Artist Statement

My project’s goal was to play with the idea of time and space in a photograph. I wondered if pictures were limited to just one moment in time. Could I manipulate a photograph to resemble motion picture? How could I portray this manipulation?

These were all things that went through my head before I started my project. I decided my course of action would be to take pictures of a person in action. My manipulation would be double exposure. I would develop a single picture to feature more than one moment in time.

The first thing I did was download a 30-day free trial of Photoshop. During this time period I experimented with a few photos to make sure I knew how to create the double exposure effect. Then I took a friend to the park and photographed her on a swing. I captured her at the top, middle and back of a swing through. Then I downloaded my pictures into Photoshop and combined them into one image.

Unfortunately, I found out that my ‘practice’ double exposure photos had worked out so well because they all had black backgrounds and the edges of the layered pictures were not obvious. My final project pictures on the swing didn’t turn out with the same effect because they were taken during the day. My goal was met, but not as cleanly as I had hoped for. So I decided to only combine two images, and ended up creating a pretty clear photograph.

Although my final project photograph didn’t turn out to be what I had originally intended, I still think it was a success. It demands more attention than a normal photo, and mimics motion picture to the best of its capability. It establishes space that a normal photo cannot because the subject is in two places at one time. And of course, time is defied, because in one moment I was able to capture more than one action.

My Final Project

Progress

I have combined the three pictures in Photoshop to make one layered, or double exposed, picture. It didn't turn out quite as I had expected. Unfortunately, I have discovered that these photos are best combined if they have black backgrounds so you cannot see the edges of the individual pictures.

Progress

The subject matter for my photographs is a person in action at a park. This person, my not-so-enthused roommate, swung on a swing while I photographed her at three different points in the air. These three photos combined into one will hopefully create action that can't be produced in a single photograph. Next, I will combine them using photoshop and hopefully have my finished experiment.

Progress

I used the double exposure feature with these two photos to experiment and preview what my final project may look like.

Progress

So far in my experiment I have downloaded software to digitally enhance a photo. I will be using Photoshop to double expose an action shot. After downloading this software (the free, 30 day trial) I was amazed to see just how much you can do with it. If I hadn't already decided on my experiment, I would have many other ideas just by playing around with Photoshop. I've decided to start brainstorming some other ways I can expand my experiment so far. Would a double exposure effect the idea of space as much as time in a picture? I plan to come up with some ways to play with this idea.

Project Idea

I've decided to consider photography as a media. My project will be a picture about pictures.To carry out this experiment, I've decided to explore the idea of double exposure and its relation to time. One of the limitations of photography is that a picture can only capture a single action, a single moment in time. Film, however, has the ability to capture real time. It can document movement and actions fluidly. So, can we manipulate pictures to capture more than one moment in time? I'm hoping that double exposing a single photo of a person in action can accomplish this. My project will be a photo's attempt to imitate motion picture in a single shot.