Living in a Bubble
I am having so much fun exploring bubble patterns. Need I say more?
I’ve been intrigued by the prospect of making collages digitally and then manipulating them ad infinitum into mandalas and kaleidoscopic patterns. I am not sure where this creative exercise will take me, but I think there is a lot of potential in the images.
Like traditional collage, the first stage in creating a digital collage is deciding on the various sorts of materials to use. (So many choices, so little time!) I have mostly been using newspapers in my collage work and for this one, I have cut out a pattern in one sheet and layered it atop another. The layered papers were then photographed and uploaded to my computer. The first image you see below is the starting point in my process. I call that one the collage motif.
The next stage involved manipulating the collage motif in Photoshop. There is no glue, no wrinkling, no curling and no mess to contend with–which makes this a very satisfying way to create a collage.
I layered, mirrored and rotated the single motif into a mandala-type of image. It is a completely engrossing process to play around with simply because there are an infinite number of images one can create. The final image you see here was the last one I created (and one of my favorites) out of a total of 5 or 6 mandalas.
Looking for more traditional collages? You can see some of the ones I have actually glued in the Transfigured Times series.
I suppose the only downside to this technique is that there is nothing to frame or hold unless the images are printed. Which might just be the next step for me to consider.
Risk-Free motif; 2014; Digital collage.
Risk-Free Mandala; 2014; Digital collage.
This photograph of a magnolia was taken in Pittsburgh in 2013 and manipulated in Photoshop. I duplicated the silhouetted magnolia tree and scaled it down, then layered it so it appears there are two trees. The textural overlay is composed from a wood panel I painted gold and photographed. The image was further manipulated for color accuracy, contrast and vibrancy.
Golden Magnolia; 2013; Manipulated Digital Photography.
I read a very interesting article this morning on the history of selfies by Jerry Saltz. It made me think about all the selfies I have taken in the past and how they really aren’t a part of the selfie genre he talks about. My selfies are more posed and composed–definitely more of a true self-portrait than the selfies currently in favor with the Instagram generation.
In this new art form, selfies (according to Saltz) are “A fast self-portrait, made with a smartphone’s camera and immediately distributed and inscribed into a network, is an instant visual communication of where we are, what we’re doing, who we think we are, and who we think is watching.”
“These are not like the self-portraits we are used to. Setting aside the formal dissimilarities between these two forms—of framing, of technique—traditional photographic self-portraiture is far less spontaneous and casual than a selfie is.”
Saltz further distinguishes the selfie: “If both your hands are in the picture and it’s not a mirror shot, technically, it’s not a selfie—it’s a portrait.”
The selfies I take (mostly with my camera on a tripod) are in focus and cropped, manipulated and made as perfect as I can manage. I guess they are “not-so-selfie” selfies even though I refer to them that way. Unlike the selfies Saltz describes, I never share photos of myself immediately (or otherwise) on social media. I guess I am just too inhibited and too much a perfectionist with my photography and self-image. Am I really that vain? Um. Yes. I am.
Looking at selfies taken by others is great fun and there are some incredible images to see (and a lot of really awful ones–that means you Kim Kardashian and Anthony Weiner), but I guess I am too set in my own ways to let it all go and post a true selfie. Except for maybe this one, taken while riding in our convertible this past weekend…
Hmmmm. On second thought, I decided not to post it. I told you I was a perfectionist and anyway, I thought my hair looked kinda weird. And those wrinkles! Where in the hell did they come from?
No wonder selfies are a product of the younger generation.
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