In-depth review of experimental work.

From the start of the As/A2 project I used a range of different methods on how I could enhance my photographs. My favourite ways of enhancing my own photographs were cutting layered photographs, pin wholes with light shining through, origami, and painting, toning and bleaching.

A great experiment of mine that had one of my favourite outcomes was the Origami. I did this by shooting coloured photographs on a digital camera. I then found a tutorial on the Internet that showed me the step-by-step instructions on how to create my own origami Butterfly. This enhancement was inspired by Rebecca Chew. I found this was fairly easy but you have to have a lot of patients. The final outcome for this in my opinion looked very effective however if you only have one a4 photograph and the other side is blank you can get plan areas on your final piece.

My second enhancement that I found had a great outcome was the bleaching of coloured photographs. This was inspired by a photographer called Curtis Mann. By using nail vanish I was able to leave some areas of the original colour but the areas that was not coated it took the colour away. This gives an amazing effect but works better when the images are of portraits.

Another method I used was toning the image. You can do this two different ways. You can use Adobe Photoshop to edit the hue and saturation levels which gives any coloured tone or you can use food colouring and with a paint brush smooth the colouring over all of the image of even parts of the image adding spot colour.

You can use these three experiments together to create one single enhanced image. I could use a 35mm coloured and black&white film. I would then use bleach to take away some of the colour of the photographs which would then leave spotted areas, I would then use the bleached photographs and make origami or even layer two contrasting images, the top image would have shaped flaps open so that you can see the other image through the holes. If the top image is black and white but the bottom coloured the coloured areas that show through will have a great contrast.