she

this idea is to be developed and explored much further.

it all came flooding back

oh my

it's been a while!

i've realised i cant live without spectra film, it inspires me.

more

ideal

I still cant really get over the quality of this film. It's beautiful.

I think its my ideal film as it combines my 2 favourite things, polaroid spectra and black & white film!

black frame

the dress

The Most Beautiful Suicide

Today I was looking on the internet at countries I want to visit such as the Maldives and Malta, and ended up researching the Seven Wonders of The Modern World. Stumbled across The Empire State Building and randomly started reading about the suicides that have taken place there. 

I was startled to read about a young lady named Evelyn McHale (23 years) who leapt to her death from the 86th floor on May 1st 1947. She landed on a United Nations limousine parked at the curb.

A Photography student, Robert Wiles managed to capture an oddly serene moment a few minutes after she died. The photograph ran in the May 12th 1947 issue of LIFE Magazine.

It is referred to as 'The Most Beautiful Suicide'.

I wasn't as shocked as I thought I might be looking at an image of a young woman in such an awful situation, I'm shocked by the state of the limousine but I find this image beautiful too.

She looks so peaceful and untouched and the detail of her clutching at her clothing is surreal. 

It has been a while since I've come across such an intriguing image by an unkown photographer.

The police found a suicide note among Evelyn McHale's possessions on the observation deck, it read;

"He is much better off without me ... I wouldn't make a good wife for anybody"

i miss college and sarah sparks

This is a bit of an oldie, a final piece for my college exhibition in 2008.

I was just thinking about the college days and how much I really miss them, although I am still studying Photography now at university, its not quite the same as college.

The main reason I think is my college tutor Sarah Sparks, she's probably one of the best and most inspiring Photography tutors there is. I don't think I'll meet any other tutors like her.

She always told you what she really thought and kept on pushing you to bring out the best work you could possibly produce. With a bit of acting silly and time out for gossip on the side.

Anyone studying under Sarah best realise how lucky they are.

And congratulations on your upcoming winter wedding!

779 film expired 1999

.....

PX Emulsion Lifts

This was my first try at some emulsion lifts, I attempted it first with some Polaroid 100 Peel Apart with no luck so went onto PX70 Colour Shade & PX100 FF.

I'm going to buy more peel apart film and practice more in the summer.

...

First I got a small tray of cool water, and a bowl for my boiled water. 

All of the polaroids I wanted to practice peeling (Tip: Use photos you don't mind getting wrecked, it takes a few try's to get the hang of it), Scissors, Kettle, Small Paint Brush and I used some Ilford Pearl Darkroom Paper because I didn't have anything else that would hold the water.

Peel off the whole of the white border of the polaroid, and the black backing so you're left with just the image and the raw emulsion back. Pour freshly boiled water into the bowl and immerse the polaroid fully. Leave it in there until you can start to see the emulsion pulling away from the polaroid. Don't worry if loads of white stuff comes off the back (I freaked out and thought I'd wrecked it but it was fine!)

Have your piece of paper wet and ready in the cool water. Take the polaroid out of the boiling water and place on top of the wet paper. Very gently and slowly use your paint brush to tease the emulsion edges away from the plastic, eventually fully removing it.

Now you have your emulsion lift on your wet paper, gently tease it out to your desired effect, keeping it slightly wet all the time so it doesn't tear.

There you go! Mine are still drying, I will scan them in when fully dried :)

I also did one from PX100 FF film. 

I'm looking forward to doing this a lot more and can't wait for the results.

untitled

feeling blue

tumblr

I have a new tumblr account:

leannesurfleet.tumblr.com

I find it quicker to upload images but I'm still going to be uploading here.

px70 colour change

I shot some PX70 Colour Shade film a few weeks ago and scanned them straight away, I looked at them today in the box I keep them in and was suprised by the colour shifts and changes! I like them better actually after a couple of weeks developing.

Scanned day of exposure

Scanned 2 weeks later

Scanned day of exposure

Scanned 2 weeks later

sneak peak - noir

So this is the first project from uni that I have enjoyed and properly gotten into, the project is simply 'studio portrait'.

And after watching The Big Sleep I wanted to do a film noir shoot, so here are a couple of shots.

I'm currently still printing in the darkroom and editing down to my final image.

These are scans from the negatives, developed by myself at home.

cat is me

.....

cosy

I cant stop buying cardigans, oh well.

I also need to find more time to take photo's, the whole point of going to uni was to learn more and so that I had more chance of getting out there and showing people my work, right now its doing the opposite and distracting me and making me take photos that I dont like and dont want to take.

the snow