This week I aim to mainly focus on doing some research into folk horror and hopefully get some initial photos taken to help me start thinking about how I want to visually express my ideas for this project through my camera.
Folkhorror Research:
What is it?
- A multifaceted, multitudinous subgenera which manifests within different forms of media.
Folk horror can be seen as a type of social Map that tracks the unconscious Ley lines between a huge range of different forms of media in the 20th century and earlier - a hybridity of genres = something unnerving.
Characteristics:
- land where in the 'past and present mix'
-uses folklore aesthetically and thematically
-presents a clash between arcane and modernity
e.g. The Wickerman
^ the film establishes a sense of traveling and escaping rational, law abiding society and has become a towering cult classic, playing a key role in the 'folk horror' genre.
As part of my research I watched The Wickerman this week and now understand why it has the reputation of being such a cult classic! Elements of the film to note in particular were how despite it being a horror film, it was filmed almost completely in daylight, there were a lot of references to 'the old ways' and rituals and festivals that took place in England before christianity took over (maybe this is why I'm so drawn to the folk horror aesthetic and genre because I grew up in a rural part of England where some of these practices and festivals still take place) and quite a rich colour palette used, yet again subversive to other horror films, with a lot of earthy and natural colours used.
Below are some film stills that I find particularly visually inspiring:
After watching the Wickerman I decided to do a bit more research in the Pagan rituals that appeared in the film and discovered that in recent years there's been a resurgent interest in witchcraft and the occult. 1990-2008 saw a massive increase in people identifying as Wiccans, especially young women -> a way to feel powerful in their womanhood, an escape from the very christian, traditional, patriarchal restriction of many western societies. I find this particularly interesting as it's always been something that I've been drawn to just never acted on it, so maybe this project could be the perfect opportunity to explore my inner witch!
^ This led to branches of witchcraft making their way into the mainstream e.g. The Craft 1996
I love this film and will definitely be using this for visual inspiration too.
Leonora Carrington:
Carrington is an artist who explores folk horror through painting instead of film. She was a writer and painter who focused on magical realism and alchemy and used autobiographical detail and symbolism as the subjects of her paintings. Carrington was interested in presenting female sexuality as she experienced it, rather than as that of male surrealists' characterization of female sexuality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington
I find her work utterly fascinating and love the layering and complex narrative telling through symbolism and composition, with your eye following the story of the painting from left to right. The way she paints and portrays her work through the female gaze is something I try to do in my own work and I will definitely be coming back to her work as I just love how surreal and magical they are.
Notes from this video:
The unholy folk horror trinity = The blood on Satan’s claw, Witch finder general, The wicker man – all narratively very different but all filmed around the same time late 60s – early 70s and all filmed on location, mostly in the daylight of British countryside – all feel very earthy
The folk horror chain = Rural location – isolated groups – skewed morals or beliefs – violent supernatural happenings
Folk horror takes a very cold and distant view on people – the monster in the films is not other beings but humans themselves. What makes them even scarier than other horror films is that they show the real monster – humans
Highlights our inescapable past of horror – seem to suggest that without our technologies and superficial things we are still really just animals underneath it all.
^the literary origins of folk horror
The place called dagon – one of the first stories to use the isolated cult in a small rural town trope
Young Good man Brown
^^ both exist within very Christian viewpoints – the danger of straying away from Christianity/the puritan lifestyle
Modern Folk Horror:
Explores class, especially the impact of post Thatcherism which has really demonised the working class. This is very much seen in the film Eden Lake - a folk horror with a very negative portray of chavs. Brexit has also had a massive impact - fear of the outsider and increase of islander mentality in the UK. -> as a result there's been a wide scale embracing of political fantasy and inwardness, very similar to The Wicker Man who controlled his population with lies and perks of counter culture.
Folk Horror aesthetic in photography:
Max Slobodda:
During my research in folk horror photography I came across the work of Max Slobodda. His work seems to epitomise the aesthetic of modern folk horror.
'Through his deconstruction of reality, Max explores the human need for logical explanation and asks, “Is it even possible at all to imagine the unimaginable and accept it as a fact?” With ‘Stranger Things’, Max aims for the emotions of the viewer to determine the narrative behind each image: “What we see, believe to see, want to see and can see, are all things that work together and simultaneously against each other. In ‘Stranger Things’, I want to let the incomprehensibility be incomprehensible and not to force any logical explanations but rather let the emotions decide absolutely free.”
I really like how Max has left his work up for interpretation as it allows you to create your own narratives from these incredibly surreal photos. But now knowing this, it's also made me discover that I want to have a much more directed message with my own photographs for this project considering the very political material I'm looking at. What that message is in particular is still something I need to figure out however.
My own initial photos inspired by this aesthetic^^
Initial shoot in the new forest:
For this shoot I went into the New Forest just as the sun was setting to play around with trying to recreate the folk horror aesthetic and style I have been researching this week. I played around with a mixture of long and short exposure shots to see which best created the eerie effect I was going for. I think that the long exposure worked best, as seen in images at the top of the gallery ^ its created this dreamlike quality to the images, emphasised by the fact that I moved the camera around as the shutter was going off too. I also really like the image of the horses in the dark as you can barely make them out, with just the flash highlighting their eyes and making them look really demonic. Although I like the other 'better' exposed and composed shots I don't think they fit the folk horror aesthetic as well, so that was definitely useful to learn.
Playing with inversion:
I decided to play around with inverting the images I took in photoshop to try and re-create the glowing effect that Max Slobodda has in some of his photos. Although it makes the images look really strange and otherworldly, I think they feel too science fiction and not folk horror enough. I've learnt this week that folk horror is heavily influenced by nature and the often rawness and dirtiness of it and so I'm glad that I tried out these edits because I don't think it quite fits these notions and now know what not to look for when creating my work for this project.
Studio Lighting workshop:
This week I also got the opportunity to use proper lighting kit. Experimenting with a wide array of light boxes, light diffusers and types of lights to see the different effects of them on a photograph.
Using hard light to create shadows and contrast:
Using coloured gels and softer lights:
I'm really grateful for getting the opportunity to have this workshop as now I feel I have a pretty good understanding of how to use the lighting kit. I'd really like to have a go at using the studio lighting again for this project and will definitely want to use the portable ones on location. Playing around with different coloured gels and using different light diffusers when out on location could really help create the otherworldly and folk horror look I'm going for, especially after seeing Max Slobodda's work who really effectively uses colour and lighting to create this effect.
Week 3 Reflections:
I think I've had a really productive this week. Taking the opportunity to do some in depth research into the folk horror genre has definitely given me a better understanding of it and I've got a much better idea of how I want to recreate it and use it in my own work now too. I learnt a lot from the initial shoot I did this week too, now knowing what I am and aren't looking for in future shoots. It also gave me a better understanding of how to take photos in low light and heavily wooded areas, noting for next time I need to do some more work on understanding aperture, exposure and the other settings on my camera as I spent most of my time getting the settings right meaning I didn't get as many photos as I wanted. The lighting workshop I got to attend this week was also highly beneficial. I think being able to use the portable lighting kit will help solve some of the issues of poor lighting that I had during my shoot this week as well as allow me to have another avenue to distort and play around with my images.
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