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katiestreatherphotography · 7 years ago

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Semester 2 - Expanded Photographic Practice Summative Project - Alzheimer’s

Initial Ideas

Contextual Research - Alzheimer’s Disease

1. Alzheimer’s vs Dementia

- Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common cause of Dementia

- Dementia describes the set of symptoms – memory loss, difficulty thinking, problem solving and communicating

- Alzheimer’s is a physical disease that effects the brain – protein builds up in the brain and effects the connection between the nerve cells and causes loss of brain tissue

- More than 520,000 people in the UK have the disease

- Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease which means that symptoms become more severe over time

2. Symptoms

- The earliest symptoms are memory lapses which effects day to day memory problems – such as lost items. Difficulty finding the right word, forgetting recent information, struggle with language/conversing, concentration and orientation etc.

- Later symptoms mean that the sufferer can become a lot less aware of what is going on around them

- Most people who develop Alzheimer’s do so after the age of 65

- People under this age develop ‘early-onset dementia’ – there are over 40,000 people in the UK living with this condition

- There are some risk factors that can be controlled such as lifestyle however there are some that cannot for example age and genetics - Factors include: age, gender (women>men), genetic inheritance, health and lifestyle

- There is currently no cure for Alzhiemer’s – however now a lot can be done to help sufferers live a normal life either with or without the assistance of medication alongside support and activities

3. Related Organisations

- Alzheimer’s Society

- Alzheimer’s Research UK

- Reference – Instagram Account - @endalzheimers_ray

Instagram account documenting the life of Raymond Kirton who is living with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. The account is used by one of his daughters documenting the highs and lows on this ever-changing journey. His daughter use hashtags to bring her fathers story to the attention of the world, they use hashtags like #endalzheimers, #dementiadiaries, #alzheimers and #dementia

Ref: @endalzhimers_ray

Artist & Photographer Research

Greg Segal

Remembered: The Alzheimer’s Photography Project

- Combines present day portraits of people living with Alzheimer’s with projected images from the past

Gregg Segal is an American photographer. Segal studied photography and film at the California Institute of the Arts (BFA) as well as ‘dramatic writing’ at the New York University.

Segal’s work often works with dramatic contrasts and juxtaposes the subject to engage the viewer. He is a well-recognised photographer whose work had been recognised by the photography organisations such as Magnum Photography Awards and The New York Press Club. He has also contributed work to the National Geographic Adventure and Wired as well as others. Remembered is a project created on behalf of people with Alzheimer’s, the concept behind the series was to symbolise the past becoming part of the present. Segal wanted to demonstrate the pasts prominence in the present as well as the distance of their memories. Segal created this project by selecting images from the subject’s family album and selected a number of photographs of their younger self. During the shoot Segal would project the chosen images into the set up. Segal essentially wanted the subject to share the frame with themselves. The set of images have a beautiful delicacy within the photographs to handling the subject of Alzheimer’s in a sensitive manner. They really are a window into the condition and personality of the individual and is also a comment on their life which reminds the viewer to grasp every moment of life.

This photograph shows Emily Bernice Chapman who is an Alzheimer’s patient from Philadelphia, the photograph shows her standing using a walking frame, which while reflecting her age also creates a wonderful shape in the image. The shape of her body and stance is really extended and bold in the image which brings the entire focus onto her first and then allows us to see the large projection in the background. The image of her younger self looks like she is wearing some kind of uniform which makes the audience wonder what role she may be have had in any of the uniformed services at a time where racism and racial injustice were rife. The neutral tones in the photograph give a calm feel to the image however this also makes the image feel a little clinical which reflects the environment she may live in. The image is beautifully lit from a high angle which gives this almost angelic and heavenly feel to the photograph as though she is almost looking up to heaven, which is a lovely statement being made by the photograph.

Ref: https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/alzheimers-gallery/

This photograph shows Susan Franklin an Alzheimer’s patient from the Agoura Hills in California. The photograph shows Susan at her current age while holding the hand of her younger self and what I assume is her mother. Susan is shown leaning out the window in the centre of the photograph which works really well in the photograph this is because it allows the projected image to cover the entirety of the frame. The contrast in colour of the image gives a wonderful feel to the image, the bright lights and colours in the section add a real sense of brightness and positivity to the photograph despite the prognosis of the condition. The image chosen by Segal from her family album is particularly wonderful because it has allowed him to intertwine the past and present in one photograph. The sentiment behind the image is so moving which I feel really draws the audience into the image and really captivates them which is so effective in bringing the illness to the audience’s attention.

