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Exhibition Site Relocated

After producing our final prints for the project, we agreed that the original site we had chosen was not strong enough to convey the theme we based our project on.

Fortunately we found a new site which conveyed the theme of our project much better. Using the area surrounding a decomisshed temporary structure cetainly looked right for our project, but we had to add some elements to improve it further.

One member suggested including objects from the skips around the rear entrance of Kingsway and using them as props in the final exhibit, but we thought of adapting it further and actually placing our objects onto the discarded objects, including them in another dynamic.

These images are of the exhibition site before we added our final prints:

Hand Made Prints

These images are a continuation of my experiment with manual printing methods. The images I had selected for the prints were shots I plan to use in the final exhibition. I wanted to see how I could achieve a 'weathered' and decayed effect from the prints simply by altering the printing technique and avoid completely ruining them with other methods.

These are the resulting prints:

Original Print

Manual Print
The clearly visible grain adds a strong weathered effect to the print, this was achieved by using low quality cartridge paper.

Original Print

Manual Print - First Attempt
During the inking process while trying to remove the excess ink, the cloth used to clean the plate left fabric on the plate itself and has shown through on the final print. I don't see this as a poor result, in my opinion I feel it enhances the feel of age and decay.

Manual Print - Second Attempt
After sending the plate and paper through the manually operated press I removed the print too quickly and as a result it tore the cartridge paper. Again I feel this adds to the feel of weathering and helps convey the theme I am trying to achieve. According to the technician who took me through the print process said this result can also be a result of using low quality paper, it would unlikely happen with the expensive material I will use for my final prints.

Experimenting with prints

These are a couple of photographs which have been taken through the metal print process, it required me to print the selected photographs onto acetate and treat it similarly to working in a darkroom, exposing the work to a certain number of light units onto a thin film which was stuck to a thin aluminium plate. The next step involved re-exposing the plate to light and exposing it through a certain film, followed by soaking the print in a solution which allowed it to wear away the unnecessary film.

I then needed to rinse the plate removing the solution and placing it in a heated darkroom to dry the plate fully and left it for 20 minutes. Afterwards I could start applying the ink to the plate, spreading it on with stiff card I made sure the entire plate was covered, next I had to remove the excess ink with a 'balled-up' piece of scrim. Once the fabric had removed all the ink it could I needed to move onto the next step; using 'directory pages' and the palm of my hand I worked away at the excess ink, constantly needing to move onto another piece of paper as it collected the ink quickly, once done I could move onto the final step.

The last step involved taking the plate and placing it onto the manual printing press, I then put the pre-soaked paper onto and covered the work with the press blanket and moved the plate through the press by hand. The long process complete.

These are some of my final prints:

Original Photograph; close-up of decaying doorway

Resulting Print; creating the effect of age

Original Photograph; collapsed wall down alleyway

Resulting Print; strong bold border framing the print well

Initial Ideas

These are a series of scanned pages of initial ideas I have developed on how I feel our group can display our work for the exhibition.

1st idea; using large panels to create an optical illusion for the viewer, encouraging them to search for the image and become more involved in the piece, alternatively from simply glancing at the photos. 2nd idea; create multiple panels which each of us would submit one panel to form one image, the subject would remain the same but the variation would be in the photographer's style; exposure time, print process, colour or black and white etc.

3rd idea; immerse the viewer in a world of our final prints, creating a four walled room which the viewer can walk in and see the variation in work pieced together to form a collaboration of work. 4th idea; creating a large scale montage of the work we have done as a group, the amount of photographs we took at Denbigh asylum would work brilliantly here, the range of photographs coupled together would compliment each other, it's a way of portraying the environment which we visited and creating an abstract final piece.

5th idea; adapt the multiple panel idea from the first page but alternatively include different forms of media, all of the members of the team are combined honors, it seemed a good idea to use our skills in other forms of media and show the range in the exhibition, for example the majority of the members are graphic design students so we can include our drawing and design skills where as other members specialize in multimedia so could include a video format in the final piece. 6th idea; using the montage idea suggested earlier but not restrict it to the walls of the Kingsway building, instead use the materials and objects around the area, for examples the staircases and railings could be used to display our work, it would spread the environment of the theme further. 7th idea; this idea would be grouped with another instead of working alone, this way I feel it becomes more effective. After researching David Shrigley; his use of small signs to attract attention really interested me, I thought of playing on this idea of curiosity. Instead of telling people to follow the signs or look at the work, imply to opposite, trying to deter people from viewing the work and as a natural reaction if you see a sign that says "don't look!" you inevitably look, it engages with the viewer and encourages them to spend time looking at the work.

Discussing Exhibition Plans

Our collaborative practice team are currently discussing how we should display our final prints in the exhibition area.


The exhibition will take place outside of the university's art and design building, this is a great opportunity to gain some interest in our work. With constant traffic throughout the building; many people will inevitably see our final photos.


The location is strong however how we will place the images is another issue. Being part of a team will require us to all agree on how the images should be printed and be displayed. I feel for the images to have a strong effect on the viewer the size will be important, if the images were too small then they would go unnoticed, but too large and the images could become distorted.


This is the area where our exhibition will take place:


I will add my range of ideas in the images in another post to show what I intend to achieve from this site.

Rear entrance

Side building

Air conditioning units

Fire Escape

Basement Access

Viewing Area

Denbigh Asylum

I've recently set up a new page on my blog; "Denbigh Asylum".

A psychiatric institution in Wales, I found it a great opportunity for some striking photographs. I've put up a select few of the hundreds of shots I've taken. They are related to my photography course I'm currently taking and I plan to use them in my final exhibition.