What's It Made Of?

The other day I was rummaging through my photographs and ended up creating this.

Frankly, I don't know what I'll ever do with this picture (other than use it as a teaching tool), but it was fun to make, and here's what I used:

There are two versions of the picture -- the original vertical format and then the squarified version. Why? Because each version gives you a different feel.

In the top image, there's both vertical and horizontal movement. There's a horizontal line up top, which echoes the horizontal line of the "4665" at the bottom.

Then there's the hand, which sort of links, in a vertical fashion, those two horizontal elements.

The square version does not emphasize movement. Your eye goes plonk, right to the hand/number combo. It looks around a little bit, but always sees the numbers and the hand. Not nearly as much movement as the first picture, but rather immediate impact.

There are basically just three pictures I used to make this. And I found them all in a boatyard.

First, there's the background, which is a photo I took of the side of a boat that was being refurbished, so you're seeing scraped and sanded paint, dirt, grunge, grime, and a number of dusty, faded colors.

I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHING THIS SORT OF THING!

Then there's the hand. I think it's really a painted glove that someone slapped on a wall.

And then there are the numbers, which caught my eye because they're pulling away from whatever they're stuck on, which gives them a certain depth and texture. Didn't need all the numbers; four worked fine.

And that's about it. I've shown you the sorts of things I take photos of, and then how I've combined them into one semi-weird photo that darned if I know what I'll do with.

Except show it to you here.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

What's it made of?

I get lots of questions regarding my photomontages, especially regarding the components I use to make them. So let me show you an example.

Here's a photomontage (called "San Francisco 1952") I made this morning and uploaded to Fine Art America. Will it ever sell? I doubt it. It's just too weird. And perhaps too plain. Not interesting enough. But I like it, so what the heck. Maybe there's someone out there as weird as I who will just love it. (I also uploaded a square version of this same image, in case someone wants it made into a throw pillow. Yeah, I know . . . weird.)

So what photographs did I take to make this AWESOME piece of work?

First, I saw this shipping container up in Newport. I was drawn to the peeling paint and the red, black, and white graphics. So I zoomed in closer.

See how the paint is peeling upward? See the big letter "I?" See the vertical red bits? See the scratches? Love those things. And so click, there's my photo.

And then I have, in my collection at home, lots of envelopes, stamps, cancellation marks, etc. I liked how clear the San Francisco cancellation was on the envelope, liked the old-fashioned plane, liked the red, white, blue trim on the right. It's all so retro, so 1950s, that it has character. I decided to incorporate this bit in the montage.

But what else do I have in my stash? I felt I needed something in the lower left to create a sort of diagonal flow in the photomontage, so I selected a picture I took of "No. 4955." I don't remember if it was on an envelope I had, but it was in a section of photos of other envelope "bits," so I think it was. I included it in the mix.

And then, so you don't have to scroll back up again, here's the final piece once again. (To see how important I thought it was to have "No. 4955" there in the lower left, block it out with your finger. See how empty that side of the photo looks without it?)

Do I plan these things ahead of time? Not at all. If I knew what I was going to make, there'd be no point in making it.

So I began with the close-up of the peeling paint. Played with it, felt it looked spare and simple and plain and had a retro modern-art vibe, so I riffled through my photos of stamps and envelopes until I found something appropriate and included it.

Then, feeling I needed some other compositional element, something "stampish," I found the "No. 4955" picture in my files and stuck it on.

It's like making a physical collage. Only my hands don't get dirty. And I can easily change my mind. Two concepts which are ridiculously important to me.

There you have it. So. What have YOU made today? Hmmmm?

©Carol Leigh

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!