http://www.clarewest.co.uk en-gb clarewest.co.uk 2012-5-20T00:00:00Z clarewest.co.uk http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#117934 2012-5-8 21:26:26 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#117869 2012-5-7 22:11:39 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#117546 I smoked for many years it was the first thing I did when I woke up and the last thing I did before going to sleep and mostly what I did inbetween. I was obsessed with it and at the time it seem to define my very existance. I use to have a recurring dream whereby I would smoke a straight I actually smoked roll ups cigarette from tip to butt in one inhalation without the ash falling. Because of wanting to break off the perfectly formed ash it gave me the kind of sensation you get when very young and you knock down a building block tower or a freshly made sand castle...or maybe Im just pointing to my own destructive nature That must be why I want to step into Bill Stettners American Flag previous blog and set light to all the matches. 2012-5-2 13:47:50 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#117335 Recently whilst searching for photography quotes I do like a good quote I came across this great blog by Peter Adams about American photographer Bill Stettner. He was one of a group of photographers who mounted and won a campaign for photographers to own the copyright to their work despite the disastrous consequences it had on his career. Click on the link to read the full story httpwww.photoquotes.comshowblogs.aspxArticleID106 American Flag Bill Stettner 1965 The Double Face Bill Stettner 1963 2012-4-29 17:04:17 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#117131 2012-4-25 20:30:21 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#116504 I recently decided that I have to stop being so precious about my remaining 669 film before it becomes unuseable altogether in fact I wasnt sure if it still was as it expired at the end of 2008. So I ventured out with my loveable EE100 Special land camera and tentatively took a few photos. The thing with taking Polaroids with extinct film and a camera that doesnt zoom in or out is that it really makes you think twice about what you shoot. With the pressure off a bit as I was just testing the film I took a couple of pictures in beautiful spring light. They both came out overexposed with a strong cyan bluegreen cast to them. I thought maybe it was a combination of the bright light and a deterioration of the inks in the film however it turned out that I actually had the lightendarken dial on the camera turned all the way to lighten But I really liked the result and the good news is that the film works St James Street Brighton St Georges Church Brighton 2012-4-15 18:15:03 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#114792 As I suspected at the beginning of the year my blogging is already slowing down so its time to go back up a gear This is the final installment of scanner art for the time being. The two images are of objects used in the image How does your garden grow please see blog below a concept inspired by the amount we consume and discard and subsequent landfill sites. I started to have imaginings of the whole of the planet becoming a modern day landfill so much so that fruit and veg would no longer grow in soil but in a mire of rubbish. The scannerbed seemed the perfect media on which to compose the image and to try and create a sense of being underground. In other versions I scattered earth amongst the composition whilst this helped to create a more claustrophobic feel I preferred the aesthetic of the final image. Stay in touch for my next few blogs which will be about Polaroids and transfer art. Clare x 2012-3-16 21:15:23 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#112561 2012-2-15 14:53:43 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#111340 This is an edited scan of a Pierrot doll that I was given as a child in the 80s. Pierrot had a renaissance during this time in keeping with the New Romantic wave where make up frills and androgeny were the order of the day. Originally a character from the 17th century Commedia dellArte Pierrot was cast as the naive and trusting fool. He was often the butt of jokes and usually had his heart broken by his love interest Columbine who would leave him for Harlequin. His role shape shifted over the years gaining sympathy and becoming poeticized. He became an icon for artists who resonated with his sensitive soul and alienation from society. This melancholic revolutionary has inspired many including heavyweights like Renoir Picasso and Dali to name a few. I dont think my doll topped my list of favourite Xmas presents that year but I did hold onto it. There is afterall something enchanting about Pierrot... 2012-1-28 22:40:56 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#110657 Scanning with a dark background has been a personal preference so far because of the way it isolates and highlights the object. This along with the shallow depth of field of the scanner produces a lovely ethereal effect. 2012-1-18 21:33:14 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#110203 Scanner art came to my attention some years ago after seeing a couple of photography exhibitions in Brighton. I particularly loved artwork by Denis Doran httpwww.cranekalmanbrighton.comexhibitionsfound and it was seeing his work that sparked my initial interest. His Common Ground exhibition uses scans of allotment land combined with other photographic elements to create beautiful composite images. At the time the word scanning was somehow scary and seemed to paralyse my technophobe mind. It turns out it is actually a very simple process involving a flatbed scanner and whatever you want to try scanning. However it does produce hit or miss results. Ive been using my old but trusty Lexmark 3 in 1 and then editing in photoshop afterwards but newer models of flatbed scanners will have more capabilities. It can take some patience obtaining the perfect arrangement and sometimes things just dont translate well when scanned this is the hit or miss part. Experimentation is the best way t... 2012-1-12 00:41:20 http://www.clarewest.co.uk/page7.htm#109879 I thought it about time to make use of my piece of cyberspace and start the new year with a photo blog as with all New Year intentions lets see how long it lasts. At the end of last year I started experimenting with scanner art sometimes known as scanography or scantography a bit more sparse. So my first offerings will be the results of this scanfoolery. Happy New Year Clare x Velveteen 1 Velveteen 2 Velveteen 3 2012-1-6 23:47:46