Alternative Photography in the Digital Age

148 Pages·2013·10.07 MB·English

ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE DIGITAL AGE:
PERFECT PHOTOGRAPHS IN AN IMPERFECT WAY

A Master’s Thesis

by

SERDAR BİLİCİ

Department of
Graphic Design
İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University
Ankara

January 2013

dedicated to the memory of Betsy
ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE DIGITAL AGE:
PERFECT PHOTOGRAPHS IN AN IMPERFECT WAY

Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences
Of
İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University

by

SERDAR BİLİCİ

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
MASTER OF FINE ARTS

in

THE DEPARTMENT OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNIVERSITY
ANKARA

January 2013
I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and
in quality a thesis for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design.

___________________________
Assist.Prof.Dr. Dilek Kaya
Supervisor

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and
in quality a thesis for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design.

___________________________
Dr. Özlem Özkal
Co-supervisor

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and
in quality a thesis for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design.

___________________________
Assist. Prof. Dr. Marek Brzozowski
Examining Commitee Member

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and
in quality a thesis for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design.

___________________________
Assist. Prof. Dr. Ersan Ocak
Examining Commitee Member

Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences

___________________________
Prof.Dr. Erdal Erel,
Director
ABSTRACT

ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE DIGITAL AGE:
PERFECT PHOTOGRAPHS IN AN IMPERFECT WAY
Bilici, Serdar
M.F.A., Department of Graphic Design
Supervisor: Assist.Prof.Dr. Dilek Kaya
Co- Supervisor: Dr. Özlem Özkal
January 2013

This thesis explores the possibility of an alternative future of photography from the
union of digital and chemical domains of the photographic medium. The historical
photographic processes known as Cyanotype, Salt print and Vandyke Brown are
employed for this project in conjunction with the modern inkjet printer produced digital
negatives.
As being highly sensitive to the variables during the process, each alternative
photographic print exhibits a visual uniqueness. In this aspect, there is conceptual
correlation with the visual uniqueness of alternative photographic processes and the
visual uniqueness of albinism. Emphasizing the human element in subject, vision and
craft of making photographs, this project aims to produce unique photographs of a
visually unique subject.

Keywords: Alternative Photography, Digital Negative, Antiquarian Avant-Garde,
Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, Salt Print, Sun Print, Albinism
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ÖZET

SAYISAL ÇAĞDA ALTERNATİF FOTOĞRAFÇILIK:
KUSURLU MÜKEMMELİKTE FOTOĞRAFLAR
Bilici, Serdar
Yüksek Lisans, Grafik Tasarım Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Dilek Kaya
Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Dr. Özlem Özkal
Ocak 2013

Bu tezin amacı fotoğrafçılığın kimyasal ve sayısal alanlarının birlikteliğiyle biçimlenecek
olası bir alternatif fotoğraf geleceğini keşfetmektir. Bu çalışmada, Cyanotype, Salt Print
ve VanDyke Brown olarak bilinen tarihi fotoğraf teknikleri, modern mürekkep
püskürtmeli yazıcılar ile elde edilebilen sayısal negatifler kullanılarak oluşturulmuştur.
Baskı sürecindeki türlü etmenlere karşı son derecede duyarlı olan alternatif fotoğraf
baskıların her biri görsel açıdan kendine has ve eşsizdir. Bu bağlamda, alternatif fotoğraf
tekniklerinin sergilediği görsel eşsizlik ile albinizmin görsel benzersizliği arasında bir
bağlantı kurulmuştur. Fotoğraf üretme eyleminin öznesinde, vizyonunda ve zanaatında
insan etmenine vurgu yapan bu çalışma benzersiz bir konu üzerine benzersiz fotoğraflar
üretmeyi amaçlar.

Keywords: Alternatif Fotoğrafçılık, Sayısal Negatif, Antiquarian Avant-Garde,
Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, Salt Print, Güneş Baskı, Albinizm
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to thank Özlem Özkal for all the guidance she provided me in all
these years. I always admired the positive and constructive criticism she provided. Most
importantly, she always urged me to be completely honest in my approach to
photographing the delicate subject I have chosen. Thanks to her, I took on the path
which I felt most comfortable and passionate about my subject.

I am grateful to Dilek Kaya for providing me the more than adequate workplace in the
department that I used during my project. Having a dedicated workplace motivated me
to experiment, to learn from scratch and master the processes I used, eased my efforts
to a great extent. I am also grateful for her insightful remarks and pointing me to what I
feel is to be one of the missing pieces of the puzzle for this dissertation.

I must thank Ersan Ocak for his constant positive criticism, and insightful remarks on
the issues of this dissertation, but most importantly for introducing me to the literature
of Flusser, which became one of the single most important writing on photography for
me, that shaped my ideas and helped me to determine my own path in photography.

I would like to thank Marek Brzozowski, since the inception of this project, his support
and the belief in it assured me. I learned a great deal from him in these years. His
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contributions on the framing and exhibition ideas were extremely helpful to finalize the
project. I am grateful for his tremendous support and his mentorship for all this time.

I am very grateful to Loris Medici for the help and the guidance he provided about the
alternative photographic processes was invaluable, my correspondence with him assured
me the possibility of the project that I planned to undertake. Due to his direction I was
able to solve the logistics of obtaining a variety of chemicals, the construction of an UV
exposure unit with such ease. His extensive knowledge in the making of digital negatives
and the information he provided, I was able to select a method most suitable to my
workflow.

I would like to thank Seher Aydoğan from İ.D. Bilkent University’s Chemistry
Department for providing me some of their equipment, and most importantly one of
the nastier chemicals I required and sharing her knowledge with me.

I am grateful to Ali Şengöz and Moti Romi for participating in this project and placing
their trust in me.

I must thank Candan İşcan with whom I shared the same working place more than a
year, for being the joyful company for all this time, helping me, sharing her knowledge
with me, criticizing me, listening to me, and I would like to thank Baran Akkuş for his
company, his support, sharing his insights on my work. I would also like to thank Defne
Kırmızı for her belief in my work, her excitement about my project, her positive attitude
in the realization of this process. I was able to work in a positive, productive and joyful
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environment because of you. Thanks to all of you, for being such great friends, for
making this period in my life a significant one.

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