Rough Draft Week: Under-Developed
/On Tuesday I shared an idea based on an email conversation with supporter Sam W. This is another idea that came up in that conversation. It seems like it would be quite difficult to pull off, but if you could, I feel like it would be very powerful.
From Sam W:
One of the most magical experiences of my life, was the first time I went into a darkroom (at the age of 15), and I placed a blank piece of paper into a tray of liquid and watched as my image faded into view. It felt incredible. I get great enjoyment in teaching my friends how to develop photos and watching as they make their first print!
I was wondering if there was a way I could recreate that experience for the people I'm performing for.
From Me:
I don't really have any ideas off the top of my head for this. Although I did think how cool it would be if you had someone think of any object and write it down. Then you tell them that they've actually written on photographic paper (or whatever it's called) and you develop the paper and the photo that appears is of the object they wrote down. That may be impossible for a number of reasons, but it would be cool.
From Sam W:
Some form of what you described isn't necessarily impossible. I guess you'd need to have some kind of limited range of objects they can choose from and an index of preexposed but undeveloped photos.
It would be a nightmare to setup, and I'm not sure if there is any time limit between exposing the paper and developing it. But what a great idea to explore.
I like this idea quite a bit. So, let’s say they write down “Apple” on the sheet. When it’s developed, they would see an image of an apple appear with their writing overlaid on top of the image. If they felt like the word was truly a free choice, that would be an awfully strong trick.
It might be a good revelation for one of those categories of objects where it seems like there are lots of options, but really there are only a half dozen or so that are regularly named. Then you would just need an index of those undeveloped photos.
The one thing I’m not sure about is if an undeveloped photo needs to be completely in the dark (or red light) until it’s developed. If that’s the case, that could make things a little awkward. But potentially interesting as well.
For example, you have someone join you in a completely dark closet or room. You ask her to name a European city, and you have her write it down. You then ask her if she has any idea why you’re in a darkened room. She says, “Because you’re a creep?” You say, “No, it’s because you didn’t just write the word you were thinking on a piece of paper. It’s actually an undeveloped photo.” You turn on a red light. “You could have named any city in Europe. I gave you the chance to change your mind a few times. You could have picked Venice, Rome, Barcelona, London, or 100 other options, but you settled on Paris.”
You then develop the image and of course the Eiffel Tower or whatever appears under the word they wrote.
The darkened room would likely make the swapping in of the correct image that much easier.
Another idea I had, which I have absolutely no method for, would be to give someone a sheet of photographic paper and tell them to draw a mustache on the paper. The mustache can be drawn anywhere, in any orientation, and of any size. Then when the photo is developed it’s a picture of a man and the mustache is drawn right below his nose.
The closest thing I came to a method is using a dry (non-working) Sharpie. So—in typical dry Sharpie fashion—you tell the spectator to make a “scribbled line” on other side of the page without looking. They would then see the pre-drawn line and assume it’s the line they made. The problem is, I think there’s likely to be too much variation between what they think they drew and what they end up seeing on the paper.
That method does have potential for a similar type of effect. Maybe you use the dry Sharpie to have them make an X in a “random” place on the paper and when it’s developed the photo is seen to be a picture of your high school marching band and the spectator has X’d out the face of that bitch flautist who broke your heart.
Okay, perhaps not that exact premise, but I do think there is something in the combination of a dry marker and an undeveloped photo that could lead to something interesting effect-wise.