AD7000 Major Project

AD7000 Major Project Lisa Lavery

‘Big Thaw’ - Plastic Landscapes Series, 2017 ‘Driven to Abstraction’ project explores the notion of the ‘Anthropocene’, utilising the medium of photography in its bare essence; light sensitive paper, light and chemicals

Introduction My practice to date has predominately been camera-less using analogue and alternative photographic processes. Experiment and exploration are at the heart of my practice - driven by process, I choose photographic methods and techniques to highlight the essence and qualities of the subject often revealing new perspectives, prompting the viewer to experience the familiar subject from a different view point.

My preferred subject matter is ‘still-life’; however, environmental concerns have become an underlying subject focus and I continue to explore these themes and develop new methodologies to highlight such issues.

This most recent project explores coastal landscapes of Britain and overseas.

The investigations centre around land, sea, light and the way in which natural environments affect us emotionally and psychologically, drawing on what we can learn about ourselves from experiences in transient landscapes.

Using photography as a means of investigation I set out to explore natural environments, make site specific work in response to the different landscapes, to gain a better understanding of the important connection to nature and our individual wellbeing.

Taking inspiration from Robert MacFarlane, an author known for his writing on landscape and nature and interest in ecology and the environment, he uses language to re-engage us with nature, linking writing and walking as a way to connect time in natural environments.

The following quote introduces the ‘Stillness in Motion’ book, at the start of the journey, (Macfarlane, 2013 p.26) As I envisage it, landscape projects into us not like a jetty or peninsula, finite and bounded in its volume and reach, but instead as a kind of sunlight, flickeringly unmappable in its plays yet often quickening and illuminating. We are adept, if occasionally embarrassed, at saying what we make of places -- but we are far less good at saying what place makes of us. For some time now it has seemed to me that the two questions we should ask of any strong landscape are these: firstly, what do I know when I am in this place that I can know nowhere else? And then, vainly, what does this place know of me that I cannot know of myself?

Robert Macfarlane, The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

Seaweed Test Print - Gara Rock, 2018

Draw of the Sea The project started with the intention of using analogue methods, pinhole photography and alternative processes. Looking for more eco-friendly alternative developer recipes I researched and prepared coffee developer; Caffenol.

The first trip with a ‘darkroom in a suitcase’ was at Gara Rock on the Devon coast.

Using Caffenol developer and seawater to produce pinhole images and cyanotypes on the beach, enabled me to test run the process and resolve any problems before the major trip to Finland later in July.

In preparation for the Finland trip I also designed and built two 5x4 pinhole cameras, the infinite depth of field and long exposures would allow me to capture the passage of time and extreme angle of view not possible with conventional cameras.

Pinhole Cameras, Camera Obscura Image, Workshop - ARRK, 2018

Finland The initial inquiry stages of the project commenced in July 2018, on the island of Korpo, in the Turku archipelago Finland. At the AARK residency - Archipelago Art Residency Association in Korpo.

The apartment at AARK is situated near the sea and is surrounded by forest‌ The air was fresh and clean, I immediately felt revitalised and relaxed. The first couple of days were spent fitting out the store as darkroom/work space and testing lumen, pinhole and cyanotype on site.

I found spending time outdoors, increased my energy levels, I began exploring the area on foot and by bicycle. Surrounded by nature inside and out, influenced the camera obscura and resulting double exposure experiments.

Double Exposure Images - AARK Grounds, Finland, 2018

The images from these series show the sense of connection I gained from being immersed in this natural environment. However, stopping for a few moments rest one day in the forest I had an inspiring thought and I began to utilise an intentional camera movement technique.

Many people nowadays live in a series of interiors...disconnected from each other. On foot everything stays connected, for while walking one occupies the spaces between those interiors in the same way one occupies those interiors. One lives in the whole world rather than in interiors built up against it. (Solnit, 2014, p.

292) Rebecca Solnit, ‘Wanderlust: A History of Walking’

Midnight Series - Finland, 2018

Walking within the landscapes was very liberating and the freedom to respond to the light conditions without distraction from usual routine demands was extremely valuable. The following images were taken at midnight, drawn to the light, I took a walk to the water’s edge through the trees…

Reflecting on walking as engagement of body, mind and world, I took inspiration from other artists and authors, including Rebecca Solnit and Frederic Gros.

