Tag: photography

April Dawn Alison

Post author By Jim Doran
Post date October 28, 2019

While cruising through SFMoma, my companion and I stumbled on the dye diffusion transfer prints (Polaroids) of April Dawn Alison.

The exhibition drew from over 9200 photographs of April, taken by herself, or, very probably, a photographer named Alan Schaefer. Schaefer worked as a commercial photographer, and doesn’t seem to ever have had any gallery shows or exhibits. According to his friends and neighbors, he loved playing tennis, jazz records and was known simply as ‘Al’.

No one knew that Al was also April. And no one had seen these photos until after his death in 2008. This collection was donated in 2017 to SFMOMA by painter and collector Andrew Masullo.

Al and April lived in Oakland, California, and April’s world seems to be completely contained in Al’s apartment.

April Dawn Alison in various states of undress

There are many, many photos in the exhibit – I’m only sharing a handful here.

There is a joy in the photos I saw, which are beautiful, hilarious, enigmatic, and heartbreakingly sad. The work span more than three decades, beginning in the early 1970s, and then developing during the 80s into an exuberant, wildly colorful, and obsessive practice inspired by representations of women in classic film, fetish photography and advertising.

I wonder – did Al want these photos to be found? Would April want them to have been seen by the world? If they had it all over to do again, would April (And Al) have been happier and fulfilled if they had the chance to “go public” while they were alive?

There is a catalog on Amazon from the show, if you are interested.

Catalog from SFMOMA'S April Dawn Alison collection.

Tags photography, san francisco

Opinion

Tutorials

How to make a multiplane camera stand for stop motion animation

Post author By Jim Doran
Post date April 5, 2016
2 Comments on How to make a multiplane camera stand for stop motion animation

The multiplane camera is a special motion picture camera used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates three-dimensional, stereoscopic and parallax effects. The first multiplane camera, using four layers of flat artwork before a horizontal camera, was invented by former Walt Disney Studios animator/director Ub Iwerks in 1933, using parts from an old Chevrolet automobile.

Since so much of my art involves layers of paper, I thought I should build a multiplane camera stand to help animate my drawings. Here’s how I did it. And I didn’t need a Chevrolet.

I had four old 2×2’s at the studio. I drilled holes spaced 1/2″ apart. They are about 42″ tall. I used a 1/4″ drill bit, because I knew Home Depot had pegs that size.

I went to Home Depot and picked up some 16″ x 20″ panes of glass. The label says “Be careful! Edges are sharp!” I’ve cut myself twice, so that’s no lie.

The size of the glass helped me determine the dimensions of the stand.

The braces at the top and bottom are cheap pine scraps. I can easily replace them to make the stand wider, which will accommodate bigger glass.

Here are the pegs I use:

Once the stand was complete, I set it on top of my camera platform (which you can read about here).

It works well with both paper cutouts and 3D objects.

I added tape to the outward facing glass edges. It’s helped reduce the number of cuts I receive from the glass.

UPDATE

I painted the visible wood supports black, which helped with unwanted reflections:

Once I saw it was going to work, I painted the whole thing black.

If you make one, or have suggestions or different ideas, please email me at jim.doran@gmail.com.

Tags photography, stop motion

Tutorials

ART

Cyanotype

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Engineers used the process well into the 20th century as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of drawings, blueprints.

The process uses two chemicals, mixes in equal parts: ammonium iron(III) citrate [20% solution] and potassium ferricyanide [8.1% (w/v) solution]. These are available at art supply stores, photography stores and, of course, online. Only mix enough to use during a single session, as it only keeps for about 3-4 hours. Apply to a surface with a brush. I used a foam brush.

brush

The solution can be applied to any porous surface, including paper (especially watercolor paper), cloth, canvas and even drywall. Allow to dry completely before applying second or third coats. I found that one is probably enough. Once the paper is dry, keep it in a dark place, such as a black plastic contractor bag.

I printed some digital negatives of two Delft China patterns and one of my dioramas onto a piece of 8×11 transparency film. I also copied a postcard about a shoe art exhibit onto a transparent sheet in a photo copier.

transparency

I put the transparent negatives, along with a feather, in a window box and placed it in the sun for about 9 minutes.

window-compressor

paine

It was a very bright day. The paper gradually changed colors, turning a silvery brown.

I also tried this with my hand, as objects can be laid on the paper, too.

hand

hand-finished

I rinsed the paper in warm water for about 7 minutes or so – just long enough to see the white highlights show through the blue. The process stops as soon as the paper is submerged. If the paper seems yellow after drying, it can be rinsed again. I started in the big blue baby pool to get most of the solution off, then used the other two boxes.

pool

rinse-repeat

The photo above shows four of my attempts at this process – the feather image has one coat of the solution, the hand and shoes have two coats, and the big piece has three coats.

cyanotype-print

It was really simple – I plan to do more of these.

If YOU are interested, you should check out Gray Lyons beautiful work. She showed me how to do this, and she was as kind as she is talented.

Tags cyanotype, delft, photography

ART

Holga Stereo Pinhole Camera

Post author By Jim Doran
Post date March 24, 2014
No Comments on Holga Stereo Pinhole Camera

I stumbled on this beauty while researching stereoscopic image making. I got her online for about $15. Holga cameras are quirky, plastic and unique.

It’s been a while since I’ve used a pinhole camera and I’m pretty excited to have a chance to play with one again. The first shots below were a quick attempt to learn the camera, practice using a light meter and figure out exposure times. These are double/triple exposures (and not stereo images – that’s next).

Tags photography, pinhole

ART

Dusty

[click above to view larger]

The word “dusty” immediately made me think of being a kid playing with cars in a sand pit near my house. I would do that for hours and hours. Dad couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to play baseball instead, which I suppose is also dusty.

The photo is a construction site near where I catch the train to work.

It is also dusty.

Happy Illustration Friday.