Laura Miner: Sprinkles

This is a new work in progress in which I photograph sprinkles out of their usual context. They lack a reference of scale and paired with a plain background it manipulates the viewer's understanding of the subject matter.


Sprinkles (Orange and Blue) © Laura Miner  2014

It is difficult to understand how large the subject is, and most observers look for ques in the texture and color to reconcile this. Most believe at first glance that they are jelly beans - if it is edible at all. And while that is still a good guess (a small sugary morsel) the guess isn't small enough. My titles explain it all: Sprinkles.


Sprinkles (Pink) © Laura Miner  2014
 

Sprinkles (Red and White) © Laura Miner  2014

The first photo, Sprinkles (Orange and Blue) was the jumping off point. I had taken photos of sprinkles in various ways to explore their textures and shapes. This photo was the only one during that session where I separated two from the larger group. This image was chosen for a juried show at Gallery 263 in Cambridge, MA called Massachusetts. The show was simply a selection of new and emerging artists from Massachusetts who work in various mediums. There was something about Orange and Blue that made me add it to three of the sprinkle photos I would submit for that show, and it obviously struck a cord with the jurors too.

Sprinkles (Triple White) © Laura Miner 2014

Sprinkles (Yellow and Green) © Laura Miner 2014

After that I felt encouraged to continue exploring this format: one to three sprinkles having their portrait taken in front of a seamless background. I'm trying out different pairings in size and color, as well as picking out oddities in each individual. The darker pink flecks in Sprinkles (Pink) really struck me. I will continue to pursue this with different angles and lighting.



Laura Miner: Presence

Presence I © Laura Miner 2013

The image on the right is a photograph of milk in water.
A good amount of people viewed this image at two different craft fairs I vended at, and most thought it was smoke. It was still a fine guess. What I want to achieve is a ghostly image. This series of images is about me exploring the possibilities of capturing a presence; something hanging in the air. Something that twists, writhes and is unexplainable.

My goal is to essentially mix these images with those from the Tiny Ghosts post from May. Having wallpaper helps domesticate the scene, but I want to go forward with building tiny underwater sets with furniture and more complicated lighting.

My website features these images and two videos of the food dye and air bubbles in action. I hope to soon share the fully realized concept.

Presence II © Laura Miner 2013

Presence III © Laura Miner 2013

Presence IV © Laura Miner 2013

Presence V © Laura Miner 2013

Laura Miner: Tiny Ghosts

My latest developing project involves staging ghost photography on a small scale. The goal is not necessarily to debunk images  of supposedly real ghosts. I want to challenge myself with the task of creating illusions with my digital camera without the aid of layering in Photoshop. In line with other projects of mine, I want to create images that are unsettling, yet soft in their delivery. Also in line with other projects, I will continue to work on a small scale.

©Laura Miner 2013

As a child, I loved playing in my doll house (featured in the photographs in this post). I would also make my own doll apartments on shelves and dresser tops all over my grandparents' house. My grandparents were much more patient with this behavior than my parents were. Shrinking down and living in the homes I made was a fantasy of mine.

 After I grew older and stopped playing in that way, photography facilitated that fantasy. I was drawn to photographing miniatures and dolls because in a photograph you edit the world around you. I could make the size of my small creations ambiguous; an easier feat making them my size rather than shrinking myself. 

©Laura Miner 2013

©Laura Miner 2013

I want to believe in ghosts, but I'm not completely willing to go all in without more proof. As a fan of ghost stories and as a photographer, I am attracted to supposed images of ghosts. What are the possibilities of recording beyond our line of sight?

With this series, I want the audience to ask themselves how it could be possible. I want them to be excited by the notion of apparitions and other worldly spirits, while also questioning the scale and reality of the room. 

These initial shots from my childhood dollhouse are exploring the terrain. These images give the impression of which angles I'm attracted to, the lighting scheme and the mood. I plan to go in again with more tricks up my sleeve to create the apparitions.

Laura Miner: Pealing

What started as a simple documentation of a leak, became a complicated exploration of disgusting beauty. My bathroom air vent was leaking, and causing water damage to the paint. It was bubbling, pealing, and revealing a gross world above me. The night I took these images was the last straw.

©2012 Laura Miner

For the past week, every night at 11pm - when my upstairs neighbor would shower - the air vent would drip a tiny drum beat on the foam padded toilet seat. This night the water damaged paint, six inches from the vent that was depositing the drip, was sweating and probably completely soaked.

©2012 Laura Miner

My first images were purely for my landlord's eyes. I wanted to get closer and really show the horror of water gone rogue. This is what happens when tiny bits of water escape; it corrupts the paint. Standing on the toilet seat after the dripping ceased and the shower turned off upstairs, I got in as close as I could. I saw a tangle of lines and shapes. It was unrecognizable as the thing I knew it to be.

©2012 Laura Miner

 Later looking at the photos, some images play with my perspective, I can't tell at first if the shapes are concave or convex. I can't tell how deep the layers go, or if there is light shining behind them. It's the kind of thing that you see, and then blink, and it's changed; like looking through a chain linked fence and unfocusing your eyes.

©2012 Laura Miner

I needed to appreciate the paint while it lasted, because I did intend on having it fixed. It went from wishing it was fixed right that second, to taking all the photos I could before I knew it would be gone. Right now it's painted over and smooth again, but I am thankful I have some expressive images to remember it by.

Laura Miner: Fear and Indifference

The new direction in my current project, (in which I am actually going back to older interests) takes the blood and terror I intended from my previous images, and gives it a context with miniature sets.

Laura Miner ©2011

Thinking of the philosophical query, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" one might reason that there must be other living things besides humans, and of course, those things would hear it fall.  I ask in my current series, "If something bad happens to you in the woods, do the other living things care?"
After trying to come up with subtly gruesome scenes, I came to the realization that a huge stimulus for fear is the idea that if you were in trouble no one would be able to help you. I admit, it's one facet to my own issues with bodily integrity.  There is nothing scarier than knowing that the only living things around you are indifferent to your situation, and may even munch on you. Thus is the inspiration for this series which depicts random pools of blood being curiously investigated and casually co-existing with animals.

Laura Miner ©2011

 Blood, being a tried and true catalyst of fear, and animals, being symbols of peace but also savagery, the images evoke an eerie feeling of dread, but could also contain a twisted and blunt expression of acceptance and returning to the Earth.

Laura Miner ©2011

Working Title: Vital Fluid, by Laura Miner

Using fruit punch concentrate and chocolate syrup, I made another attempt at representing blood in my photographs. As promised from my last post, my subject matter is less reality based. My instinct as a macro photographer was to go for the David Levinthal route.

Laura Miner ©2011

Photographing small objects and toys, essentially playing with them, but creating a very sinister game out of it; that's what a majority of my photographs are about. Making sets and manipulating the common associations of objects get's me amped about photography.

These images are creepy in an obvious way. The blood is in your face, and the deer's plasticity is unavoidable. Now that I've gotten these images under my belt, the next step for this project is to continue to use the figurines, make realistic sets, and use "blood" (whatever that may be) in a way that will be unsettling without throwing it in the viewer's face.

I also made some sculpture boxes with phlebotomy paraphernalia. The needles and such were given to me to mentally prepare for an imminent blood test. I had my blood drawn, -- it went well -- and to truly represent my conquest, I sculpted the tools into art objects.

Tourniquet Laura Miner ©2011                Phlebotomy Laura Miner ©2011

Come to my website to see more of these images and a really tasteless animated GIF.