below shows soap bubbles and coffee on paper, before washing. I imagine a galaxy in space. Your imagination may take you somewhere entirely different..... If you would like to try this process yourself I have created a separate web page with instructions that is available to anyone on my mailing list. |
Caroline Fraser - an ordinary life
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Welcome to Caroline Fraser Photography
Colourful abstracted and traditional photographic landscapes, book art and workshops. Capturing the moods and beauty of nature whether in wild open places or in small sanctuaries in suburbia. |