Northern lights

'Northern lights' collage by Paul Vallance

Fully fledged

'Fully fledged' collage by Paul Vallance

For this collage I've combined a photo of a bird of prey and a male nude by Peter Maria Schafer.  taken from his 1989 monograph 'blue up'.
I think the bird is a sparrow hawk but can't be certain.

Outback cat

'Outback cat' collage by Paul Vallance

Jean and Tommy

'Jean and Tommy' collage by Paul Vallance

This photograph of a girl and large cat comes from a book on the photography of Rose and Emma Windmill. It was taken in Geelong, Victoria, Australia in 1918 by Emma Windmill. The sitters must have both sat quite still as photographs then had quite long exposures. The parrots have flown in from another book on jungle flora and fauna.

Absence

'Absence' collage by Paul Vallance

White blood cell

'White blood cell' collage by Paul Vallance.

Photograph of woman at work by Lewis W. Hine circa 1225, with background scanning electron microscope image of white blood cell surrounded by bacteria from 'Inside the body: fantastic images from beneath the skin'.

Candy

'Candy' collage by Paul Vallance

For this collage I've used a photograph 'Candy worker' taken circa 1925 by the great American documentary photographer Lewis Hine. I love this image. I found it in a book 'Women at work' which features 153 of Hines photographs of women doing humdrum work-typists, telephonists, mill and garment workers and the like. In most of the photographs the faces of the women aren't visible, their heads are downcast watching over machinery. The 'candy worker' is different, she returns the cameras gaze. It's a haunting image. The expression on her face seems a bit forlorn, and what was she thinking? 'Why the heck does this guy want to take a photograph of me'?
I find old photographs strangely melancholic.  We'll never know what her name was or how many years she spent working in the candy factory, or what those chocolates tasted like. I hope she had a long happy life.

Eye of the beholder

'Eye of the beholder' collage by Paul Vallance.

I made this collage at the Jung Art Making Group. Usually when I make collages at home my cutting is quite precise, with this one I took less care. I'm never that keen on collages that feature cut out eyes and mouths, it seems such a cliche but with this one I found myself doing just that, and the whole thing then seemed to form around one eye and one mouth. I did the red, white and blue painted background as a separate full page painiting before making any of the collage. When it came to the end of the viewing someone in the group suggested the painting would frame the collage well-so I've stuck the two together. At the moment the collage is pinned to the boiler in my kitchen.

Descent

'Descent' collage by Paul Vallance

Ascent

'Ascentt' collage by Paul Vallance

Defying gravity

'Defying gravity' collage by Paul Vallance

This collage consists of three elements: 1. Sky from a contemporary book about the weather. 2. An old 60's photogravure image of the Portuguese coastline. 3. An image of a dancer by American photographer Doug Neal (in the original the dancer is pulling himself up a ladder).

Ship of fools

'Ship of fools' collage by Paul Vallance

Adam's apple

'Adam's apple (with Crocosmia)' collage by Paul Vallance

Frosted henge

Procession

'Procession' collage by Paul Vallance