Photographs
I was inspired to capture a quiet moment I experienced whilst at Marble Arch Tube Station. The photographs that I took expressed an eerie quality to an on-paper peaceful description, I think this was down to me having adjusted the aperture and frame rate settings on my Canon EOS 2000D – which I had altered in order to capture the lack of natural light within the underground station, and felt pleased with the aesthetic results of my shoot.
I was struck by three candid moments that presented on my way from platform to street with my camera. Firstly – the rather usual-sounding conversation that occurred between the two station staff members as I passed; one recounting to the other what plans usually divulge for them on a Friday night, when not working; “Drinks at a bar, maybe out to a club, but always chips at the end”.
The second observation was of two, tipsy, men. They had been in my same tube carriage, talking quite loudly to each other and drinking from tins. Before getting on the carriage, they’d boarded the tube from the same station I had, and I witnessed one of the men sway close to another passenger on the platform, standing beyond the yellow safety line. The passenger looked alarmed for a moment, before Tipsy Man 1 made clear his intention by slurring out a warning not to stand too close to the platform edge, in case the force of the train coming in swept them off balance and caused a fatal accident. The other passenger nodded, vaguely. The Tipsy Man seemed to briefly sober up, just enough to then sincerely ask “are you okay?” To which the other passenger smiled and nodded again. Tipsy Man 2 reiterated the point – “be careful of the edge”. Now, these two men – perhaps slightly more intoxicated than they had been before getting on the tube – were making withdrawals from the in-station cash machine.
Thirdly, an encounter I very nearly missed as I, on a mission for street-level, almost accidentally walked into someone laying on the floor, wrapped in a sleeping bag near the subway entrance. All I could see of the human inside was their hands, gripping tightly to the cover. I passed as quietly as I could, feeling as though really I just didn’t want to disturb them, as they hopefully managed to sleep through a moment of potentially rare silence. Part of me felt I didn’t want to forget the unavoidably vulnerable state that person was going through, and ultimately I felt sad. To me this felt an important moment to document; particularly in light of my intention at Marble Arch – to photograph another memory, remembered as something positive that occurred in the same location.
Practical Experiments
Person on the Ground – Photograph, Pencil on Paper
I first decided to materially experiment with a photograph I had taken in Marble Arch station subway. I chose this particular memory from my questionnaire as it was my own contribution and I had a clear idea of where exactly the photo would document, or so I thought. As previously mentioned, the moments I experienced on my way through the station / subway were what struck me most; when I exited the station it was quite dark, and no one was around (unlike from the memory itself), which felt interesting in terms of lighting, being on the junction at the corner of Hyde Park and Marble Arch, where vehicles are often sitting around at red traffic lights, and in the dark and the rain (it was raining) the headlights from cars and buses beamed and reflected off the otherwise black roads (see photos below).
The photo I first chose to edit was a picture of a homeless person in the subway. I chose this image because I found the obvious juxtaposition of present reality & the happy memory I had in mind to be quite affecting.
I simply drew a simple sketch of 2 persons kissing in an embrace, cut it out with a craft knife, and stuck it onto the photograph.
I like the clear difference in mediums used – photograph & sketchbook paper, and the tonal differences in the two presented pictures – the mostly grey background photo, with the stark white paper on top.
Something about it displeases me though; I feel as though the placement is off – though in a way I quite like how it jars. I’m not sure that the photograph should be so much the background image, and perhaps it’s the memory which belongs further back, as in my mind it returns whenever I’m passing through Marble Arch station. The memory is the constant, the station itself fluctuates in how many people are passing through, or how loud or quiet it may be, etc. In this way it feels as though the arrangement of images should be the other way around, perhaps with a hole cut out of the photograph revealing the memory behind it.
(the above image – 10cm x 14cm photograph & pencil on paper)
Empty Subway Passage – Photo printed on Bristol Board, Acrylic Paint
The second picture I wanted to play around with following my photoshoot at Marble Arch was the one of the long, empty subway passage leading to the ticket office and barriers. In the moment I was still able to hear vague conversations of the few people in the station, but I liked that I was unable to see them.
On reflection – I would be interested to have captured this moment on video.
At home, I decided to experiment printing the photograph onto Bristol Board. It came out a bit darker and grainier in quality than I had hoped – I forgot this is something that can occur when printing onto Bristol board – but for the purpose of experimenting it was good enough. At first I felt unsure of how to approach altering this image to represent a memory, or another time, within the moment I had captured on my camera. Being unsure, I took myself into artist research for inspiration, at that point in time I was specifically looking at Hattie Stewart’s bright, colourful, edited magazine spreads. I considered digitally editing the photo of the subway passage, however it seemed a little too similar to an idea I was experimenting with on another image, taken in Camden.
Looking back at the photo in the subway, and then back at Hattie Stewart’s colourful work, made me want to add that level of vibrance into the photo. At the time in which I wanted to play around with this all – I was away from home, and my usual painting supplies. Fortunately the friend I was staying with is an artist too, and so I was able to use some of her acrylics (I felt this medium would best suit the Bristol board I would be painting on, and of course have a faster drying time – so I could still take the piece home with me).
The acrylics I first used were small, 100ml tubes by WHSmiths, and actually their coverage on the photo was really good; the paint was thick enough to need only two/ three coats until it had concealed the darker image below. However, when I returned home and wanted to continue painting, I used my System3 acrylic paints and mixed the colours myself. Unfortunately I found this paint to be quite a lot thinner, and took a lot more coats (no matter the colour mixes) to cover the photograph. I was a little unhappy therefore with the new, added aesthetic of thick, paint-coated, Bristol board.
On reflection, and I’m thinking pretty much as I go here – it could be seen as an interesting choice to layer the paint on thick over the real image; as though something from the present moment photograph is being intentionally hidden… hmm, on second thought I may return to this idea. Meanwhile, I feel I have a lot to continue exploring around image alteration, but I am pleased with the general outcome of my experiment with this painted-on, printed photograph. The bold colours feel exactly what I was aiming for, considering my influence for this particular example was Hattie Stewart’s vibrant, collaged work.
Something I feel I should mention – when I took the progress-shots of the painted subway floor, the light in the room I was in reflected off the acrylic paint – I loved this unforeseen element, and it has inspired me to perhaps merge/ combine/ experiment with the shadows/ lighting in photographs and their accompanying illustrations as I progress.
As I have a limited amount of time, and a lot of ideas to try – I will leave this experiment as it is for now (despite really enjoying the smooth painting process onto the A3 Bristol board, and adding colour to an otherwise grey image). I feel I have discerned all I could regarding this process for now. It has given me ideas to progress with, particularly around my use of colour and of light and dark/ shadows, as well as literal material research; painting acrylics onto smooth card feels very satisfying, and perhaps I can afford to play around with the thickness of paint a bit more.