Utampa Darkroom Students Getting Creative During COVID-19
Sample photography work students made from home with SAFE, yet experimental photo projects that they were able to setup from their own home. Switching online became a way for the students to work like most professional artists, independent and isolated and mirrored what many of them will be doing in the future as independent artists.
See work below:
Natalie Brooks
Accordion book print
30 x 10 inches
Blueberry emulsion
2 days in the sun
Natalie Brooks
Memento is an ongoing anthotype series of photographs of my immediate family. The emulsion is made from blueberries which will continue to expose over time since no fixative is added. This represents the natural impermanence of our lives. To keep these as a reminder of my family and for posterity I have taken photographs of them since the prints will fade over time. I want to continue this series with the addition of new generations.
Natalie Brooks
Anthotype print using blueberries.
Natalie Brooks
Anthotype print
Lacey Patt
Distressed polaroids using household cleaners
Lacey Patt
Distressed polaroids using household cleaners
Destiny Greer
Please, Don't" is a series looking at sexual assault. Freshmen year, I laid un-knowing in a friend's college dorm as a man snuck in to rape me. I am a survivor. A lot of stigma around being a survivor of sexual assault is being looked at as a victim, but with that comes ideologies of where were you, what were you wearing, what were you doing? I will answer all of these questions with the statement, "Does it really matter." Sexual assaults are never a cause of a survivor's choices but a cause of someone else's detrimental actions. Working with cyanotypes, I reconstructed the outfit I was wearing when I was sexually assaulted, taking artistic liberties of course, in order to recreate moments and elements from this event that have stuck with me. These garments are hand-sewn and then worn. Although tedious, as I made each piece I allowed myself to pour my story into the canvas, and let go of emotions and memories that were haunting me. As I put this clothing on, I am accepting what can not be changed, and as I take them off, I am letting go of what happened. This series is to create thoughts within the viewer about the aftermath of actions and the way in which one can heal after unbelievable events. I hope by sharing my story I can help others heal. You are not alone
Destiny Greer
Cyanotype made into a hand-sewn garment
Destiny Greer
Cyanotype on fabric
Destiny Greer
Cyanotype on fabric
Kelly Tsai
Scanography
Brianna Young
For my final project I wanted to continue my theme of nostalgia and romanticism from my previous projects with image transfers. I chose image transfers because I like the aged, faded look that the process gives. I used gel medium and transferred the gel to a wood canvas.
I chose to self-portraits with a few objects that hold a lot of nostalgia for me, and I used the interesting shadows from these objects to create a texture on my face. There was a lot of experimentation for these pieces, it was a challenge to figure out what worked for the transfer process.
Brianna Young
Image transfer
Brianna Young
Image Transfer
Chandler Culotta
Stretched Pixels
Ashley Brieden
For this project, I wanted to making an existing work of art into something new. I had made many large scale cyanotype prints for my last thesis project. With this project, I had many experimental mistakes which could not be used for the final body of work. Having the leftover pieces gave me the opportunity to take a failed print and create it into a new piece of art. I took those prints and cut out and made collages of the surroundings of my home. I made them into a polaroid type frame to show how one photograph can become a different photograph.
Natalie Brooks
Brother
Transparency Film on paper
8.5 x 11 inches
Fused together portraits due to being printed on the wrong side
Natalie Brooks
Mother and Son
Transparency Film on paper
8.5 x 11 inches
Fused together portraits due to being printed on the wrong side