“Walking shares with making and working that crucial element of engagement of the body and the mind with the world, of knowing the world through the body and the body through the world”. (Solnit, 2014, p. 29)

Stillness in Motion Series - Finland, 2018

This experience is reflected in the blog post; Mindfulness 9th August The forest stillness slowed my pace and gave me the opportunity to engage with the colours, tones and textures before me. I chose to use slow exposures to capture the sublime imposing trees in the most simplistic way, stripping away unnecessary elements resulting in harmonious graduated tones.

Walking through the forest offered a momentary distraction and a sense of quietness and freedom from the fast-paced routine of everyday life. This experience and had a psychological affect that highlighted the important connection to nature and its power to affect our well-being and sense of fulfilment.

Immersing ourselves into the moment allows us to become fully aware and receptive to our surroundings, in a state of flow, and loss of self-awareness, we temporary forget ourselves and no longer feel separate from but part of the whole.

By walking we escape the idea itself of identity, the desire to be someone, to have a name and a history…The freedom experienced when walking is about not being anyone because the body that walks has no history; It just has an eternal current of life. (Solinet, 2014, p.38) Frédéric Gros When we are totally involved our existence is temporarily suspended, we enter a different reality, the sense of time disappears, and we feel a sense of oneness with the universe. The state of mind induced by letting go, instinct takes over and this is really the only time we can be truly free and be part of the universe in a more intimate way, the universe and self are as one.

This echoes Csikszentmihalyi notion of ‘the flow’, when we enter this ecstatic state, things become spontaneous, effortless, the sense of time disappears, and we feel a sense of oneness with the universe. (Csikszentmihalyi, 2004) Many photographers gain a similar sense of connection from natural environments, personally through this experience I recognised a stronger link between photography and mindfulness, the similarities offer a sense of release, diversion, and refuge.

George DeWolfe considers this as contemplative photography which differs from other forms of photography, “...in that it demands nothing from us and nothing from the object. It is an expression of the pure visual nature of reality as it unfolds in front of us in the moment” (Suler and Zakia, 2018, p.329) Mindfulness is a selfless state of awareness, not expecting but receptive to the unexpected, letting go of self, accepting what comes and embracing opportunity; allowing the subconscious to shape and form the creative outcome. Sensitive to the flow of life, in communion with the world around us.

When we are in this state our mind becomes still, calm and aware, we notice things overlooked - colour, patterns, textures - even simple mundane things become fascinating, I found this to be an autotelic experience, the reward in the engagement and state of heightened attention.

Minor White encapsulates this simply; “Be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence” (Suler and Zakia, 2018, p.326) This was a defining moment, I began mindfully walking in the landscape, as a means of investigation and connection, this would inform my practice on subsequence trips.

Malahide to Portmarnock 5KM coastal walk - Dublin Bay, 2018

Dublin A short trip to Dublin Bay in August, exploring the coast areas reached by The Dart coastal trainline and Glendough National park.

I found this trip the least successful and was dissatisfied with the results. I struggled to gain a sense of connection and the state of mind required to focus and engage with the locations visited.

These seascape series images focus on the lack of landmark, blurring the lines between land and sea, remove the sense of place yet the essence of shoreline remains. Using light in place of paint, the images cross the boundary between painting and photography.

Light Waves Series - Villa Joyosa, Spain, 2018

Spain The final destination, a week in a small fishing town, Villa Joyosa, on the East Coast of Spain in November.

Villa Joyosa - Literally means Joyful Town The location was chosen for its proximity to the sea and easy access to surrounding coves and coastal paths. The apartment overlooked the sea, where I was able to observe the changing light and weather. I walked the sands during dawn and dusk, when the light was the most dramatic and vibrant and there were very few distractions or people. The rising and setting of daylight also enabled me to record movement at slower shutter speeds; moving with the rhythmic motion of the waves, distilling the scene, creating pure forms extracting only the essential. These resulting abstract distillations focus on the light rather than the subject, in much the way, Batcher states, “In paying attention to the display of light rather than something illuminated by light, photography starts to move away from representation towards abstraction” (Caponigro, 2018) Abstraction offers a new perspective, opening up the possibility of other realities, art works that challenge and awaken our senses enable us to see the world from a different view point, for artist and viewer alike. Thus, reveals the artist’s intuition and unveils the viewers interpretation a like.

This reflects, Alfred Stieglitz idea of the Equivalence, “…photographs have power “not due to subject matter” he suggested that photography, capable of but not limited to abstraction, can move beyond transcription without abandoning verisimilitude.

