# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Christian Liberté Boltanski (6 September 1944 - 14 July 2021) was a French sculptor, photographer, painter, and film maker. He is best known for his photography installations and contemporary French conceptual style.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Artist page for Christian Boltanski (born 1944)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Canadian photographer, Amy Friend, has created a lyrical series, Dare alla Luca that revisits the past but is made anew by the addition of scattered light. The existing photographs transform into glowing memories or poems of stardust and shimmer that allow our imaginations to wander.
Amy grew up on the outskirts of Windsor, Ontario, Canada where the Detroit River meets Lake St.Clair. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto before embarking on intermittent travels through Europe, Morocco, Cuba and the United States.She received a BFA Honours degree and BEd degree from York University, Toronto as well as an MFA from the University of Windsor, where she received a Social Sciences and Humanities Grant as well as an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Amy's work has been featured in select publications such as the The Walrus, Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photography Competition, EnRoute Magazine, LENS magazine (China), and Rooms Magazine.She has exhibited nationally and internationally and have received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. Recently Amy has received a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, an exhibition at the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography and at the Mois De La Photo-OFF in Paris, France. She was also a Critical Mass Finalist in 2012.
In my work I gravitate towards ideas relating to time, memory, impermanence, and the fluctuations of life. I employ materials and surroundings that are familiar to me using them as starting points for my investigations. These materials become the substance I use to inform the work I create. In my practice I tend to work within the medium of photography, however, I am not concerned with capturing a "concrete" reality. Instead, I aim to use photography as a medium that offers the possibility of exploring the relationship between what is visible and non-visible.
What Is Done In The Darkness Will Be Brought To The Light

In the Dare alla Luce series, I initial responded to a collection of vintage photographs, retrieved through a variety of sources. Through hand-manipulated interventions I altered and subsequently re-photographed the images making photographs that would oscillate between what is present and what is absent. I aim to comment on the fragile quality of the photographic object but also to the equal fragility of our lives, our history. All are lost so easily.

By playing with the tools of photography, I "re-use" light by allowing it to shine through the holes in the images. In a somewhat playful and yet, literal manner I return the subject of the photographs back to the light, while simultaneously bringing them forward. The images are permanently altered; they are lost and reborn, hence the title, Dare alla Luce, an Italian term meaning, "to bring to the light" in reference to birth.
In this series I wanted to work with photographs that I did not have a direct connection to. For that reason I searched vintage shops, the internet and auctions to collect a series of images. Through the act of collecting I began to interpret these photographs as "lost" or even "dead". Their primary connections were severed which resulted in a removal of their original meaning to a certain degree. In my methodology I like to "play" - to examine what I am looking at, so I might figure out what drew me to specific photographs. I considered why a photograph is or is not interesting to me. During this process I could not shake the question, "What is a photograph? What is its' material quality, what does this material mean? and how does our relationship change with photographs over time?" In my explorations the notations or lack of notations on the photographs became significant. If there were details written on the photographs I included them in the titles, but if there were none, I used this lack of reference to connect my thoughts about what a photographic is in relation to the medium but also to actual photographic processes. For example in the photograph, "What is done in the darkness will be brought to the light", I know that it is a water baptism but that is clear through what is visible in the photo. My title is a bit facetious - as I allude to the photographic processes and the darkroom, yet I also point toward spiritualism, which has intertwined itself with photograph through history. As you read though the titles they comment on what they are and what they are not. They become something new even in their static state. We Are The Spirit Rappers Posts on Lenscratch may not be reproduced without the permission of the Lenscratch staff and the photographer.
Recommended

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I dream of that day Canadian photographer, Amy Friend, has created a lyrical series, Dare alla Luca that revisits the past but is made anew by the addition of scattered light. The existing photographs transform into glowing memories or poems of stardust and shimmer that allow our imaginations to wander.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LEE KIRBY-Lee Kirby Photography Pro-ject

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lee Kirby Photography | Portrait - Landscape - Music Photographer London U.K

# data[].attributes.headline
Guide to using a projector in the studio

# data[].attributes.subject
Guide to using a projector in the studio

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In my opinion, there's an extra layer of believability - a tangibility, if you will - to using practical effects as opposed to relying heavily on post-production. Post work is limited by the breadth (or lack thereof) of imagination, which is why I try to get as much as I can in-camera.

