Collages using templates in Photoshop Express.
Nine pictures. I slept right through most of today’s IV session. The final NEEEEAAAGHT from the infusion pump jolted me awake. I could have stayed there all night.
The nurses are getting exasperated because I keep picking at some of the wounds on my leg, making them bleed. Making them deeper again. I do it because of the depression, which is hitting deep right now. Making me sleep all day. If I’m not careful I’ll end up with a new infection. They’re wrapping it with better, thicker bandages that I won’t be able to remove, which is good. They’ll be thick enough to survive showering too.
Thursday, August 15 IV.
Wound care and antibiotics IV today. Six more weeks of IV fun… apparently several different kinds of bacteria moved into my toe again.
Continuing with IV, instead of pic-line. I gotta try and get some work done around the yard and in Mum’s garage, and wouldn’t be able to do that with a pic-line.
ER
I started this series in June 2024 to shine a light on my struggle to apply the positive affirmations and cognitive behavioural therapy l've been learning as a way to overcome my anxiety, depression, and persistent negative thoughts that so often eat away at my self-confidence.
Overall, I strive to cultivate unconditional compassion, cooperation, curiosity, empathy, forgiveness, friendship, gratitude, harmony, sharing, love, and reverence for all life, in everything I do, no matter what - but I often have difficulty in cultivating that for myself.
June 5, 2024. This image was also posted on Flickr and Instagram.
“What the moralists are demanding from a photograph is that it do what no photograph can ever do—speak. The caption is the missing voice, and it is expected to speak for truth. But even an entirely accurate caption is only one interpretation, necessarily a limiting one, of the photograph to which it is attached.” - Susan Sontag, from her book, ON PHOTOGRAPHY.
August 11, 2024. This photo is also posted on Flickr and Instagram.
This photo is part of a series of photographs for my second assignment in the Digital Photography course I am taking this summer, whose topic centres around the "constructed self-portrait."
My inspiration for this project was rooted in Henry Horenstein's HUMANS project of photographs from 2009. These photos are also similar to some of the photos I shot of myself back in early 2007 as part of a 365 day photo challenge (although those were in colour and were not edited or processed further in a photo editing program).
I shot all the photos using either a 30mm or a 50mm macro lens on a continuous burst mode that allowed me to capture 3 exposures. I then merged those photos and used Photoshop CS5 to adjust the levels of contrast, colour strength and to make them appear as though they were black and white photographs.
This image is also posted on Steve Lee's flickr page.
This image is also posted on Steven Lee's flickr page.
This image is also posted on Steven Lee's flickr page.
This image is also featured on Steven Lee's flickr page.
This photograph was also featured in the SURREYALISTS FRAMED ART SALE from March 25 - 28, 2013 as hung in the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Coast Capital Library Arbutus Art Gallery.
This image is also featured on Steven Lee's flickr page.
This image is also posted on Steven Lee's flickr account.
2024.
2024.
2019.
This photograph is a part of my final submission for the Kwantlen Polytechnic University course FINA 3202: Special Topics in Studio Arts - The Real, as taught by Vancouver artist Elizabeth Barnes, covering the broad and vast topic of what is real.
This photograph is a documentary joiner-style photo collage of the cluttered and unorganized spaces in my house. More than 150 images were shot for this work and a long process of editing resulted in the 40-50 images seen presented here. I like working with the joiner as the abstracted style mimics an almost cubist approach to capturing the fragmented feelings I have dealt with in dealing with my place. And that is why this image has been ultimately created --- to illustrate the personal struggle I’ve had with keeping my house clean. I consider myself very lucky to have a place of my own, but the reality of the demands on my time and the responsibilities in my life has resulted in my house not consistently receiving the time and attention it needs.
My bedroom has not always been the most unorganized but it has been a central space for me - a retreat or escape from the larger messes that encroach on my life. It has been a place where I have escaped to in depression, where I sleep (or hibernate), a place where I have cowered and cried. It’s a struggle that I am overcoming, albeit very slowly, but I am very aware on how it has affected other aspects of my life. For a time, I wasn’t having anyone over because I was ashamed with the unorganized state of the rooms in my house (my Mother still isn’t allowed in my house – yet). And it has affected my ability to produce artwork. My garage, as well as my den and studio are supposed to be places where I can work on my art, but in the unorganized state they are in that has not been possible for me to do effectively.
By documenting my mess with photographs like this and like ones in my series titled "a simple sight of essence" (2013), I am not only creating a work of art, but also a reminder to myself of the fine line I am walking between being unorganized and being a hoarder. Right now, my place is not a write-off, it honestly is not as bad as what you might find on A&E - the main living floor of my house (consisting of my kitchen, dining area, living room and master bedroom), is clean, organized and livable. I also work to ensure that the areas that are messy never get to the point where I’d end up with damage to my house (like rot), nor have I ever had any insect or vermin infestations. And emergency officials can easily get into my place. But I do see how it would be very easy to fall into that kind of an abyss.
"a simple sight of essence" is a documentary photography series of the cluttered and unorganized spaces in my house. I created "a simple sight of essence" to illustrate the personal struggle I’ve had with keeping my house clean. I consider myself very lucky to have a place of my own, but the demands on my time and the responsibilities in my life has resulted in my house not receiving the time and attention it needs. It’s a struggle that I am overcoming, albeit very slowly, but I am very aware on how it has affected other aspects of my life. For a time, I wasn’t having anyone over because I was ashamed with the unorganized state of the rooms in my house (my Mother still isn’t allowed in my house – yet). And it has affected my ability to produce artwork. My garage, as well as my den and studio are supposed to be places where I can work on my art, but in the unorganized state they are in that has not been possible for me to do effectively.
By documenting my mess with photographs like those in "a simple sight of essence," I am not only creating a work of art, but also a reminder to myself of the fine line I am walking between being unorganized and being a hoarder. Right now, my place is not a write-off, it honestly is not as bad as what you might find on A&E - the main living floor of my house (consisting of my kitchen, dining area, living room and master bedroom), is clean, organized and livable. I also work to ensure that the areas that are messy never get to the point where I’d end up with damage to my house (like rot), nor have I ever had any insect or vermin infestations. And emergency officials can easily get into my place. But I do see how it would be very easy to fall into that kind of an abyss.
13"x19", Digital Photographic Print, September 2012.
Photograph No. 1 in a series called "a simple slice of essence," for my first project in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Fine Arts 3270: Advanced Digital Photography course taught by Vancouver Artist Ana Black.
This series can also be found online on Steven's Flickr account.
13"x19", Digital Photographic Print, September 2012.
Photograph No. 2 in a series called "a simple slice of essence," for my first project in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Fine Arts 3270: Advanced Digital Photography course taught by Vancouver Artist Ana Black.
This series can also be found online on Steven's Flickr account.
13"x19", Digital Photographic Print, September 2012.
Photograph No. 3 in a series called "a simple slice of essence," for my first project in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Fine Arts 3270: Advanced Digital Photography course taught by Vancouver Artist Ana Black.
This series can also be found online on Steven's Flickr account.
13"x19", Digital Photographic Print, September 2012.
Photograph No. 4 in a series called "a simple slice of essence," for my first project in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Fine Arts 3270: Advanced Digital Photography course taught by Vancouver Artist Ana Black.
This series can also be found online on Steven's Flickr account.
13"x19", Digital Photographic Print, September 2012.
Photograph No. 5 in a series called "a simple slice of essence," for my first project in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Fine Arts 3270: Advanced Digital Photography course taught by Vancouver Artist Ana Black.
This series can also be found online on Steven's Flickr account.