The visible can be used to reveal the invisible; the external can be used to reveal the internal.” Through equivalence the photographic object created becomes a reflection of both the external things it represents and the internal states of its creator. This reflective capacity is extended to the viewers, who re-experience this shared process in their own ways. (Caponigro, 2018) The week spent in Villa Joyosa, was a positive multi-sensory experience; I found the continual sound of the sea reassuring, the power of the ocean instinctively inspiring, the sunlight uplifting and the tranquillity restorative.

When body and mind become one within the space they occupy allows for exploration of the self through the place… “where we are fully ourselves, at home in our bodies in their fundamental modes… (Solnit, 2014, p.273)

Walk Series - Finland, 2018

Process Shift Although my preferred choice of media is traditionally film based and the use of analogue processes, the shift to digital on these projects enabled me to become more fluid, with less emphasis on the technical aspect, a freer approach allowed full focus on the moment, and total immersion in the present. The outcomes are often irrelevant, it is the action and engagement that is the most satisfactory element of photography. Employing photography as a means of meditation and freedom. For if photography is about the moment, one must be truely in that moment. “Process is greater value than the product, that making exceeds the thing made, the experience outweighs the material form� (Baas, 2004, p.166) Walking through the landscape whilst shooting, without framing through the view finder relinquished full control and added another dimension to the process, what was captured was a sense of moments in time - fluid and unpredictable. By inviting elements of chance, freed and liberated oneself to another level with the result being a collaboration between nature and intuition.

To lose oneself, to know ones self‌

Glendalough - Ireland, 2018

Meditative Photography Solnit reflects on the notion of walking as a means of meditation, and its connection to the Chinese tradition – the Four Dignities; standing, lying, sitting and walking. …” On foot everything stays connected…mind and body harmonise in a rhythmical sway...”

(Solnit, 2014, p.276) Walking meditation is a practice of stillness in motion, and takes on a unique importance amongst the four dignities because it entails movement. (Carroll, 2015, p. 78) This I feel links to Zen mindfulness and Minor White’s attitude towards process and suggestive commonality, between photography and Zen mindfulness, The state of mind of a photographer while creating is a blank… For those who would equate “blank” with a kind of static emptiness, I must explain that this is a special kind of blank. It is a very active state of mind really, a very receptive state of mind, ready at an instant to grasp an image, yet with no image pre-formed in it at any time. We should note that the lack of a pre-formed pattern or preconceived idea of how anything ought to look is essential to this blank condition. Such a state of mind is not unlike a sheet of film itself – seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second’s exposure conceives a life in it. (White, 1959) White believed creativity and spirituality shared common source inherent processes. He encouraged students to look beyond seeing, to immerse themselves in their subject in a slow and meditative way that offered another way to see that was not rational or linear.

This engagement in creative process was a way to get in touch with the truth.

During his time teaching at the California School of Fine Art he outlined ‘five approaches to subject matter’ as part of the general aims of photography courses in the department; Mechanical Recording, Objective Interpretation, Impressionist, Equivalent, Subjective or Free Photography.

He also taught the importance of reaching a sensitive state of mind through doing.

Rather than waiting for inspiration he encouraged students to venture into the landscape without expectation, to let the subject find them and their intuition indicate the right moment.

Reaching a “Creative state of mind through positive action is considered preferable to waiting for inspiration” (Comer et al., 2006, p. 82) “In photography as well as meditation noticing and concentration work as partners that complement each other, you open up to notice something in the field of view that is your consciousness…” (Suler and Zakia, 2018, p. 328) “To take photographs,” wrote Henri Cartier-Bresson, “is to hold one’s breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality... It is putting one’s head, one’s eyes and one’s heart on the same axis... It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one’s originality. It is a way of life.”

For Cartier-Bresson, photography is not merely a profession but a liberating engagement with life itself, the camera not just a machine for recording images but “an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.” (Batchelor, n.d.)

Glendalough - Ireland, 2018

Summary Reflection This project over the last few months has evolved and developed significantly from the initial proposed intentions, both in respect of creative approach and process.

I’ve learnt the importance of not having too fixed an idea, to be receptive and open minded. A deepened awareness of the process of art and one’s engagement in the process is key to the creative process - it requires a reliance on intuition and inner knowledge to connect all senses to be fully in the right moment.

Photography is an awareness in the present moment, when the mind is engaged creatively it is essentially the same state as a mind in meditation, all things connected, in the moment, not past or future but the here and now, the present. This is the only time we can truly be free.

