Large Print Outdoors

I've been working on making a large print and then photographing it in nature. At the moment, I'm working with a simple image of a panoramic I took down by a small stream near my house. I've been considering the significance of water to me. I feel it conveys the continuous change and, to some extent temporal-ness of the world. The creek near my house particularly reflects this, as it is primarily fed by melting snow, and therefore has a dramatic high and low season.When I took the picture, the creek was rushing! We've just started to get some warmer weather up here for some of the snow to melt. I printed the panoramic 4x8 feet. I think it wasn't quite long enough to get the luscious folds I got in the print I brought to the residency. Also, I used a luster paper (it has a satin-like quality), and that was not a good idea. I knew it wouldn't be ideal, and ordered a matte paper, but I really just wanted to start experimenting, so I printed on what I had. Never again for this type of project!

Assembling the print (printed in two parts to accommodate my 24" printer)

It took me the entire weekend to complete the print due to a series of unfortunate events. The events continued today as I went to photograph it. I created a stand from copper pipe pieces to hold it up. Originally, I was thinking of a traditional backdrop stand used in studio photography. (The entire inspiration for the format of the large prints was inspired by cycloramas, so continuing the twist on photo backgrounds made sense to me.) We had the pipe from a renovation however, and I knew it would be durable, lightweight, and strong. I also like the hobbled together affect (gives it character, and the ricketiness further reiterates the temporal), and I thought the old copper would be beautiful in the outdoors. I used old coat hangers to connect pieces of copper pipe and it looked quite primitive, which appealed to me. My initial plan was to drive the pipe into the ground to make it stand, and ultimately, that's what I did after several other failed attempts. This wasn't quite enough to make it stand however. Once I put the print on, the whole thing tipped over. I modified the plan by getting some string and stakes to give the frame some tension. This worked much better, though I'm undecided how I feel about seeing the string. I feel like I either want to go with a thicker string or clear string (like fishing line).

First Failed attempt

Print on the ground. I like the leaves interacting with it.

The sturdier stand with lines and stakes.

I initially set it up in the flattest area in my yard without snow, to see if the contraption would work. It took many, many tries, but eventually it did. I then moved to the snow. Because the image is of a river, I thought it would relate to the snow as two forms of water. It continues to inform on a sense of time overlapping.

It stands! Getting the print "level" was difficult.

Side View: 2D print vs. 3D world

 I prefer this shot, that shows more of the environment. This is actually a panorama of the set up, and could potentially be printed in the larger format as well.

In the snow. Getting a glare from the sheen of the paper.

This whole thing becomes a kite with the slightest breeze. Wonderful.

My ultimate goal was to put the print in the river. My mentor had suggested incorporating actual water in my art and though the final product  of this (currently) is still a photograph, I think it could help spark ideas though. It took me much longer to set up down at the creek for several reason. First, it was hard to find a point that narrow enough that the print would span across the whole things. I want it to do this so could be interpreted more easily as part of the space, but also because I needed to be able to stand on a bank on either side to set it up since the river bed is mostly rock (making it too hard for the legs of the frame and too slipper to stand on while installing). Also, one I found the spot, four feet was still to far for me to cross easily to get to the opposite bank (the water was very deep and had a good current). Every time I needed to go to the other side, I had to walk to where the road crossed over, which took 10-15 minutes each time. It was time consuming and quite frustrating, because my stakes did not want to stay anchored in soft mossy ground. I admit that stuff like this isn't my strong suit, but I'm good at figuring things out and once I set my mind to it, I am determined to complete it. I finally got it all set up, and still had enough sunlight to photograph it, just barely!

The frame finally set up. Not perfect, but usable.

Print in the water!

Success!

Overall, the results seem to have potencial. I wanted to photograph the print installed in the location it was made from, in the river, as seen above. I thought it would demonstrate time passing, especially since the print had snow in the image. One of the thing I find pleasing in digital photomontages is how time relates to the many elements. Photography is all about capturing a split second of time, but when you combine photos, you're combing different moments of time to create a moment that never actually happened. The same thing is happening here. I start to wonder if it would be interesting to use one of the montage, surreal images outside like this, or to use something utterly foreign, like a living room interior image, and contrast it with the outdoors. I also though I could take this water image, and photograph it in a nearby sand pit, to contrast the water and sand (both elements of time to me). I envision the final product to be a large print of the picture of the print in the environment, perhaps so large that it also pools on the floor. I get concerned, however, that this becomes clique, the "frame within a frame" technique being an overtly abused device. But maybe this is different enough. I think it might be worth farther examination.