Noise, artifact and the uncanny in large scale digital photographic practice.

This dissertation explores the question: why, when encountering the products of many new technologies delivering information via a new media, do I often experience a feeling of disquiet or estrangement? I use the example of laser-photographic printing to explore the issue through a program of practice-based research. The outcome of this line of enquiry includes an original contribution via three series of large-format digital photographic works: Presenting "The Amazing Kriels", Home At Last, and Pure. In this thesis, which supports the main body of the research, that is, the practice-based research, I will briefly review the case for artefact as noise within photographic printing, articulate a significant difference between the artefact levels of traditional analogue and Lambda prints, present original dialogical evidence for estrangement in the latter, and identify it via readings of Sigmund Freud's "The Uncanny" and McLuhan's "The Gadget Lover", as a function of the uncanny. I will propose an original rewriting of McLuhan's ideas of "hot" and "cool" media, as well as the cycles of irritation/mediation repression within McLuhan's media theory as a direction for future research, and relate them to a shift from large-scale analogue photographic printing to Lambda printing

In light of moving images: technology, creativity and lighting in cinematography

ThesisThis practice-led doctoral research examines lighting techniques used by cinematographers and more widely amongst practitioners working with moving imagery. The widespread adoption of digital technologies in the film production industry has received a good deal of critical attention from practitioners and scholars alike, however little specific consideration about changing lighting practices can be found amongst this discourse. The control and orchestration of lighting have significant aesthetic connotations for moving image work, so it is surprising that this practice remains an under-explored area in the digital age. Informed by a series of research-driven experimental installations and collaborative cinematography work on independent films, presented in a separate portfolio, this thesis offers an understanding of how light is orchestrated during the production of moving imagery through direct creative inquiry.The contribution to knowledge made through this doctoral research is distilled into three areas. First, understanding lighting in moving image production through a relational, new-materialist perspective which foregrounds the flow and energy of light as a generative force and a cultural and creative process. Second, providing a more detailed first-hand investigation into lighting processes than is currently available that uses autoethnographic methods to capture practical knowledge that is deployed in situ during moving image production. Third, offering a new approach to the relationship between a cinematographer and his/her equipment by applying the actor-network theory framework to the consideration of moving image, and explicitly lighting technologies. The new-materialist perspective outlined in this thesis provides a strong foundation for further studies of lighting in emerging forms of moving image production because of its emphasis on process and a practitioner’s correspondence with light. This theoretical framework offers an effective way to understand and analyse creative lighting work across changing technologies, while the insight into practical processes captured during this enquiry can be employed directly in cinematography education.PortfolioDeveloped between 2014-2017 as part of a doctoral research enquiry, In Light of Moving Images brought together a series of film and video works by cinematographer and filmmaker Alexander Nevill. The exhibition included five research-driven moving image installations as well as three single screen short films created collaboratively in the role of Director of Photography. Although varied in form and production context, these works all investigate cultural and creative orchestrations of light on screen.Providing visual documentation, this publication serves as a record of the exhibition and, moreover, offers an account of the practice-led research journey through which it emerged. The following pages incorporate written contextual insights about each practical work, describe the timeline of and rationale behind them and also include a variety of supplementary artefacts such as sketches, lighting diagrams and photographs of the work in progress to reveal creative processes.Traditionally considered the responsibility of a cinematographer, lighting in a filmmaking context refers to the arrangement of illumination sources around a location or set to create a specific aesthetic. Expanding this term, lighting can also refer to creative control over the passages of illumination which constitute moving imagery, shaping ways that audiences perceive the frame. Selected amongst a larger body of cinematography and moving image experimentation, the work in this portfolio and exhibition engages with both facets of lighting, taking the form of spatial projections that weave together light in and of moving imagery while questioning the material tensions of mediated illumination

Virtual Design and BIM in Architecture and Urban Design – Potential Benefit for Urban Emotions Initiative

