Chainsaw versus the Pampas Grass
It seemed an unlikely match. All winter unplugged,
grinding its teeth in a plastic sleeve, the chainsaw swung
nose-down from a hook in the darkroom
under the hatch in the floor. When offered the can
it knocked back a quarter-pint of engine oil
and juices ran from its joints and threads,
oozed across the guide-bar and the maker’s name,
into the dry links.
From the summerhouse, still holding one last gulp
of last year’s heat behind its double doors, and hung
with the weightless wreckage of wasps and flies,
mothballed in spider’s wool . . .
from there, I trailed the day-glo orange power line
the length of the lawn and the garden path,
fed it out like powder from a keg, then walked
back to the socket and flicked the switch, then walked again
and coupled the saw to the flex – clipped them together.
Then dropped the safety catch and gunned the trigger.
No gearing up or getting to speed, just an instant rage,
the rush of metal lashing out at air, connected to the mains.
The chainsaw with its perfect disregard, its mood
to tangle with cloth, or jewellery, or hair.
The chainsaw with its bloody desire, its sweet tooth
for the flesh of the face and the bones underneath,
its grand plan to kick back against nail or knot
and rear up into the brain.
I let it flare, lifted it into the sun
and felt the hundred beats per second drumming in its heart,
and felt the drive-wheel gargle in its throat.
The pampas grass with its ludicrous feathers
and plumes. The pampas grass, taking the warmth and light
from cuttings and bulbs, sunning itself,
stealing the show with its footstools, cushions and tufts
and its twelve-foot spears.
This was the sledgehammer taken to crack the nut.
Probably all that was needed here was a good pull or shove or a pitchfork to lever it out at its base.
Overkill. I touched the blur of the blade
against the nearmost tip of a reed – it didn’t exist.
I dabbed at a stalk that swooned, docked a couple of heads,
dismissed the top third of its canes with a sideways sweep
at shoulder height – this was a game.
I lifted the fringe of undergrowth, carved at the trunk –
plant-juice spat from the pipes and tubes
and dust flew out as I ripped into pockets of dark, secret warmth.
To clear a space to work
I raked whatever was severed or felled or torn
towards the dead zone under the outhouse wall, to be fired.
Then cut and raked, cut and raked, till what was left
was a flat stump the size of a barrel lid
that wouldn’t be dug with a spade or prised from the earth.
Wanting to finish things off I took up the saw
and drove it vertically downwards into the upper roots,
but the blade became choked with soil or fouled with weeds,
or what was sliced or split somehow closed and mended behind,
like cutting at water or air with a knife.
I poured barbecue fluid into the patch
and threw in a match – it flamed for a minute, smoked
for a minute more, and went out. I left it at that.
In the weeks that came new shoots like asparagus tips
sprang up from its nest and by June
it was riding high in its saddle, wearing a new crown.
Corn in Egypt. I looked on
from the upstairs window like the midday moon.
Back below stairs on its hook the chainsaw seethed.
I left it a year, to work back through its man-made dreams, to try to forget.
The seamless urge to persist was as far as it got.
-Simon Armitage
grinding its teeth in a plastic sleeve, the chainsaw swung
nose-down from a hook in the darkroom
under the hatch in the floor. When offered the can
it knocked back a quarter-pint of engine oil
and juices ran from its joints and threads,
oozed across the guide-bar and the maker’s name,
into the dry links.
From the summerhouse, still holding one last gulp
of last year’s heat behind its double doors, and hung
with the weightless wreckage of wasps and flies,
mothballed in spider’s wool . . .
from there, I trailed the day-glo orange power line
the length of the lawn and the garden path,
fed it out like powder from a keg, then walked
back to the socket and flicked the switch, then walked again
and coupled the saw to the flex – clipped them together.
Then dropped the safety catch and gunned the trigger.
No gearing up or getting to speed, just an instant rage,
the rush of metal lashing out at air, connected to the mains.
The chainsaw with its perfect disregard, its mood
to tangle with cloth, or jewellery, or hair.
The chainsaw with its bloody desire, its sweet tooth
for the flesh of the face and the bones underneath,
its grand plan to kick back against nail or knot
and rear up into the brain.
I let it flare, lifted it into the sun
and felt the hundred beats per second drumming in its heart,
and felt the drive-wheel gargle in its throat.
The pampas grass with its ludicrous feathers
and plumes. The pampas grass, taking the warmth and light
from cuttings and bulbs, sunning itself,
stealing the show with its footstools, cushions and tufts
and its twelve-foot spears.
This was the sledgehammer taken to crack the nut.
Probably all that was needed here was a good pull or shove or a pitchfork to lever it out at its base.
Overkill. I touched the blur of the blade
against the nearmost tip of a reed – it didn’t exist.
I dabbed at a stalk that swooned, docked a couple of heads,
dismissed the top third of its canes with a sideways sweep
at shoulder height – this was a game.
I lifted the fringe of undergrowth, carved at the trunk –
plant-juice spat from the pipes and tubes
and dust flew out as I ripped into pockets of dark, secret warmth.
To clear a space to work
I raked whatever was severed or felled or torn
towards the dead zone under the outhouse wall, to be fired.
