Friday, 18 May 2012

Seeing Double




         While doing the alternative processes unit I was trying to figure out a way I could incorporate my love for film photography into a successful and creative piece of work. The double exposure method seemed to fit that description to a T. And so after countless frustrating, ugly and just plain awful attempts I was able to create two images from my negatives that I am very happy with. The top picture is of my two good friends Nicole and Elizabeth. This photo was taken in grade 10 and I chose to expose them on to a picture of tulips because to me, flowers represent new growth and development which is exactly what these friends went through. Tulip bulbs survive tough winters and rebloom every season. Nicole and Elizabeth have stuck together through any problems our group of friends may have endured and so that is why I decided to use the adorablly happy picture of them together. They represent the new growth and development of their friendship no matter how harsh the winter.
     The second picture shows a double exposure of the same picture of flowers paired with my favorite little barn cat named Captain. Captain was my pal all through last spring and summer whenever I was teaching or visiting at my friend's stable out near London, Ontario. She was always peppy, loved to cuddle and was just my best little friend. I was absolutely devestated when I learned that Captain had been struck and killed by a truck out on the dirt road the farm was on. Flowers are always given to those who have lost a sign of mourning, and it just so happens that Captain was buried in a flower bed on their property. While this image may just seem like a double exposure of a cat and flowers, to me it is comforting to think that she will always be with the flowers.
     To make these two themes a little more definite, I chose to make the main subject in the top picture to be my friends, as the picture is mostly about them. The bottom picture of Captain is meant to be mroe of a memorial and that is why I chose to make her a little more faded into the background of the flowers.

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