DPS Treasurer Angy Ellis is well known, not just in this club, for her creative and dynamic approach to photography. Hyperactive, a self portrait, has been well received, most recently being awarded a Highly Commended (along with two more of her prints) by Rod Whelans in the recent, prestige Valente competition.
“My self-portrait ... is it, (a) an in-depth exploration of my own psyche, or (b) simply a picture created for a competition where the model (me) was the easiest and cheapest I could find?. Yes, (b) was the correct answer.
Apparently a self-portrait is a projection of one’s self, so after some deep thought , numerous cups of tea and packets of ASDA ‘extra special’ stem ginger biscuits (other extra special stem ginger biscuits are available, Ed) I decided to present myself as I am seen by others closely around me, hyper active.
Truth is I never stop, if my body isn’t moving then my mouth probably is. My mind is constantly running wild with ideas, plans, reflection and life in general. There was no other option than to show how hyperactive I need to be to get all things done. To relay this in a photograph was the next hurdle.
I saw a picture at the club once, by John Attle I think, with motorcycle helmets in separate boxes. I saw a piece of art in a gallery with body parts in boxes – the fact that in life my lack of time restricts me so much the idea to place me in a box which symbolises restrictive time in this case was the only way to go.
I set up my tripod in my spare room, set the timer then took a few shots of me with my arms up on a white background. On the monitor they looked quite boring, so I fiddled with the tools and really liked result that the threshold/stamp combination created. Unfortunately the result it looked less like a body because of the outline of the clothing. So only one thing for it I had to get naked, all in the name of art. This worked really well; I was able to take about sixty different moves in about 2 hours.
Editing took another 3 hours to convert them all into what I called body stamps, create the boxes template then individually copy and paste all my separate images into place. Yep, it was a pain but the result I loved. Then I thought how are people going to recognise it was me? So I cleared 4 boxes and put inside my face cropped tightly around the eyes.
The result, my image ‘Hyperactive’ that you have seen in a few competitions this year achieving very good results. I will be putting it to bed after the New Year - or should I say letting it rest on my wall at home. “
Angy Ellis
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