Scary Monsters and Super Creeps: Analogue Photography Materialising the Australian Gothic

Abstract

This research paper positions my creative practice within the theoretical framework of the Gothic mode and analogue photography. In doing so I have been able to explore expressive methods of relating to the natural world in a colonised country. My creative research expands my analogue photographic practice in process and subject matter. I materialise my theoretical concerns through the photographic image, paper negative, chemistry and the hand-made camera. I have created a camera obscura from a 1955 caravan, which is a theatrical space for experiencing the projected image of the outside world. I have also made this caravan a mobile pinhole camera, studio and darkroom. I expanded my photographic chemical practice by incorporating household products such as coffee to create my black and white lens-less photography. This research has also culminated in the creation of four series of photographic works: Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, Other Worlds, Weltzmertz and Weltzmertz Disrupted.