Considerations for Printing

I have been considering how I will present my work this week. I have previously expressed an interest in using lightboxes as many of my images have a bright, glossy quality to them which I feel needs to be supported and fully realised in their presentation. Maha Maamoun’s work has a particular vibrancy which she exaggerates in the presentation of her work by using lightboxes, lights and often inkjet printing on vinyl.


If I am to use lightboxes to replicate the brilliance of the day on which they were taken I need to consider the type of light I am using. Regular light bulbs may give the effect of a shop sign for example. Most of my images then are going to be best suited to using bulbs which replicate natural daylight, or perhaps I might look at using a glossy surface on which to print and then lighting my image from above with a sodium bulb to replicate street lamps.

Earlier in the project I tentatively looked into using a light box I already own. I have decided against using this box because the curved shape towards the bottom will effect the reading of the images in a way I’m not sure I like. The proportions of the box also mean that if I were to use an image which covered all of the Perspex I would have to make some compromises to the composition of the images. This has however caused me to pay more attention to cropping some of my images. In this image (right) for example, the narrow composition heightens the dialogue between the subjects.
Many of the artists who I have looked at throughout this project present their work on a grand scale; Andreas Gursky, for example is renowned for the size of his work. I have previously stated that what has set my work apart from the artists I have been interested in is the depth of field in my images. Many of the photos are very shallow, and as such I think this needs to be reflected in the scale. If my aim, as I have said, is to have a realist stance, but to subvert this, then the images need to almost become caricatures of life; the depth of field and subject dictating the size. This image (left) for example has characteristics which would be better suited to a large scale print. This then raises the question of exactly how large is large? With the majority of my images I am restricted somewhat by the technology I have used if I am to avoid pixelated prints. This will probably become the biggest problem at the upper end of the scale, at the lower end I feel the images must be bigger than the standard 6x4 scale prints. This size image carries with it associations to family photographs, holidays etc. which I would like to avoid as the reader as a voyeur doesn’t sit well with the themes I have been exploring. The only way in which I will be able to start making these decisions however is through experimentation, which will follow.