Artist Statement

Here is my artist statement that I have included within my exhibition;

My final major project is based around the secret world created by photography, I feel throughout the past 4 years in which I have been doing media based courses, I have found myself working with photography more and more within projects, it is a form of art that I believe releases a new and fresh outcome on an image and throughout this process I have developed not only my photography skills but been able to show a world that is unseen to the natural eye.

The four images within this exhibition are the final outcome, of a process that has been changed and developed for one year. Throughout researching and photographing many images, it has led me to what I have called ‘The Secret World’.  The collage shows a selection of the photographs I have taken towards this project, the three enlarged images are the select images I have chosen, that demonstrates the secret world perfectly.

These photographs and the overall thought of the secret world demonstrates the idea that a photograph can capture, ‘a moment in time’ however the way these have been captured is in a way that the natural eye does not capture, creating a whole new world. Without a camera this world would be missing and go unknown.

The three enlarged photographs capture the secret world in three different ways, it is open to your imagination to take you there and the sound effects are there to enhance your experience and guide you on your journey into the secret world.

If you are interested in understanding more about the secret world and seeing my research and development, please view my online blog;
http://www.stephhodgkinson1.blogspot.co.uk/

Stephanie Hodgkinson
Final Major Project – The Secret World
HND Creative Media Production

Finished and Installed

Today I finished painting and installing my exhibition, my three main photographs, the photo collage and my artist statement have been put in my exhibition space ready for Tuesdays open evening to the public. I will set up the CD player on Tuesday afternoon. I will take photos of the evening and upload after.

Sound Effects Finished! :)

Today I finished my sound effects.
I spent the day editing, overlaying all the different sounds and making changes, but finally the soundtrack to match the photographs are finished.
The Motorway sound effects are slightly different to originally planned, I found when I was editing that I didnt want to include the medical jargon, the overlay of all the sounds builds the tension and creates an atmosphere and by including the jargon I would have to turn all the background sound down, therefore I decided to cut it completely.
The Flower and Train station sound effects are still exactly as I planned.

Train Sound Effects

Today I went to Oxford so took the opportunity to record all the callouts and atmosphere of the station to see if I could get better sounds, in comparison to the sounds I had first gathered at a different train station.
As it was bank holiday it wasnt as busy as it would normally be, but I still managed to get hustle and bustle at the Oxford station.
I managed to record great callouts, very clear platform calls and also on board callouts for tickets and the following destination.
Overall I am very pleased with the recordings and will use them all within my project.

Sound Recordings

I have been gathering my sound recordings, but listening back to them, the sounds are not obvious noises for example I recorded several moving trains but all of them sound like aeroplanes, I feel by including sounds like these is going to ruin the piece and makes it sound messy, therefore for sounds that I am unable to gather I will source them from the internet, this is not ideal because I wanted all the sounds to be my own but I will still be recording all my own dialogue and sounds where I can.

Sounds for the Secret World

I have now photographed and printed my final 3 photos, but now need to gather my sounds for the pictures. Below are the photos with the list of corresponding sounds that I need to get.

The sound of an ambulance

Medical jargon - "The anterior and posterior lobe of the nervosa gland is suspended from the hypothalamus. The larynx is trapped by the hyroid bone, resulting in breathing being minimal. Heart rate has dropped, stand back, charging 180. The chest and stomach have deep laserations, we need to get this patient to hospital.

Engine noise

Medical equipment noise such as clanging of instruments and defibrillator

Heart beat

Faint chatter

Faint music.

Because the flower photograph is very delicate and is seen as the relaxing image, I do not want to add to much of a sound effect, also the other two photographs have such an impact through the image and sound, the flower image breaks this effect up. The sound for this photograph will just be the sound of a Bee buzzing.

The sound of trains whizzing past, stopping and pulling away

Public chatter

Footsteps

Running up steps

The call out for the approaching train

Money being put in the machine

Whistle Blow

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The idea of including sound with the images is to get the idea across of stopping a moment of time through photography in a way that is possibly unrecogniseable or has a strange effect. The sounds will bring out the image.

The Secret World - Final Images

These are the final images for my installation, I have printed them in 18 x 12 cm, therefore they will be big enough to stand out and for the detail to be seen. I have put them in this order because the flower picture seperates them all out.

The Last Image

I have photographed my final image that will complete my Secret World.

I will be using this image because it adds colour to the project, the project is the secret world and this photo portrays this in a difference sense to the other two images because although you can clearly see what the photograph captures, it is capturing it in a different way to how the natural eye sees the image. When the naked eye looks at flowers we see them as a whole we don't take notice of the fine detail. This photo emphasises this idea by the close up and alos the slight blurring of the edge makes the sharpness of the middle image stand out, the two colours also help to emphasise this.

Flower Photography

I have captured flowers from different angles and shots for my final image, I chose to photograph flowers as it is a different image to the other two images in the Secret World project.

Final Image

I have decided that the final image for this project needs to be something different to the other two main images, it needs to be something that seperates all the images out and gives them the right to stand on their own. The other two pictures have alot of imagery and sounds to go alongside them, I need a picture that is calm and relaxing. I have decided the best idea to break this up is to capture an image that resembles, relaxation, is bright in colour and pretty on the eye.
The first is an image that you cannot work out what it is straight away but with the sound effects it will bring the image out.

The second image is that of the train station, which has an eery/strange effect.

And finally the third image will be a pretty picture that can reflect relaxation and perfection in some peoples eyes. 

Therefore combined these images can all relate to the secret world, that I have caught through photography and are all different from one another.