To be moved to take photographs, like being inspired to practise meditation, is to embark on a path. In both cases you follow an intuitive hunch rather than a carefully considered decision.

Something about “photography” or “meditation” draws you irresistibly. While you may initially justify your interest in these pursuits with clear and compelling reasons, the further you proceed along their respective paths, the less you need to explain yourself. The very act of taking a photograph or sitting in meditation is sufficient justification in itself. The notion of an end result to be attained at some point in the future is replaced by an understanding of how the goal of photography or meditation is right here, waiting to be realized each moment.

(Batchelor, n.d.)

Photography and art have the power to connect us to nature, communicate an experience not possible with words, provide new openings, and be a transformative experience for both maker viewer alike. Working with intentional camera movement and free photography techniques were transformative for both my processes and outcomes.

The sense of being temporally and spatially untether while making or viewing art is fairly common, and its affinities to a meditative state are obvious… if our capacity for joy comes not only from being in the moment, but also ‘depends on, and supports, the ability to tolerate surprise and unpredictably in one’s life’, the perhaps joy is a potential outcome of arts ability to jolt us out of our usual ways of seeing. (Baas, 2004, p.83)

Outcomes & Siting Completed work includes; 12”x16” Portfolio Finland, ‘Stillness in Motion’ book Selected large format mounted prints for upcoming gallery shows;

Group MA Photography show, Hardwick Gallery February 2019 Gloucester Guildhall Gallery August 2020

Further development opportunities include, developing classes/courses on meditative photography - connecting students to nature through the use of photography and mindfulness.

Research into other potential outcomes include, photo festivals, open calls/awards, and portfolio review.

Ongoing opportunities and submissions, Creates Gallery Emerging Artist Award 2019 The Empty Quarter Gallery

References Baas, J. and Jacob, M. J. (2004) Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Batchelor, S. (n.d.). Photography and Meditation. [online] Stephenbatchelor.org. Available at: https://www. stephenbatchelor.org/index.php/en/photography-and-meditation [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

Cadwalladr, C. (2014). Frédéric Gros: Why Going for a Walk is the Best Way to Free your Mind. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/20/frederic-gros-walk-nietzsche-kant [Accessed 10 Sep. 2018].

Caponigro, J. (2018). John Paul Caponigro: Equivalence. [online] Johnpaulcaponigro.com. Available at: http:// www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/about/statements/themes/2013-equivalence/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2018].

Carroll, C. (2015) The four dignities: The Spiritual Practice of Walking, Standing, Sitting, and Lying Down.

London: Singing Dragon. P78 Comer, S., Klochko, D. and Gunderson, J. (2006) The Moment of Seeing: Minor White at the California School of Fine Arts. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2004). Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi over flow. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www. ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=nl [Accessed 06 Dec. 2018].

Danvers, J. (2006) Picturing Mind: Paradox, Indeterminacy and Consciousness in Art & Poetry. Amsterdam: Rodopi (Consciousness, literature & the arts, 3).

DeWolfe, G., Raber, K., Dubovoy, and M., Peterson, D., (2014). The Synthesis of Chinese Landscape Painting and Photography - Luminous Landscape. [online] Luminous Landscape. Available at: https://luminouslandscape.com/the-synthesis-of-chinese-landscape-painting-and-photography/ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2018].

Hirsch, R. (2017) Seizing the Light: a Social & Aesthetic History of Photography. Third ed. New York, NY: Routledge.

Macfarlane, R. (2013) The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot.

Money, R. (n.d.). Minor White and the Quest for Spirit. [online] The Awakened Eye. Available at: https:// theawakenedeye.com/pages/minor-white-and-the-quest-for-spirit/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2018].

Sioli, A. (2015). Frederic Gros (2014) A Philosophy of Walking. [online] CultureMachine. Available at: https:// www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewFile/568/578 [Accessed 11 Nov. 2018].

Solnit, R. (2014). Wanderlust. New York: Penguin Books.

Suler, J. R. and Zakia, R. D. (2018) Perception and Imaging: Photography as a Way of Seeing. Fifth ed. New York, NY: Routledge.

Suzuki, S. (1981). Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. New York: Weatherhill.

Ward, D. (2008) Landscape Beyond: A Journey into Photography. London: Argentum.

White, Minor. The Way Through Camera Work. Aperture, Vol. 7, No. 2, New York 1959 Full bibliography available at; AD7000 Light Waves Blog