Prior to my candidacy review I frequently used a low key lighting method in my photographs that then became the basis for a series of charcoal drawings. In preparation for my candidacy, I began to use appropriated digital images from modern cinema in order to create narrative sequences. I wanted these sequences of images to emulate film noir. The sequences of images were poetically and intuitively constructed by placing one image next to another to form a visual narrative. In these visual narratives I utilized my `noir filter,’ which is essentially a conversion of a color image to a high contrast monochromatic image, using a loosely drawn application of ink with black and white digital prints.
The first series of hand drawn frames was composed of approximately 20 images, each 4.25“ x 10”, as a way to emulate the ratio of a wide screen format. I then began to investigate digital printing processes in order to achieve images that resembled my hand drawn frames. Through trial and error I discovered that if I printed a digital still image onto wet paper through an inkjet printer, I could create images similar to what I was drawing. In addition to these `wet prints,’ I experimented with various transfer processes. In one process, I would print a digital still onto a piece of dry acetate and apply the inked image to a sheet of moistened paper. This resulted in an abstracted image, far removed from the initial representation of the original image. The abstracted images resulting from this process allowed for dynamic juxtapositions as I linked them to more representational ones. By sequencing the abstract transfers, `wet prints’ with hand drawn images I began to play with visual rhythms.
The poetic narrative sequences were formed by placing one image next to another, not predetermined but freely arranged based on the formal and aesthetic outcome of each particular drawing. For example, to explore different visual rhythms I placed lighter drawings next to darker drawings or abstract transfer prints next to clear `wet prints.’ Dispersed through these visual rhythms or purposeful lack of rhythm I then interjected the linking of subject matter and camera work. In such an instance I may have placed a drawing that contains characters in two-shot (a camera shot framing two characters) next to a character held at gunpoint, which might be placed next to a character in one-shot. The established link might infer an act of violence, or determine positions of power among the characters.