Der vorliegende Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema der Nutzung der virtuellen Realität und der Building Information Modelling Technologie (BIM), zur Schaffung von immersiven urbanen Situationen für Echtzeit-Experimente. Grundsätzliche Fragestellungen hierbei waren: Wie können Architekten und Stadtplaner in Zukunft mit einfachen und konsistenten Workflows arbeiten, um ihre Modelle während des Entwurfs zu überprüfen, und wie können sie das Ergebnis besser an Nicht-Profis kommunizieren? Ist diese Methodik ein Rahmen, um virtuelle Laborumgebungen für die Urban Emotions Initiative aufzubauen, um unvorhersehbare Ereignisse auszuschließen? Studenten und Wissenschaftler erarbeiteten in einem interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekt Lösungen, bei denen die virtuelle Realität den Planern die Möglichkeit bietet, ihre Modelle nicht nur am Computer zu betrachten, sondern diese auch in der neu geplanten Gebäude- oder Stadtsituation zu erleben, um Raumeindrücke, Wege und Lichtverhältnisse zu analysieren. Unterstützt durch generative Werkzeuge wurde ein maßstabsübergreifender "Schweizer Taschenmesser"-Workflow zwischen Modellerstellung und Entwurfsdiskussionsplattform in VR entwickelt, der über Head-Mounted-Displays zu einem virtuellen Rundgang zur Untersuchung "urbaner Emotionen" angepasst werden kann

Not Our Land: An Analysis of a Socially Dysfunctional Community in El Fayrouz, Red Sea Region, Egypt

Community is an integral part of human social fabric; without a sense of belonging societies can no longer function properly. This paper investigates a low income residential area in El Fayrouz, an area located between the city of Hurghada and El Gouna in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. The methodological process of urban analysis is focused on understanding the residents of the area, their behaviours, challenges and expectations through studying qualitative and quantitative social and contextual data. The literature review, analysing similar case studies and benchmarks inspired the proposed solution. It is evident that the diversity of cultures of the migrants coming from Upper Egypt in search for economic opportunities hasformed social segregation in the area. This is magnified by the infrastructure deficiencies, the urban fabric and the unstable sources of income. “Not Our Land”, a manifestation of the sense of isolation and the disregard for the communal space is visualised through the solid waste in the street. This presents anopportunity for an environmental entrepreneurship model which integrates the community through an economic incentive: a solution that encompasses social, economic, ecological and infrastructural dimensions

Surface analysis and visualization from multi-light image collections

Multi-Light Image Collections (MLICs) are stacks of photos of a scene acquired with a fixed viewpoint and a varying surface illumination that provides large amounts of visual and geometric information. Over the last decades, a wide variety of methods have been devised to extract information from MLICs and have shown its use in different application domains to support daily activities. In this thesis, we present methods that leverage a MLICs for surface analysis and visualization. First, we provide background information: acquisition setup, light calibration and application areas where MLICs have been successfully used for the research of daily analysis work. Following, we discuss the use of MLIC for surface visualization and analysis and available tools used to support the analysis. Here, we discuss methods that strive to support the direct exploration of the captured MLIC, methods that generate relightable models from MLIC, non-photorealistic visualization methods that rely on MLIC, methods that estimate normal map from MLIC and we point out visualization tools used to do MLIC analysis. In chapter 3 we propose novel benchmark datasets (RealRTI, SynthRTI and SynthPS) that can be used to evaluate algorithms that rely on MLIC and discusses available benchmark for validation of photometric algorithms that can be also used to validate other MLIC-based algorithms. In chapter 4, we evaluate the performance of different photometric stereo algorithms using SynthPS for cultural heritage applications. RealRTI and SynthRTI have been used to evaluate the performance of (Neural)RTI method. Then, in chapter 5, we present a neural network-based RTI method, aka NeuralRTI, a framework for pixel-based encoding and relighting of RTI data. In this method using a simple autoencoder architecture, we show that it is possible to obtain a highly compressed representation that better preserves the original information and provides increased quality of virtual images relighted from novel directions, particularly in the case of challenging glossy materials. Finally, in chapter 6, we present a method for the detection of crack on the surface of paintings from multi-light image acquisitions and that can be used as well on single images and conclude our presentation

Noise, artefact and the uncanny in large scale digital photographic practice

This dissertation explores the question: why, when encountering the products of many new technologies delivering information via a new media, do I often experience a feeling of disquiet or estrangement? I use the example of laser-photographic printing to explore the issue through a program of practice-based research. The outcome of this line of enquiry includes an original contribution via three series of large-format digital photographic works: Presenting "The Amazing Kriels", Home At Last, and Pure. In this thesis, which supports the main body of the research, that is, the practice-based research, I will briefly review the case for artefact as noise within photographic printing, articulate a significant difference between the artefact levels of traditional analogue and Lambda prints, present original dialogical evidence for estrangement in the latter, and identify it via readings of Sigmund Freud's "The Uncanny" and McLuhan's "The Gadget Lover", as a function of the uncanny. I will propose an original rewriting of McLuhan's ideas of "hot" and "cool" media, as well as the cycles of irritation/mediation repression within McLuhan's media theory as a direction for future research, and relate them to a shift from large-scale analogue photographic printing to Lambda printing.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Ângelo de Sousa’s photographic and film collection: strategies for the preservation of colour slide-based artworks

