This thesis presents and develops an advanced method of self-exploration for artists. The method, which incorporates the process of self-representation, enables a more authentic identification of the psyche of the artist to be created. The objective of the research is to develop a restorative and valid therapeutic process that artists can apply to achieve further authenticity in terms of the work that they conduct. The process that is developed as a product of this research is an advancement of ‘pathography’, a term used by Sigmund Freud in 1910 in the final chapter of Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood, to describe the psychoanalytic study of an artist through the works produced by the artist. The specific method employed in the research involved myself as artist creating a photographic self-portrait, sharing this image with two psychoanalytic psychotherapists, who each then responded with their written analysis of the image. This led to the creation of a series of twenty-four images, informed by the written interpretations provided by the analysts, at approximate intervals of once a month over two years. This method allows the interaction of artist, artworks and analysts to develop dynamically. This collaborative process where the written word is generated from the viewing of visual information, allows patterns or themes relevant to the research to be identified. The research findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge by revisiting of ‘pathography’ and developing a new method within phototherapy, and, in doing so, provide a material progression in the context of the artist as a photographer. Recommendations are also made in respect of the implementation of this new method. Guidance is provided for researchers who wish to further investigate this area, particularly in terms of the research processes that can be adopted. I conclude that making photographic self-portraits in this way can be a restorative and valid therapeutic process.

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In optical experiments, replacing the usual constant intensity light source with one that has its intensity modulated at a fixed frequency gives a number of advantages, namely moving the signal of interest away from low frequency noise, allowing the signal to be detected even in the presence of background illumination, as well as being able to gain more information about the experiment by measuring any change in the phase of the modulation. A number of different types of integrating pixels have been simulated in Matlab with regard to their suitability for use as a modulated light detector, along with different methods for reconstructing the signal. The quadrature method of reconstruction was chosen as the best technique, where four samples are taken per modulated time period then all four samples are used in the I and Q channels of the demodulator. A modulated light detector has been implemented using a custom integrated circuit in a standard 0:35 micro m CMOS process, linked to a field programmable gate array. The custom circuits consists of a photodiode configured as an integrating type pixel, where the output of the pixel is connected to a comparator so that when coupled with a counter, the pixel can measure the amount of time taken for the photodiode to reach a particular voltage. A camera with 128 x 128 pixels has been implemented and characterised using a modulated laser as the input, with the results obtained compared to the Matlab simulations carried out. Images have been taken with the camera that show the camera is able to detect modulated light signals at a modulation depth of 1.39% and modulation frequency of 420 Hz. The camera has also been operated successfully for a modulation frequency of 2.5 kHz.

Mechanical, physical and chemical changes in the surface of commercial thin film metal evaporated magnetic recording media have been correlated to recording error and signal degradation measurements. Modified and adapted commercial Hi-8 video recorders have been used for sample generation whilst analytical techniques such as SXPS,IMS and SEM have been employed in the surface characterisation. The durability of the media was assessed through stop motion (still frame) and cycling tests, where error growth and signal degradation were measured as a function of running time. The tests were performed under ambient (22°C, 40% RH) and high humidity (22°C, 80% RH) conditions. Characterisation of the lubricant layer on each tape was performed through models based on XPS and angle resolved XPS. The lubricant thickness can significantly affect the durability and signal output level of a thin film tape and thus it is important that reliable quantification can be achieved. Various models were considered for determining the lubricant thickness although ultimately, the most suitable technique was deemed to be a model that assumed a uniform layer structure. In addition to thin film metal evaporated media, equivalent durability tests and surface analysis experiments were performed using a commercial metal particle tape in order that comparisons could be made between the two types of recording media. The signal performance of the thin film metal evaporated media was found to be quite different from that for the metal particle tape since dropout errors and signal degradation increased at a much earlier stage. Extensive surface analyses enabled the mechanisms responsible for media failure and error growth to be identified in the ME and MP tapes and these were found to result from cyclic stressing and fatigue on the immediate substrate of the media.

The project set out with two main aims. The first aim was to determine whether large scale multispectral aerial photography could be used to successfully survey and monitor urban wildlife habitats. The second objective was to investigate whether this data source could be used to predict population numbers of selected species expected to be found in a particular habitat type. Panchromatic, colour and colour infra-red, 1:2500 scale aerial photographs, taken in 1981 and 1984, were used. For the orderly extraction of information from the imagery, an urban wildlife habitat classification was devised. This was based on classifications already in use in urban environments by the Nature Conservancy Council. Pilot tests identified that the colour infra-red imagery provided the most accurate results about urban wildlife habitats in the study area of the Blackbrook Valley, Dudley. Both the 1981 and 1984 colour infra-red photographs were analysed and information was obtained about the type, extent and distribution of habitats. In order to investigate whether large scale aerial photographs could be used to predict likely animal population numbers in urban environments, it was decided to limit the investigation to the possible prediction of bird population numbers in Saltwells Local Nature Reserve. A good deal of research has already been completed into the development of models to predict breeding bird population numbers in woodland habitats. These models were analysed to determine whether they could be used successfully with data extracted from the aerial photographs. The projects concluded that 1:2500 scale colour infra-red photographs can provide very useful and very detailed information about the wildlife habitats in an urban area. Such imagery can also provide habitat area data to be used with population predictive models of woodland breeding birds. Using the aerial photographs, further investigations into the relationship between area of habitat and the breeding of individual bird species were inconclusive and need further research.