Then cut and raked, cut and raked, till what was left
was a flat stump the size of a barrel lid
that wouldn’t be dug with a spade or prised from the earth.
Wanting to finish things off I took up the saw
and drove it vertically downwards into the upper roots,
but the blade became choked with soil or fouled with weeds,
or what was sliced or split somehow closed and mended behind,
like cutting at water or air with a knife.
I poured barbecue fluid into the patch
and threw in a match – it flamed for a minute, smoked
for a minute more, and went out. I left it at that.
In the weeks that came new shoots like asparagus tips
sprang up from its nest and by June
it was riding high in its saddle, wearing a new crown.
Corn in Egypt. I looked on
from the upstairs window like the midday moon.
Back below stairs on its hook the chainsaw seethed.
I left it a year, to work back through its man-made dreams, to try to forget.
The seamless urge to persist was as far as it got.
-Simon Armitage
This poem explores the strained between the material, synthetic man-made objects and man. In my last unit I explored the human relationship with the man-made landscape, which was unnatural. The poem can either interpret nature as friend or foe. I hope to explore the relationship between man and the natural world through this unit, and how natural is always within us regardless of how much (like the last unit) we change.
MOOD BOARD
These are a selection of images that showcase the technique and outcome of double exposure photography using landscape and portrait photos
Christoffer Relander
CONTENT:
The photographs are about people and nature. In most photos, the person seem to be almost covering themselves, and then nature is double exposed within them. Perhaps the photographer is trying to portray how humans cower in the face of the sublime - the natural, and how it is the dominant force. Nothing has been exaggerated or distorted, but it is clear that these photographs have gone through digital manipulation. MOOD:
These photographs seem quite didactic - as though they intend to teach a lesson or a moral lesson about our relationships with not only nature, but the way we see ourselves in relation to nature. |
FORM:
The colour the photographer has decided to predominantly use is black and white. The black and white is bold and vivid. These photographs are well composed, as they are placed in the centre of the image, which draws our attention to them. These photographs do not look as pre-planned, but a lot of thought would have gone into where to position the tree's and how much of them should be exposed. I like the way that these photographs don't just simply have the lines of a hand, but have the lines of human faces. PROCESS: The photographers of the human subjects were presumably taken indoors, however the photographer would have need to take pictures of some of the natural landscape to merge the two together. Because the images are desaturated, it is hard to distinguish where and how the photographer would have lit these. However, it is evident that a large aperture would have been needed to capture the detail in the strays of hair and the leaves. The photographer has used double exposure to merge the human and the natural land form. |
Jaymee Srp
FORM:
Some images are in colour and some are in black and white. The green is a colour often associated with nature, so to allow the picture to be in colour makes it really bold and stand out. It also automatically lets the viewer know what the photograph is connoting to. There are not any harsh contrasts in these images, thus I feel the photographs seem to be about coexisting rather than dominating - with one aspect being more prominent than the other. These photographs look pre-planned, as though the photographer has gone in knowing the way they want the hand to positioned or the person, and the way they want the natural to sit within the images. The photographer uses different patterns of leaves and tree's to just give the images more variety. |
CONTENT:
These images represents nature double exposed with the human. In some images it's solely a hand or a palm, and in others, its a human figure - this is evident in the lines of the images. They have clearly gone through Photoshop manipulation in order to integrate the two opposing subjects. The lack of presence of human features suggests that perhaps that nature comes before us, and we're merely a component of it. PROCESS:
These photographs have been process via Photoshop to achieve the double exposure effect - however we cannot see any human features at all. The human form is completely overcome by the nature. The photographer also decided to have bits of the natural faintly in the background, which avoids rendering the picture dull. MOOD: I think these photographers are more of a celebration of the relationship between nature and humans. I think this because of the position of the subjects. For example, the peace sign is one way this is exhibited. Also, the open palm seems to suggest a kind of freedom. |
PHOTOSHOOT ONE
Location: Lampton School Media Suite
Objective: Testing how I will have my camera settings- auto focus and manual. I have never photographed a hand before so I wanted to see the different ways I could get the model to position their hands, and to test out if the idea would be good - which results in the Photoshop 'attempt one.'
Objective: Testing how I will have my camera settings- auto focus and manual. I have never photographed a hand before so I wanted to see the different ways I could get the model to position their hands, and to test out if the idea would be good - which results in the Photoshop 'attempt one.'
I tried to adhere to the rule of thirds, despite using a hand. I think that I could have been more creative with the way I asked my subject to position their hand.
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In this shoot I was able to see that lighting is an important factor in presenting the hand - otherwise I'll just have a picture of a hand to work with in Photoshop - which doesn't convey any significant meaning.
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I like how this image slightly depicts more of a contrast, whereby the surrounding of the hand is light, and it gets darker. I think that the dullness drowns out this contrast however.
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PHOTOSHOOT TWO
Location: Hounslow
Objective: An obvious component for this unit was the natural - I needed images of nature, and thus I went around and took pictures of trees and bushes. I had my camera set on f-stop 5 to allow me to get detailed images of each natural form.
