I don’t normally experiment with my photographs. I like them exactly as they are shot. My usual enhancements are in line with what a darkroom technician can do. I adjust the color, improve the contrast and remove some of the dust. I don’t like cropping my images because Holga photographs display best when showing the entire image.
I decided to combine a cemetery monument of Jesus and a lifeguard stand. Both photographs are from Galveston, Texas. I used the fullness of each image, which seems to enhance the vignetting. The ghost image of Jesus over the lifeguard stand give the photograph an interesting meaning. Are they both looking out for us?
My next combination wasn’t so deep. I combined the word art from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth sign with Vortex by Richard Serra (2002), the large sculpture outside the museum. Vortex is a collection of steel plates all standing together like a giant red wood tree. The sculpture nearly 68 feet high with room for a large crowd to stand inside. There are two slit at the base that allow visitors to pass through the work. I prefer My Curves Are Not Mad (1987) at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Still the stone word and the steel go together nicely. I could actually take this shot a a double exposure on a Holga, which I will try next time I’m in cow town.
The combination of Lee Harvey Oswald’s grave marker and the Oneal ambulance that took Oswald to Parkland Hospital did not turn out very well. I like the ambulance. I just don’t like how plane looking Oswald’s marker appears. His original marker had much more detail.
The first combination at the top of the page is 602-604 Elsbeth and 214 W. Neely. These were residence of Lee and Marina Oswald in Dallas. The Oswalds lived at the Elsbeth apartments in late 1962 to early 1963. They moved to the Neely house in March 1963. Overlaying the photos gives the Neely house a more sinister look than its usual happy yellow facade. I only used the window and surrounding bricks from the Elsbeth apartment, which give the Neely house the appearance of having a porch and a brick wall near the street.
The last photos I combined are the signs for Dallas Love Field and Parkland Emergency Room. These photos mark the beginning and end of President Kennedy’s journey through Dallas. It if wasn’t for the presidential motorcade through Dallas, Kennedy could have driven straight to the Dallas Trade Mart in about five to ten minutes.
The Dallas Love Field and Parkland Emergency Room photo is not an exact match of square frame to square frame. I took liberty in adjusting the ER sign and I really like how the security camera appears in the blue sky.
Let me know what you think of my digital enhancements. I am always looking for ways to make my photographs more interesting and unique. Cheers.