Photography or art? (reposting)

Dear Nitsa,
I love all your work but I am wondering why you are interested in changing or even destroying your pictures? Aren’t you ever happy with your pictures and want to leave them ‘as is’?   Mark

The answer to your question, dear Mark, has something to do with the role of photography. I’m not an expert on the history of art but it seems to me that until photography came around, art was a serious medium that was used to depict portraits and landscapes in a very responsible manner. But once photography assumed this important job, the artists were free to begin doing abstract and other types of visual interpretation. So photography was pretty much left with making portraits, landscapes and documenting events. This is very nice and nothing is wrong with it. But this doesn’t mean photography can’t be used in other ways. Despite its scientific and mechanical nature, it can even be an artistic medium.
Now, you call it “destroying your pictures” but I see it as “presenting my images in a non-traditional form” which is just one step in the process of making photos. This is why I prefer the term “making photos” and not “taking photos”. Photography can be a process of creating something artistic which is shaped by many steps such as: choosing the camera and film, locating the image, selecting the desired settings, making the exposure, developing and printing the photograph and finally presenting the image.
It is never “as is”. I’m not even sure what “as is” really means.
The bottom line is that photography does not have to be confined to a single limited view of its function and it should always be characterized and defined by the individual photographer.
So mark, I tried answering your question seriously, I hope it works for you.
Now, excuse me, I have to go destroy, I mean, distress a print or two.

Creative and extreme scanning

CREATIVE SCANNING
Scanning is such a pain… or is it? Well, it doesn’t have to be. You can think of scanning as a chore or move up to creative scanning.
Creative scanning is just a term to describe another cool way of cheering up the chore of scanning your negatives.
Unlike extreme scanning, which uses the scanner’s own settings, creative scanning is about using other materials as well, such as placing the negative underneath a glassine (or any other type of translucent paper) and then scanning as usual. It will create a soft painterly look. Using textured transparent paper will enhance the effect even more.
Another way of scanning creatively is scanning the image along with other objects placed on or around the image to create an interesting collage.
Also, placing multi-grade filters on top of the negatives can yield an interesting effect.
And of course, if you’re really adventurous you can always combine extreme and creative scanning together.

EXTREME SCANNING
Ok, don’t try looking up Extreme Scanning in the dictionary; it’s just a term I came up with to describe a technique I developed (it actually developed itself) while scanning my negatives. So this is how it’s done: You begin with an already scratched up or neglected negative and skip the cleaning up stage of scanning (as you can tell, this is a very good method for the lazy among us). You then play with the scanner’s settings; contrast, color balance, etc. until you like what you see and then simply scan away!

NYC 2006 / Extreme and creative scanning

Metallic Prints by Kodak

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was having a great deal of trouble with the complicated process of ordering metallic prints from dotphoto.com so ultimately I decided to order them from Kodak Gallery.
Metallic prints are printed on a special paper and display images with excellent depth and a distinctive metallic look. Color metallic prints are particularly vibrant, sepia prints have a gold-like glow while black & white have a unique silver shine.
Kodak metallic prints are of superior quality and just beautiful.  Another thing I liked is that they printed and  delivered the order in  just a few days which is always a plus.

I scanned the prints but there is no way to show or even give an idea what the metallic prints really look like.  I guess you will have to try them out for yourself.

So I made some of these prints available for purchase over here.
All the metallic print are signed and dated 5”X7” and I offer them for $45 each which includes shipping and a 4″X6″ standard print of the same image.

Buy these prints

Photo transfer to a mirror

Recently when the idea to try transferring images to a mirror hit me, I was quite surprised I didn’t come up with this wonderful idea long before.

When choosing an image to transfer it is best to choose a photo with plenty of white space so the mirror shows through.
Before beginning the transfer it is a good idea to prime the mirror with a glass & tile primer since it will increase transfer adhesion.
Next, cover a photocopy of your image (inkjet printout won’t work so well for this type of transfer) with a thin layer of mod podge or Gel Medium and place the photocopy face down onto the mirror. Make sure to smooth out any air bubbles between the transfer and the mirror.
Let the transfer take place and dry over night.
Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin to gently rub off and remove the paper to reveal the actual transfer.
Repeat this step as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
And finally, make sure to protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.

By the way, just so you know, the scan of the mirror transfer here does not do justice to the actual piece. So don’t let it discourage you from trying this style of transfer

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book:
So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10.
Get it here

inkjet image transfer II

Here is the second inkjet/printer image transfer I made. It is done exactly the same way the previous image transfer was done except this time I didn’t print the image on a standard contact sheet.
Instead I printed it on a clear sheet protector that has pockets; I believed they are used to hold baseball cards or something like that.
Anyway, this is just another approach to image transfer.
So what did we learn today? We learned that the great thing about image transfer is that it allows countless ways of doing it.
Go ahead, give it a try; I’m sure you’ll make me so proud

One way. New York City 2004. Black and white image transfer.