I intend to develop a final piece in response to the theme ‘People and Places’. I will begin my research by looking at the work of Susan Derges and Victoria Siemer.
I will do research, gather images and information and create a plan in order to develop my ideas towards a final piece.
Artist Bio
Victoria Siemer is a photographer from Brooklyn, New York who specialises in digital image manipulation of landscapes.
Susan Derges is a Devon-based photographer who specialises in camera-less photography methods. She is known for her cyanotype and photogram pieces which feature natural elements such as landscapes, trees and rivers in contrasting colours to create a visually intriguing image.
Artist Examples
Artist Analyses
Victoria Siemer’s work primarily focuses on manipulated nature. In her mirrored landscape images the foreground is typically composed of a landform (e.g. a cliff, a forest, a mountain, etc.) with the background comprising of a mysterious mist or fog which helps make the transition to the flipped image more convincing as it hides the edge. Meanwhile, in her teacup images the foreground is a teacup or mug with some form of natural environment positioned inside with the cup itself being placed on a simple background such as a plain colour or texture. Siemer’s work is realistic, in which some elements have been manipulated.
The pieces are arranged pretty basically; they typically have the interest in the central third of the image. The colours of the images tend to be quite muted with a few vibrant exceptions, she also uses a lot of contrast between the highlights and shadows.
Her work was most likely taken using a digital camera and then edited using photoshop or another photo editing software alternative. In order to reach the level of quality which she is working at, Siemer would have spent a large amount of time creating these images.
Her flipped landscape pieces provoke a mysterious feeling, this is primarily because of her use of natural mist and fog which obscures sections of the landscape making the viewer wonder what is hidden, the landscape pieces also elicit a feeling of relaxedness and inspiration. Her teacup images incite a sense of curiosity as they are seemingly an immense world packed within the confines of a small teacup.
The subject of Susan Derges' works are natural features such as vegetation, trees, rivers and other landscapes. These are often distorted by ripples in water or framed within an arch shape. Her images are realistic as the subject matter is observed directly, however their sharp contrasting and unnatural colours can make it appear abstract.
The work, as mentioned above, is sometimes framed by an arch or another shape, the images are arranged simply with the subject matter usually in the centre. The images use contrasting colours such as black and white or (for her cyanotypes) blue and black.
She creates all of her photos using camera-less photography techniques including photograms and cyanotypes. For her “River Taw” series she placed a piece of photo-sensitive/photographic paper beneath the surface of the water and exposed it to the moon-light. This process produced an image that distorted whatever was above the water with the ripples in the river.
The mood created by her images is one of wonder and awe as her images capture the sky, meaning that the viewer is left to ponder space and the beauty of the earth. As such her images are quite soothing and relaxing to view.
Contact Sheet
Final Piece