Ref: https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/alzheimers-gallery/

The final photograph I find eye catching is the image of Carole Bales from Georgia. As far as I can tell from the image it looks as though Carole still lives at home with her husband/partner. This photograph truly shows the wonderful relationship that she has with her husband , you can tell from the way he is holding him that she feels safe when she is near him. It feels a though her husband is her security and she is therefore clinging onto what makes her feel her most safe and secure. It also makes me feel as though she is not fully aware or comfortable in her surroundings even though it is her house because of her condition. Therefore I feel that the photograph is clinging onto what she finds is her security and reassurance in her husband. I think the contrast between present day Carole and past Carole is quite beautiful because it is such a distinct difference between the two, I also think that the position of the projection works really well as it blends into the entire frame really nicely.

Ref: https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/alzheimers-gallery/

Sabato Visconti

- Glitch Photographer

Sabato Visconti is a photographer and visual artist whose work focuses on glitching photographs. Visconti uses applications such as ‘Pixel Drifter’ but also sometimes goes through individual pixels and coding. His images are generally very bright images that are brightly coloured and enhanced images.

This image is a notable example of a glitched photograph, the piece almost looks like an art deco painting. The image looks like a painting which is completely the opposite to how the original image would have looked. The range of colours in the photograph add a vividness to the image as well as this it has a wonderful sense of symmetry that works well in the photograph.

Ref:

https://www.ignant.com/2014/09/23/glitch-photography-by-sabato-visconti/

The second photograph is a glitched image of a mother and father holding their child in the air. The glitch image has a modern vibe to it, as well as a painted look to the piece because of how unusual and surreal it is. The range of colour and tone in the image is interesting as it clearly defines the subjects and the scene far more than other images because of it’s clarity. Despite the glitching you can still feel the warmth and sentiment that would have been captured in the photograph making its content and purpose more visible for the audience.

Ref:https://www.ignant.com/2014/09/23/glitch-photography-by-sabato-visconti/

This glitch photograph shows what appears to be a young women sitting on a beach or some kind of grassland. The image has a abundance of lines that were caused by the glitching technique. The array of directional lines all create this flow towards the centre f the image where the subject is. The image feels very mysterious as we have very little information in relation to the situation and because of the glitching makes the image a lot more interesting and intriguing. The neutral tones alongside the pops of bright blue really add a hint of brightness to the photograph as well as a direct and bold line from the subject to the frame.

Ref:https://www.ignant.com/2014/09/23/glitch-photography-by-sabato-visconti/

Glitching is a technique we would like to include in our Alzheimer’s project, I have really enjoyed and enjoyed with Sabato Visconti’s work and is something I would like to take on into the project. However, I would like them to be a little clearer so that there is clarity in what and who appears in the photographs.

Idea Analysis

Chosen Photographs for Glitching

Editing Process

- Glitched Images Editing

I began editing by editing each image by resizing the images to similar sizes and changing the resolution to 150 pixels per inch. I then resaved each image as a TIFF file, I used this process for all six photographs in the series.

I then opened the TIFF files on photoshop, while editing the photographs I used the technique of using Filter>Distort>Wave to create this fragmented and distorted effect. I would then use the wave or square technique that would shift the image and would create this distorted and fragmented feel to the photographs that we want to create. I also created a layer via copy and used the Filter> Filter Gallery effects to create this fuzzy and unclear effect, I used the glass effect from the filter gallery on some of the images. I then change the opacity of the first layer which enhanced this unclear feel.

I initially got this idea of using the Wave effect from this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmxf3m2o13k&t=837s

This is the technique I used for most of the photographs however on one of the photographs I tried a more manual technique. Which was to have two layers of the same image and cut rectangular shapes out of the image using the rectangular marquee tool, this allowed me a lot more control over which parts of the photographs the cuts would be along. For example, I wanted the eyes and mouth to be in complete sections to give some stability to the image.

After editing all the images initially in this manner, I then edited the original image 5 different ways, so we were able to create a glitched series of image. I then took each series of photos one by one into Adobe Premier Pro to create an animation/GIF of the photographs. Using the photographs, I created a animation that was very short and then used Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and paste the short clip multiple times to create a long clip. Once I had done this I then exported the clip so I could create the tiled glitch video that we wanted to have for our video.

Once I had exported all the glitched/animated videos into premier pro I used the Position tool on the effects palette to manually position each screen into a tiled position on the entire frame. I layered each screen on top of one another and faded them in at different points to gradually engage this confused state and uncertain feel to the work. The footage is about 8 Minutes long and becomes very confusing as the viewer continues to watch the screen. We will then contrast this with a slower paced video that includes nature footage alongside footage of Chloe’s Nan, Sylvia in hospital as well as footage encompassing her house and garden. I used Adobe Premiere Pro to add the footage and cut it together alongside the song Only You by The Platters.

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Final Production

Below are my favourite glitched photographs from this project .

This is the final edit of our two screen projection called ‘Distorted Memories’.

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