film

Locked Down

Having completed my triptych journal I decided that it should be bound into a book.

My journal is printed on fine art matte paper and the cover is made from Nepalese Lokta paper that has been waxed to give it an aged look. Finally it has been hand- bound with Japanese stab binding. I have made stab bound books before, but the challenge this time was to make a hard backed version with a flexible spine.

Here are a few sample pages.

Hard back Lokta paper cover and stab binding in linen thread

Vellum sheet

Title page

Introduction

Chapter Introduction

One triptych page from Time Management chapter

One triptych page from Emergence chapter

If you wish to see the contents of the book then please scroll through my previous blog posts.

Thank you so much for looking at my blog. I hope you have enjoyed it.


Emergence From Lockdown

My final chapter in my triptych journal is a reflection on our emergence from Lockdown. It is a confusing and unsettling time. Our behaviour and day to day life will have to alter accordingly. A new order will arise out of the chaos.

During Lockdown, I’ve really enjoyed packing away the digital cameras and using the old Polaroid Land Camera. The slowness and thoughtfulness that is required before pressing the clunky shutter has been a true reflection of our lives during the pandemic. I wont be putting the Polaroid away just yet, my fridge contains quite a few packs of expired colour film and I have a few bottles of bleach in preparation to reclaim the negs, a completely different process to black and white. In the meantime, I’m going to get printing and bind my journal. The paints will also be staying out.


Time Management in Lockdown

During Lockdown it feels like time has unravelled. For many, our daily organised routines have been dismantled as we have been released from the metronomic ticking of the clock. Our lives have slowed down, the deadlines have gone and the divisions of the day have become fluid. I feel there is a new sense of time and, in parts, I’m enjoying this freedom and hope to take a piece of this into the new ‘normal’.

Submerged #3

I made a big discovery with my latest batch of submerged Polaroids - heat. I hadn’t quite appreciated the intense heat we had in the summer played quite a major part in the ‘cooking’ of my previous Polaroids. They bubbled away for 3 months, while the chemicals did their thing…

Well, my cold winter batch barely changed despite the addition of bleach, followed by white spirits, turpentine and finally after my patience got the better of me - oven cleaner. The changes were still minimal. On reflection, I wish I had stopped there. Too late - within seconds - two images virtually perished in the microwave, I would have continued but the flames were quite worrying.

So, next it was the turn of the oven. Not a bad result - initially - but I got distracted… they are quite crispy now and pretty far gone. Interesting though.

Not to be deterred, I have revisited these Polaroids and have been rewarded with something quite interesting, but you will have to wait until the next post.