LILY HALLIDAY
Y O U T H
A N T I - S M O K I N G A D V E R T S (N H S)
Because I loved the movement of the smoke and its aspect within my smoke bomb shoots but found it hard to work with in my photography, I have looked into the movement of smoke in anti-smoking adverts and how it is captured. These particular adverts are perfect in emphasising the ideas I have been exploring of smoke completely covering a child’s possessions, even though you may not see it at the time. I want to find a new technique of working that includes smoke in a different way making the process easier to create, whilst still clearly portraying my theme.​ This has inspired me to look into the artist Geoffrey Ricardo. My interpretation of his work emphasises the idea of the smoke covering a child’s possessions.
G E O F F R E Y R I C A R D O
​ To emphasise the idea of smoke passed on from parent’s addictions to their child and their belongings, I have looked into the artist Geoffrey Ricardo.
As within my research and experimentation so far, the smoke has been represented using the colour white Ricardo’s work links in perfectly. To me, his prints help to represent how the smoke from a parents smothers and overtakes a child’s life, home and possessions. As a teddy has been a frequent aspect I have incorporated into my photography throughout my project, bringing this symbol into my work using different a technique and process is very effective and helps to emphasise my theme and ideas even more.
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I believe it would also be effective to print other items from a child’s life, such as socks, small clothes and toys that are able to be transferred easily. Even though these items would be new to my project, it still carry’s forward using the same idea of smoke from a parent covering everything for a child’s life, leaving a stench of invisible smoke.
E X P E R I M E N T S
To work in the style of Ricardo, I have carried out my own bear prints using the same technique.
After looking into the process Ricardo goes through to create his work, I found an unwanted teddy bear that I was able to print on. Unfortunately, whilst experimenting I found that my bear was unable to fit under the roller I had at hand and therefore was unable to use the direct method Ricardo uses. Although, I still found I was able to apply the ink to the front surface of the bear and print it onto black card using weight and pressure from other objects. I found this was just as effective, and carried out two experiments applying less/more ink each time. I found that the more evenly distributed the paint was, the clearer the print came out. I love the outcome of my first print and believe it works incredibly work emphasising the idea of smoke covering a child’s possessions.