Using digital technologies to investigate the response of material colour and surface in a 'live' performance environment

My experiments consider the manner in which different fabric surfaces and colours respond to, absorb and reflect projected patterns. As they take the format of photographs they present the concept of 'live' fabric and costume captured as printed surface pattern but not in the usual sense. Because the subject is a moving one, the patterns seems to appear, disappear, merge and spill out of or leave and return to the fabric and the body. This process contemplates the physicality of the fabric and the body albeit in a virtual reality. The photographs present a captured performance that includes material and costume design independently but only for the duration of the performance. In this sense the patterns are ephemeral in nature. Because the pattern movement is in real time and multi-dimensional the narrative is reiterated, supplemented, complimented and enhanced. Convergent Photography considers the development from traditional photographs to images produced using digital technologies and includes sound in their making. The practice involves combining digital technologies to transform what was formerly a static photographic space into a platform for experimentation. Projections of sound and motion triggered designs and imagery onto a range of surfaces including fabrics and the body, have the potential to mutate constantly because they are created by a live sonic input. The incorporation of digital elements activated by sonic and motion triggers that rapidly produce numerous visual iterations, turns the photo generation process into an interaction between the photographer, the digital elements, the use of the space and the live performativity and response of the costume, its fabric and the body. My PhD research differs from other digital mise-en-scene research in that the sound and motion activated visual iterations are created in real-time. Technological developments in both photography and computing are now facilitating the amalgamation of traditional photographic methodologies and genres with new forms of scientific enquiry linked to immersive digital environments.