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Ruth Carll's picture

Just For Fun Series

So... I have this series of shots that I love. But..... they are awkward because they are so long and narrow, no one knows what they are and they don't have broad appeal. They never rank highly in feedback or votes. However, I really like them. I just wanted to be able to share them with people who might appreciate them. This is the entire series and this is just for enjoyment. Of course, I am always open to feedback but my goal here was mostly to share these. They were hard to take and i'll describe them after I give you a chance to mull this over.

Can you guess what they are?

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6 Comments

I do not happen to understand how you created these shapes... It seems like a sort of branch with ledlights you turn around an axis!?! That's a strange "gosthy" serie questionning my mind as would do abstraction

NOW we have abstraction!

These are good, Ruth! Perhaps particularly as a series, with its similarities and differences. They remind me slightly of Sugimoto's electric discharge photograms (using a sort of electrified wand). More imaginative than I think I could produce.

I thought gas jets first, then LEDs like David, but how you got the sharp edge AND diffusion stumps me. Not that it matters.

I took these at a little local museum called InfoAge that explores science from the early to mid 1900's. They have great stuff and, since it is so low budget, they let you mess around with the stuff. Of course, it's one of my favorite places. Cue turning off the lights and turning on the old equipment and taking photos!

These images are of an electrical current running up two wires on a Jacob's Ladder. The electric bounces back and forth from bottom to top until it dissipates off the end. It repeats quickly. It creates that little light burst when it hits the wire and bounces toward the other side. I put a photograph of the machine with the lights on below.

The trick it timing. The timing was difficult in order to catch the trail from bottom to top and stopping before the next current began causing a double image. And the other pesky visitors who would prefer the lights on. :)

PS. The old equipment is a photographic treasure trove. Here is Johnny Cash crooning through an old oscilloscope. Too bad the 1940s plastic screen is so thick the image is really soft.

Certainly abstract, a great fine art series. I can easily see taking many shots as there are seemingly countless patterns that can be captured. Nice work!

I also could see this as an excellent fine art series of three, five, or even seven hanging in a modern space (house, office, etc), possibly a wide wall or hall, the pieces themselves having the same dimensions, each being a tight vertical crop, evenly spaced on the wall, first one could be a simple start with only the bottom third of the electricity exposed, and it grows and progressively changes as you view each one down the wall. Have the pieces printed on metal and exhibit mounted.

Now that is a great idea! i need to learn to think more commercially. Thanks A BUNCH Joe!