Assignment 4: The Day After - Joiner

Theme:
Photomontage in artist David Hockney’s style which he called “joiner”.
Hockney explored difference between mechanical view and eye’s/minds view (single vs. multiple point of view).
What is photomontage:
Photomontage is the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs.


Where will you be, the day after.

(click for larger image)

"Where will you be, the day after."

i'm quite certain many of us have asked ourselves this, hm well at least i do, many times too. there are so many things that all of us wish to do, but we'll never get down to doing it and end up living the life that we are stuck in.

there are many interpretations to this rhetorical question, and each different question one gets will relate closely to themselves. i hope that through this piece of work, people will bring themselves to think about their lives and what they really want. not calling for deep thinking, just a 5 mins self evaluation of our own lives, and maybe for that short period of time we'll find what we really want inside.

for me, i've always wanted to travel. i've always loved travelling for the diverse cultures and things to experience. my dad used to tell me the purpose of life is to allow us to daringly explore and learn everytg around us. he believes in no restrictions in learning, and that travel would expose us to different cultures that would make us better people. i guess he has influenced me and taught me well (: this railway shot is in a sense my constant reminder of me and my dad's belief.

this work is a collation of approximately 400 photos. i stood at a specific spot and moved the tripod from left to right so as to ensure that the photos will not be messy when i'm piecing them together. my sd card is full (more than 900 shots) when i'm done shooting for the day, and i was perspiring like a mad cow haha. saved up some memory space and went to the few more distinct objects to take close up shots of their different parts in different angles.

the work took 4 days of piecing :\ it was really tiring, especially since i'm using a laptop and it just kept hanging iwas almost driven crazy from waiting. this is my 2nd piece of work actually, the first one didn't work out. remember i mentioned that i took close up shot of some significant objects? i started with piecing them tog, and the 6 currently "blown up in size" objects turned out small and insignificant. it was because i kept them at their original size (not blown up). it looks boring and probably can pass off as a single shot photo.

i felt so displeased with it. but the thought of erasing the done-up piece and start over again is not exactly exciting :\ however being quite the perfectionist (at times haha), i had to do it :( this time round, i did the piecing as though im doing a jigsaw puzzle. start from the 4 corners and inch inwards the middle. when reaching the parts where the significant objects are supposed to be, i would used the close-up shots taken to form bigger size images. this is so to create emphasis on them as these are the important objects i want to highlight to the viewer. the tracks are naturally huge from the angle of the shots, so it was left alone as it is. importantly, the exit for the trains in the background is blown up 3times the original size. the 3 signs by the tracks and the operating devices (the blue box at the right, the direction signals in the middle) are blown up as well, 2-4 times their original sizes, depending on how estatically pleasing they look to me :)

my purpose for blowing these objects up is to draw awareness to their significance and their relation to the theme "where will you be, the day after." the signs symbolise the reminder to people about the direction they are heading. the operating devices symbolise the things/ppl that meet travellers on their way to search for what they want. they might motivate or hinder their journey and thus cause the change of tracks (paths in life). essentially, the exit symbolise the unexpected route ahead, hence bringing the theme into audience's mind.

evaluation:

i like Yikang's work best. he was on his trip in cambodia, and i'm sure time constraint is a huge obstacle. to be able to produce such work within a short period of time is not easy, and not satisfying too, as he mentioned in his entry. it is understandable, photomontage is not something you can force yourself to sit down and do within a specific time. there are small details or methods that one might miss out, and the longer time it is, the better one can improve on the work. so i'm really impressed with his "remember pursat", especially the bending of the parallel street. initially i thought it was already a bent street. knowing that this montage cannot be replaced with a snapshot of the scene makes the work more impressive. what's more, i like the message that he's conveying. "remember pursat" reminds me of the village in Cambodia that i've been to, and always telling myself that i will be back to visit the kids and see how the adults are doing. however, eventually this feeling will slip away.. and it'll just become a thing of the past. having seen his montage brings me back to how i felt then. maybe cos i can relate to it, i do feel the sense of nostagia it evokes :) however, i still like my work best. haha yes throw aside modesty, i will be shameless just this once. i am proud of my work, and i rarely feel this way. it feels good haha. the 4days of editing, the pails of sweat, my laggy laptop, the thoughts i put into it (i dont think this hard oftenly haha), and being able to tear away from the norm to insert emphasis on details are some things that make me feel like grading myself a 100. :) pls do comment if you think otherwise alright? taking mine as a perfect 10, i give yikang a 92! :)