The Portuguese artist Ângelo de Sousa (1938-2011) produced noteworthy work in photography and experimental film. However, a lack of in-depth studies focusing on the use of these media by the artist is acknowledged. Thus, his work has been studied, particularly through unpublished documentation found in the artist’s house and in public archives, bringing new insights into his production. Despite the delay in the artistic context felt in Portugal in the post-modern period, Ângelo de Sousa produce photographic and film work perfectly in line with that of other international artists. The slide-based artwork Slides de Cavalete (1978-1979), constructed with the additive synthesis of colours, stands out as an example of the inventiveness achieved by the artist with these media. The production process behind Slides de Cavalete has been studied and reproduced, allowing for a thorough understanding of the work and contributing to the definition of its significance. The photographs and films have been gathered together in his house. Since typologies, quantities and condition of the materials were unknown, a survey was carried out to enhance knowledge of the collection and to define preservation priorities. Accordingly, 35 mm chromogenic reversal films (slides), used to produce almost all his photographic colour work, was highlighted as the set in highest risk due to colour change detected in one third of these materials. Thereby, slide-based artworks by Ângelo de Sousa were studied in further detail. The display options undertaken by the artist during his lifetime have been investigated, in order to guide the decision-making process regarding the exhibition and preservation of his slide-based artworks. Slides de Cavalete was selected as a case study, and the history of its exhibition was assessed by searching for documentation and interviewing people. Thus, it is understood that the work was first presented projected on a canvas over an easel, in 1979. Since the artist’s death, the work has been presented without this setup, and recently, as a digital projection. An exhibition was conducted at FCT NOVA, to test the variability of the work displayed with a digital and a slide projector. Based on a questionnaire, a clear preference for the slide projection was acknowledged. Thus, guidelines for the exhibition of Slides de Cavalete are defined, following its first presentation. Considering that chromogenic reversal films are highly susceptible to colour change and that there is still much to know about these materials, their molecular characterization and degradation has been studied. Different pathways to characterize chromogenic dyes are suggested based on chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Additionally, a methodology to accurately monitor colour change in these materials has been defined, based on samples artificially aged at different temperatures (50, 60, 70 and 80˚C) and relative humidity (40% and 60%). The samples were assessed using spectrophotometry with optical fibre probes in the ultraviolet-visible range. From the spectral data, intensity maximums, CIE L*a*b* coordinates and the total colour variation (ΔE*) have been determined. Optical microscopy and digitization have also proven useful for degradation assessment on these materials

Digital Alchemy: Matter and Metamorphosis in Contemporary Digital Animation and Interface Design

The recent proliferation of special effects in Hollywood film has ushered in an era of digital transformation. Among scholars, digital technology is hailed as a revolutionary moment in the history of communication and representation. Nevertheless, media scholars and cultural historians have difficulty finding a language adequate to theorizing digital artifacts because they are not just texts to be deciphered. Rather, digital media artifacts also invite critiques about the status of reality because they resurrect ancient problems of embodiment and transcendence.In contrast to scholarly approaches to digital technology, computer engineers, interface designers, and special effects producers have invented a robust set of terms and phrases to describe the practice of digital animation. In order to address this disconnect between producers of new media and scholars of new media, I argue that the process of digital animation borrows extensively from a set of preexisting terms describing materiality that were prominent for centuries prior to the scientific revolution. Specifically, digital animators and interface designers make use of the ancient science, art, and technological craft of alchemy. Both alchemy and digital animation share several fundamental elements: both boast the power of being able to transform one material, substance, or thing into a different material, substance, or thing. Both seek to transcend the body and materiality but in the process, find that this elusive goal (realism and gold) is forever receding onto the horizon.The introduction begins with a literature review of the field of digital media studies. It identifies a gap in the field concerning disparate arguments about new media technology. On the one hand, scholars argue that new technologies like cyberspace and digital technology enable radical new forms of engagement with media on individual, social, and economic levels. At the same time that media scholars assert that our current epoch is marked by a historical rupture, many other researchers claim that new media are increasingly characterized by ancient metaphysical problems like embodiment and transcendence. In subsequent chapters I investigate this disparity