Objective: An obvious component for this unit was the natural - I needed images of nature, and thus I went around and took pictures of trees and bushes. I had my camera set on f-stop 5 to allow me to get detailed images of each natural form.
Using the skills I had acquired through my last double exposure unit - I had to make sure that the sky was relatively bleached out, which would make the Photoshopping process easier and fast. I wanted to capture the edge of the tress, because I was thinking about how these my protrude out of the subjects hand.
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I liked this image because some depth was created because of the aperture settings. I noticed that you need clear and detailed images of the natural form before attempting to double expose it.
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I like the way in which I was able to capture the underbelly of the leaves. I think that I was not to worried about the vantage point - as I was in my previous double exposure unit - because as a result the images would look like they stem from within the subject.
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PHOTOSHOOT THREE
Location: Lampton School Media Suite
Objective: The lighting for photoshoot was was a bit dull, so I decided to spray light the background in order for the hand to stand out against the backdrop.
Objective: The lighting for photoshoot was was a bit dull, so I decided to spray light the background in order for the hand to stand out against the backdrop.
I think that because of the positioning of the models hand - the subject looks as if they are reaching for something. This can be a metaphor for our desire to stray away from nature, but the double exposure can symbolise how, despite this desire, nature is always within us.
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The well-lit and clear images will give me a good basis to work with when producing finale pieces. This clarity makes it easier for the line of the subjects hand to be prominent.
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Because of the hand being pale, there was risk of it being drown out by the light, but I think the low spray lighting allowed it to stand out against it's background.
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PHOTOSHOP
ATTEMPT ONE
For the first Photoshop attempts, I simply followed the steps of my previous unit. I found that this did not give me an integrated effect, and it just look like a photo of tree's in someone hand, as opposed to the two being merged. They looked flat, lazy and not creative. I decided to trial a different Photoshop techniques until I got one I was happy with, which is in my 'attempt two' of Photoshop.
By desaturating them, I definitely saw that I wanted to go with the black and white as opposed to the colour. I thought that by doing this I would be able to keep the contrast. I also so that it was better to have the hand against a neutral grey background as opposed to a stark white background, which wasn't flattering.
By desaturating them, I definitely saw that I wanted to go with the black and white as opposed to the colour. I thought that by doing this I would be able to keep the contrast. I also so that it was better to have the hand against a neutral grey background as opposed to a stark white background, which wasn't flattering.
ATTEMPT TWO: TUTORIAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAX6R3SmyoI
I followed and modified the tutorial that is above to achieve my desired effect. The tutorial was on a human subject, using a building - so I was a bit sceptical as to how it would work if I stuck to is stringently. To achieve the double exposure effect I:
1) Select the image and inverse
2) Refine the edge, and save it on a new layer
3) Take the paint bucket tool and paint the background layer white, whilst adding a new, plain white, layer above that
4) Duplicate the layer with the hand and create a layer mask
5) Desaturate the layer with the hand, and Image > Adjustment > Invert the white layer on the same mask
6) Open up the image of your natural form
7) Select the image with the magic wand
8) Go to edit > define brush preset and save the brush
9) Select the brush tool and select the brush you have just saved - make sure the colour is white.
10) Click on the area. You can undo and redo this until you get your desired look
11) Once you have you desired look, merge all of the visible layers
12) Image > Auto contrast
13) Select image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation
14) Turn the lightness down until you achieve your desired look and save this.
You can continue to play around with the highlight and contrasting, as well as using the burn, dodge and sharpen tool.
1) Select the image and inverse
2) Refine the edge, and save it on a new layer
3) Take the paint bucket tool and paint the background layer white, whilst adding a new, plain white, layer above that
4) Duplicate the layer with the hand and create a layer mask
5) Desaturate the layer with the hand, and Image > Adjustment > Invert the white layer on the same mask
6) Open up the image of your natural form
7) Select the image with the magic wand
8) Go to edit > define brush preset and save the brush
9) Select the brush tool and select the brush you have just saved - make sure the colour is white.
10) Click on the area. You can undo and redo this until you get your desired look
11) Once you have you desired look, merge all of the visible layers
12) Image > Auto contrast
13) Select image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation
14) Turn the lightness down until you achieve your desired look and save this.
You can continue to play around with the highlight and contrasting, as well as using the burn, dodge and sharpen tool.
I decided to desaturate the images because for me it was not about specific colour. By desatuarting the images I was able to make the concept more universal, so it spreads across a wider scope of audience. I think that the decision to stick to a neutral grey background was a good one because it allowed the double exposed work to stand out.
EVALUATION
I decided to explore the link between man and the the natural world through this unit. I wanted to showed how nature is inherently a part of us - it is what makes that. I thought that deploying double exposure was the best way to do so. I think that my photographs conveyed this message effectively.
If I could do this unit again, perhaps I'd look merging the natural with other body parts - as well has getting the hands from females, elderly people and children, to show a wider variety of subject and to show how nature is merged within us all.
If I could do this unit again, perhaps I'd look merging the natural with other body parts - as well has getting the hands from females, elderly people and children, to show a wider variety of subject and to show how nature is merged within us all.