With everything in place and having had the time leading up to now to realise and consider what themes and expressions I want to capture with the compositions, it was time to begin the construction phase of the project.
I set out with a plan of making the images in groups of 5 at a time, this was to make sure I didn’t get bogged down in the same patterns and processes that I was using, this way I would be able to make sure I had a fresh eye for each session, this would help avoid any repetition or general stagnation of work.
Working to the plan and method established prior with my proof of concepts, I would start with a base layer that had a good level of features that would withstand the layering process without becoming muddied or lost.
Next, I would often go for another visually strong layer but invert it upside down as to create a denser look with detail from the top to the bottom of the frame, applying a blend layer to begin the layering process next. Then I would often go for a more textured layer or one with a more singular focus point, such as a tower, telegraph pole + wires, signage, or other such things to bring back the focus of the image on top of the now detail rich 1st and 2nd layers, apply blending and then adjust the 2nd and 3rd layers as needed to make sure the layers worked together and not against one another.
From here the base composition would be complete and now the more textured and identifying detailed assets would be added as the 4th and 5th layers, blended, and then also adjusted with the previous ones to keep cohesion and ensure a good blend. Once all the layers were applied and blended, the fine tuning process would start. This would be where I would go through each of the layers, including the base, and move them up and down the layers, while also experimenting with other blend modes just to what changes might occur within the blend, this was usually with the goal of having elements really mix, weave and sit well through the blend of layers. This was partly to keep the layering process more clandestine so the images would present more as one unified composition rather than a more obvious collage or stacked image, and also to enhance the effect of having intricate detail dispersed and ever-present throughout the images, this with the intention of making the images evolve and reveal more and more to the viewer the longer and the closer they read or study the image.
Once the optimum balance and ultimately the desired effect and look of the images was achieved, I would then export the image as a high quality JPEG, and also save the Photoshop file to keep if any changes or re-exports would be needed, the naming of the images was to be kept to the sequential number of the creation of the images, so the first would be called ‘Number 1’ and so forth, this would remain all the way through to the book stage as I wanted to keep as much about the images open and unguided to the viewer as possible and even more obscure names would hint or guide in some way to a fixed meaning whereas I’m trying to make these images in such a way that there isn’t one fixed or set reading and whatever the viewer can read and decipher from the images based on their own experiences or understandings of them would result in their interpretation of each one.
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