The first time that I used a projector as a lighting tool was in a fashion story about vacation getaways I shot in 2015. I resorted to projecting exotic locales on a wall behind the model because it was February in Ohio, which meant the outdoor options available were dark skies and snow or ice-covered surfaces.

The only projector I had access to was old, dim, and would stop working every time it was bumped. Despite all the elements working against me, I pulled off an image that I was happy with:

Because the projector was so dim and since I needed the projector to be far enough away from the background that the image filled my frame, I had to completely darken the room that I was shooting in, in order to keep the room light from diluting the projection.

All that is to say when it comes to selecting a projector to use in a shoot, go for the brightest one you can find. Fast forward three years and I have since purchased a projector of my very own: an Epson EX3240. It was basically the brightest, highest rated projector that I could find (3200 lumens) without spending a fortune (less than $400).

The problem with using a projector as a light source is that it's tough to get it into desirable positions. Projectors are designed to be stationary, and all mounting systems that I have found for them are designed accordingly. Ideally, I would have it mounted onto a ball-head so I can position it at any angle. The best solution that I have found to date is a laptop stand. The stand rotates on a single axis point to a 90-degree angle, allowing horizontal and vertical positions. I literally just use duct tape to attach the projector to the stand.

There are a number of ways to use projectors in a shoot. You can aim it behind the model, you can aim it onto both the model and background or you can position it in a manner that it falls on the subject but not the background. Once you determine where you will aim your projector and you begin calculating your exposure, make sure to keep track of what the ambient light in the room is doing. Below, you can see how the tungsten light in the next room affected the ambient exposure.

Next, you need to check the resolution settings on the projector. Below, you can see that the projected image on the left is rendering poorly, resulting in pixelated shapes. One workaround can be shifting the projector lens slightly out of focus. Another is lowering the sharpness in the menu settings of the projector. Side note: I've found that if the projector is closer to the subject, there's little to no pixelation.

After deciding on which projector to buy, the next thing to consider is which images to project and where to get the images from. Many of the images that I use I created in Photoshop myself. I made simple shapes and patterns involving a range of colors, such as this orange circle on a blue background:

The next thing to consider is whether the image will be projected on both the subject and background or just on my subject.

Below, you can that my subject is about 6 feet away from the wall and about 3 feet from the projector.

Note how a simple change in my orientation in relation to my subject will determine whether the background is lit by the projector or in shadow. Now the subject is lit while the background goes to black:

Another way to create images for projection is to modify already existing imagery. I search Google for my source images, making sure to set the search parameters to only look for large images.

You can also set the usage parameters to look for open license images, which is important if you're using a source image in a way that it will still be recognizable (which I rarely do). Most of the time, I am just using the source image as a way to quickly create a pattern, rendering the final image unrecognizable.

For example, I found an image of cracked earth that I liked and opened it in Photoshop.

I selected the magic wand tool, setting the tolerance to 50, which allowed me to quickly select most of the cracked portions of the image.

Had I wanted to make sure I got all the cracked areas, I could option-click and select the "similar" option to get every black crack in the image, but my initial selection worked just fine. Next, I created a fill layer, using the "solid color" option...

...and set the color to red.

Now, when I delete the source image layer, I am left with just the red cracks.

I finish by making another fill layer, but this time selecting black and making it the bottom layer, making sure to flatten the image and save it as a JPEG.

The only part of the original image that is left to project on my model are the vibrant red cracks.

I've made dozens of patterns that I (or my model) select from when making an image. Once an image is selected, I hook up my laptop to the projector and set my projector at a 90-degree angle (assuming I'm shooting a vertical composition). In this scenario, as is the case most of the time, my portrait compositions tend to be waist up or closer, meaning I can have the projector within 5-7 feet of the subject. This creates a brighter projection, and subsequently a faster shutter speed/lower ISO/smaller aperture, making it easier to eliminate any ambient room light.

Below, you can see that I've projected the cracked earth image onto my subject. I also added a cyan-gelled softbox at a 45-degree angle from the camera, allowing for the camera side of the subject to stay in shadow.

As a starting point, I position my projector at the same angle as the main light, then take a test shot and determine whether or not to move anything. I'm not sure why exactly, but I view it as neutral and then determine if I want to vary it from there after seeing a test shot. One of the best parts about using projectors as a light source is that you can adjust the attributes of a projection in just a few seconds. Since my projector is already connected to my laptop, I can quickly open the texture in Photoshop, shift the hue to yellow or green, for example, or use the transform option to adjust thickness or rotation.

