Marjukka Vainio

This page outlines and follows up on another artist obtained through the Week 2 webinar with Laura.

Vainio draws inspiration from the musics of Claude Debussy to express ‘spatiality, movement and lightness’ to the images. I personally do not get a sense of spatiality or lightness from the use of black negative space however I do find it inspiring.

The first gallery of images, as seen below, are particularly inspiring to me. I have always enjoyed the use of black negative side in photography. It creates a sense of isolation while also adding an element of mystique. The depth of the darkness shown here contrasts and dramatises the deep reds of the flower specimens shown. The downwards view of the specimens is one we do not usually consider when imagining flowers and the darkness adds to disorientate the viewer.

I have decided to separate out the next set of images due to their aesthetic appearance. These apparent tree branches appear to have been photographed at night with a bolt of direct flash. A simple process, with some practice. They also have the feel of X-ray imagery the kind which is achievable with the photogram process.

My experiments here will be in two forms; a set of nighttime photographs using ring flash and a macro lens and a collection of large photograms using botanical specimens.

In these next examples the black of the negative space is less intense and as a result less dramatic. The images have something of a washed out appearance which effects their overall impact on the viewer yet are still intriguing.