Speaking about my progress

Dead Body?

This was also another photograph that I took with a 35mm SLR and developed from a negative. I chose to blog this as I found it was quite effective because it gave the illusion that the person was hanged although there is no rope around her neck. This image was influenced by Yevgeniy Yufit series called ‘Transparent Grove’- 1992. This is because in all three photographs the males look like they are dead although they are walking and some have their eyes opened, so we are under the impression that these people are dead- due to body language and positioning as well as make-up.

 

Digital photography of candles

These are more photographs of candles however taken from a digital camera with flash. I chose to use digital and analogue to compare the difference and see which types of photographs had a more powerful effect. I would say that both digital and analogue have their positives and negatives and in my opinion, my photographs of the candles are both powerful weather in colour or black and white.

 

 

When I arranged the candles in this format, I was inspired by the alchemical circle.

I took the above pictures by moving the camera whilst taking the photograph really fast to created the blurred effect which reminds me of UFO lights.

 

Analogue Photography

During my exploratory stage, I was introduced to analogue photography and since then, I have realised how much I enjoy developing my own film, negatives, photogram’s, etc. I decided to use analogue photography again. My initial aim was to take photographs in the Hell Fire Caves but after developing the film, the negatives came out blank and I suspect that this was because it was so dark down there. I refereshed my memory about the shutter speed, aperture, focus and so forth and I trid to use simple techniques to created focused photographs.


I took photographs of candles due to their spiritual significance, especially to psychics. Psychics believe that a candle light actually contains energy and in that energy a spirit can use it to materialize itself. Candles are used for many purposes such as for decoration, in churches, in people’s houses but the main reason I chose to focus on candle light was because some people use a candle for attracting spirits. The candle is said to be a cross between the present and the spiritual world itself.

(Source: http://voices.yahoo.com/why-psychics-candles-259397.html?cat=34)

Below are a few photographs I scanned in after developing from my negatives:

 

Your experience of Paranormal activity

Have you ever thought that you have experienced some sort of paranormal activity?

Have you felt something that can not be explained?

Do you think that you were ever possessed by something?

I would be very interested if you could tell me your story/experience/feeling or even a small detail of something that you experienced as this would be incredibly helpful towards my understanding and research.

In addition, to believers and non believers of the supernatural and paranormal, what are your opinions about the topic?

 Hell Fire Caves

As I am looking at paranormal activity, I decided to take part in a 'Paranormal Investigation Evening' at the Hell Fire Caves which is said to be one of the most paranormally active locations in the world. There have been ghosts reported to haunt the caves such as a woman called Sukhi who was killed in the caves and Paul Whitehead, a member of the notorious Hell-Fire Club. This was more of a gentleman's club that held meetings in this location but no one actually knows what went on there as there was no evidence..

I began the journey by going down in to the caves. I immediately sensed a cold breeze and it got colder the deeper i went into the cave. It was also very mysterious and spooky. In the beginning i was actually quite scared because i believed that paranormal activity would be captured. However, towards the end of the night I began to be very sceptical. This was because I felt that the team was exaggerating minor things such as water droplets and translating them into other meanings.The planchette of the Ouija board did move several times and the motion detector did flash, yet I still found it hard to believe that this was due to paranormal activity.

I went for the purpose of experience and taking photographs, however the images from my black and white camera didn’t come out and the digital camera was playing up but I did manage to capture a few interesting photographs. The overall experience was good as it did play an important part in my research and an insight into 'ghost hunting'.

 

 

 

Week Two

Following on from my previous entry, I have now started categorizing areas of supernatural and paranormal phenomena I would like to look at. I decided that I would rather focus on the more spiritual rather than scientific side of things however throughout my book I will be referencing different views.

I have chosen to look at the theme of paranormal activity so ghosts, haunting, spirits, exorcism and so on. I would also like to look at vudu and black magic as this is also an area I am interested in. However, I am still in my research stage and would like to explore these ideas in more depth.

I recently visited the Modern Witchcraft exhibition at the ASC gallery which was particularly interesting, especially as the ancient artifacts had been incorporated with modern day art work by current emerging artists. As I walked through the small gallery alone, I felt a little uneasy and a little scared although there was nothing to be scared about. I also felt the goosebumps run up my spine and arms, I felt cold. This could be possibly due to the fact that it was work based on witchcraft and I was expecting it to be eerie and scary?

What do you think of the expectations of Witchcraft?

Above: Photograph taken of a Magician's Mirror (ASC  Gallery)