When it came to color grading this image, I was able to quickly pop out the red by raising the highlight area of the red tone curve and adjusting the Red and Green primary sliders in the Camera Calibration panel.

Aside from that, I cranked up the dehaze to add a dark drama to the overall image and bumped up the clarity to add muscle definition.

Once you learn how to achieve balance between a projector and strobe, begin experimenting with it. Play with projecting video or a slideshow while making multiple exposures. The changing images build up a colorful, abstract texture on the subject.

Or, since the projector is a continuous light source, add some shutter drag to add some abstraction to your projection. The options are literally endless. It's pretty exciting (if not a bit overwhelming).

This article is an excerpt from Chroma: A Photographer's Guide to Lighting with Color, which will be released via Rocky Nook this July. If you're more of a hands-on learner, make sure to catch the Chroma workshop tour.
About the author: Nick Fancher is a Columbus, Ohio-based portrait and commerce photographer. You can also find more of his work and writing on his website and Instagram. His popular books can be purchased on Amazon.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Use a Projector as a Lighting Tool for Creative Portraits

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In my opinion, there's an extra layer of believability -- a tangibility, if you will -- to using practical effects as opposed to relying heavily on

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Deeply rooted in a conceptual framework, Tony Oursler conjures multimedia and immersive experiences which combine traditional art making tools with new technologies. Oursler is known for his work with moving images, installation and projection. He draws inspiration from wide ranging pop cultural phenomena including telecommunications, narrative evolution, conspiracy, social media, facial recognition, mysticism and environmental concerns. His works often take the form of a "palimpsest," layering possible futures with the recent past while focusing on present day issues. In recent years Oursler has used his extensive archive in conjunction with installations to blur the boundaries between art, fact and belief systems. Since 2000 he has produced many public works involving light and projection onto architecture and existing landscape features such as water, trees and smoke and sculptural objects such as cast bronze and stone. Oursler has developed an ever-evolving multimedia and audio-visual practice utilizing projections, computers, video screens, sculptures and optical devices, which might take form as large scale installations, intimate digital effigies or bots, ethereal talking automatons or immersive and sometimes cacophonous environments. Referencing a fully networked, digitally assisted future of image and identity production while harking back to the phantasmagoria, camera obscura and psychedelia, Oursler is keenly aware of the viewer as a participant in his work. As a pioneer of video art in early 1970s California and New York, Oursler developed a unique fusion of poetic free-association, stream of consciousness, dramaturgy and radical formal experimentation, employing painting, animation, montage and live action: "My early idea of what could be art for my generation was an exploded TV". From performative and lo-fi beginnings to his high tech environments of today, he holds an enduring fascination with the overlapping worlds of popular and subcultural activities and belief systems. Today, Oursler believes art can be "practiced by all and is a unifying transformative force."

Tony Oursler lives and works in New York, NY, USA. Born in 1957, he graduated from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, USA and collaborated on early works with artists such as Mike Kelley. His museum exhibitions include Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (2021); Musée d'arts de Nantes, Nantes, France (2020); Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY (2019); Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA (2017); Magasin III Museum & Foundation for Contemporary Art, Stockholm, Sweden (2016); Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY, USA (2016); Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA (2016); LUMA Westbau, Zurich, Switzerland (2015); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2014); Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2014); Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev, Ukraine (2013); ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark (2012); Helsinki City Art Museum, Finland (2005); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA (2005); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2001); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (2000) and Kunstverein Hannover, Germany (1998). In addition to participating in prestigious group exhibitions such as documenta VIII and IX, Kassel, Germany (1987 and 1992), Oursler's work is included in many public collections worldwide, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, USA; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA; National Museum of Osaka, Japan; Tate Collection, London, UK; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands and ZMK/Center for Art & Media, Karlsruhe, Germany. The Public Art Fund will debut a new, site-specific project by Oursler on the Hudson River in October 2018.

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

'Tony Oursler: Crossing Nepture', Michael Lowe Gallery, FotoFocus Biennial, Cincinnati, OH, USA (29 September - 31 October 2022)

'Tony Oursler: Anomalous', Photo Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland (18 June - 25 September 2022)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Deeply rooted in a conceptual framework, Tony Oursler conjures multimedia and immersive experiences which combine traditional art making tools with new techn...