Altered Imagery

This is a chance to make something really unique by physically altering your negatives. This is best done in the darkroom using old negatives and drawing or cutting your negatives and piecing them together. However, we can also alter the prints themselves by drawing or sewing onto the surface of the print (if no darkroom is readily available). This assignment is meant to stretch the limits and confines of the idea of the perfect print  and bring other media through to express an idea or emotion, or just play up the design aspects of an image. 

What am I learning: How to manipulate photographs physically to create unique, altered images.

Why is this important?: It deepens your understanding of photo processes beyond just digital manipulation to hands on experimentation and encourages creative risk-taking, allowing you to push the boundaries of traditional photography.

When will I know I am successful?: When I can articulate the techniques used and my work reflects both creativity & experimentation, showing a departure from conventional imagery.

Assignment:
For this assignment you will pull old negatives and using scissors, scratch tools, and permanent markers you can start changing the negative. You can tape the pieces of the negative together to form another negative. Think about weaving the negative strips or using a paper hole punch. There are so many options! You will be creating 2 different altered images to pass in and these can be done in different ways. 

Steps:
• Start by finding old negatives or prints to work from (you will be ruining the negative so make sure it is not one you really like)
• Find ideas on what you might want to do—do you want this to be conceptual or just focus on design?
• Start cutting, scratching, or adding to the surface of the negative (or print) to see what happens