Artefact Blog Michael M

As I cannot explain the 'taking photographs' part of this session, I shall talk to you about making the film negative. Not one of my group members did the negative bit because I was the only one in my group which knew to do it (I might not be one step behind everybody now). So, to do this I took the film that they prepared for me earlier (put it in the lightproof bag and cut the film, reel it, place it in the container, etc.) and placed it aside. Then, I made the developer by putting in 540ml of water instead of 270ml and I made sure that was 20 degrees Celsius plus I added 60ml of developer instead of 30ml in the water and poured that inside the container (I had to put double the amount of everything because my group used 2 films instead of one. I occasionally had to shake it and bang it on the table every each minute. After a couple of minutes I poured the liquid in the sink and washed the container. I put some fix inside the container and waited for 10 minutes (I also had to shake and bang it on the table each minute has passed). When that has finished, I poured the fix in the carton where it came from, not the sink. I it quite useful because you can use the fix over and over again and you do not have to throw it away. Plus, fix is expensive so saving the fix is quite handy. Finally I washed it for ten minutes. When I took the film out, it did not turn out right because I have not left the fix long enough. Other people have done this as well. So, I had to leave it in the fix for awhile and wash it again. Fortunately, the film came out fine. I left it out to dry so when I come back from lunch, the film will be dry and ready to be used in the dark room.

After lunch the films were dry. Without further ado, I started cutting the films in sixes. This makes the negative films able to fit inside the negative file. James held the negatives for me so I can cut them nice and straight. When that was completed, I went inside the dark room. This time, I was more used to the strange red and could see more. I used the contact print maker first to make contact prints by slotting in the films in one half and put the photographic paper in the other half and closed the two halves together. I used the enlarger machine to shine white light onto the contact print maker. Then I develop, fix, wash and dry the photo, then they come up. I used these prints to see what my photographs will look like if I printed them. Meanwhile, I made some test strips to see the different shades of light on my photograph. This helped me choose the shade of light I want for my final prints. When I made the final prints, I kept on looking back at the test strips to see what kind of shade I would like.

Also, I mentioned in the last post that my target was I needed to get less distracted and get on with work. I think I have accomplished this because I have improved making prints, especially test strips and I have made so many prints, with different shades. I have made 2 contact prints, 3 test strips and 5 final prints. I am very proud of myself and I have done this all by myself.

My target for today would be not to panic if I turn up to the middle of the session and just get on with work. I should of arranged the interview a different day which is not that important, e.g. Tuesday (because in the morning I have humanities, I am only watching a film, however the supervisor was busy that day so I had no choice to arrange an interview today).

Next week, I will be receiving my brief for the main project of this unit (Artefact Unit). I am very nervous because I am not really an artistic person. Although I am not an artsy person, my creative skills will win over my worries.