Environments
We started the environments topic by looking at John Divola who photographed derelict rooms.
John Divola
Divola is an American contemporary visual artist, born in 1949. He says that he explores landscapes by looking for the edge between abstract and specific.
Here is some of his work that I liked and felt was a starting piece for my environments topic.
Here is some of his work that I liked and felt was a starting piece for my environments topic.
Mise en Scene
This is a photograph by John Divola of a dilapidated building with furniture that is old and falling apart. There is also a window looking out to sea with a sunset. All the windows have been smashed and the red curtains are torn. On the right there is a door with a smashed window and on the floor there is a random selection of derelict objects. There are no people, but there is a book in the air, in the top right. The room looks derelict and empty but someone has been there to throw the book in the air. I think the photo is trying to show something about how things fall apart if left untended, and to show the dereliction in its ‘true light’, unattractive and dull, but there is a contradiction as the book seems to show that the scene is inhabited. John Diovola says he tries to integrate human acts of intervention with the inevitable natural processes of decay – which is what this photograph does. Key words Derelict, old, abandoned, transformed Process The photo is in colour and in quite high quality. I think the photo would have been taken with a flash because everything is exposed in the scene. The book is moving but the image is clear, which means the shutter speed will have been fast. The scene looks as it has just been found in this state, but the book illustrates the human intervention. What ideas do I take from the artist? The idea of photographing a scene as it decays, returning to take more photographs over a period of time. Also the idea of a photograph being made up of a scene and an event - like the derelict house and the book in the air. The photograph becomes more like an artwork as the photographer has intervened. |
For the first set task we looked at framing a photograph using squares.
Framing a photograph
We cut out squares in black paper to make a view finder. This framed our pictures, the result of this is that we thought more about the composition.
I think using squares is an effective way to help me compose my photographs. It made me look closer at small details and thoroughly examine the whole frame.
I think using squares is an effective way to help me compose my photographs. It made me look closer at small details and thoroughly examine the whole frame.
Selects
Home Environment
I then developed this at home, by taking more square shaped photographs. I developed my earlier ideas about what to include in the square frame and how to position the subject and full the frame.
My School Environment
For the next set task we looked at photographing our school environment. I tried to focus on details, light and patterns to present this title. I also used different angles to give a different perspective. I tried to show a variety of environments inside my school.
This task taught me about details and how to present an environment which I see everyday, in an interesting way.
This task taught me about details and how to present an environment which I see everyday, in an interesting way.
I then developed this into photographing the buildings around school. I found this as an interesting way to show the school environment.
Architecture
I was inspired by Allen Klosowski. Here is some of his work which particularly inspired me.
Mise en Scene
The first thing you notice about this photograph by Allen Klosowski is the angle from which it is taken. It is an unusual view and not what you would expect. It might just be what you would see if you were looking upwards, but it is also angled sideways so starts to look more like an abstract picture than a real life view. The regular elements of the building also make the photo look unreal. The repeating windows and the straight edges of the building form a composition that is almost like a drawing. The sky also looks unreal as it is all fluffy white clouds, however it gives a plain background which seems to emphasis the buildings. Key words Pattern, angle, architecture, square Process The photo is in colour and is high quality. I think the camera might have been on a tripod with movable head to allow the photographer to experiment with angles. What ideas do I take from the artist? The idea of photographing buildings like patterns or shapes. How the angle of photograph can affect what you see and how distortion can creates a more interesting and different view. |
Mise en Scene
This photograph is similar to his others as it is taken from below and emphasises the shape, texture and pattern of the building. It is quite a dark photo and this makes the image look dramatic and slightly threatening. The building seems to soar up into the sky and tower above you. The white clouds against the dark sky add to the dramatic effect. The pattern of the front of the building is very regular and this is in contrast with the irregular clouds in the sky. Key words Dark, shapes, looming, sky Process The light is very important in this photo. I think the photographer must have waited for the light conditions to create such a dramatic effect. As before I imagine a tripod was used to try out different angles and choose this one. What ideas do I take from the artist? As before the idea of photographing buildings like patterns or shapes and how the angle of the photograph can affect what you see. The use of contrast in the dark sky, white clouds and dark building to create the dramatic atmosphere. |
Mise en Scene
I think this photo is really aesthetically pleasing. The squares on the building create an interesting pattern. The texture of the building used in contrast to the plain sky behind to emphasise the shapes. The photo as a whole makes you feel quite claustrophobic because the buildings are coming up around you and almost looking down at you. Contrast is also used as the photo is very dark at the bottom and bright at the top which adds to the feeling of height and makes the building soar up into the sky. Key words Shapes, texture, patterns, height Process The light is very important in this photo as well as the angle from which is was taken, photographer must have waited for the light conditions to create such a dramatic effect. As before I think a tripod was used to try out different angles and choose this one. What ideas do I take from the artist? Use of normal things to create an abstract effect. How the angle from which something is seen can make it into something else. How real things can become just shapes and textures when seen from certain views. |
My response
Selects
Artist & Me: Allen Klosowski
I choose to compare this photo of Klosowski's as I felt it was quite similar to mine. Both our photos use the windows as lines to create the looking up effect. In my work, the photo was not taken from so low down looking up at such a tall building, however this allowed me photography the reflections of the clouds in the windows. I think the effect of this is that Klosowski's work is more striking due to the building, which is almost looming above you, whilst mine is less striking as the building is less tall and the perspective is not so extreme. However I think both pictures create a similar effect where a building is seen from below and seen as something that goes up into the air with no ground holding it down at the base. The bulldog becomes something different and abstract as you only see the upper part and the sky beyond.
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For the next set task we looked at our school environment in more detail by using different perspectives.
Extreme Perspective
Artist Inspiration: http://blog.trashhand.com/
Mise en scene
This photograph is a view of a stairwell looking down from above. The picture is carefully composed with the stair descending around and around with flight going down almost as far as you can see. The bottom of the stairwell can be glimpsed in the centre of the stair and this is located centrally in the image at an equal distance from either side. The composition makes the picture look almost abstract as the elements have been taken out of their normal view and shown to create spiraling effect. The photographer uses perspective as the stair get smaller as it goes down and is more distant. The effect of this is to make the viewer feel that they are looking don something that goes on forever. Process The photograph is carefully composed and provably cropped to give this particular view. The photographer must have chosen a particular point to show the stair in the form they wanted to express. Keywords Spiral, forever, falling What ideas do I take? The use perspective and the focus on just one element of a buildings I something that I am going to explore in my photographs. Also creating an image that looks abstract even though it is of a real building or object. |
I found this an interesting way to present the environment as it allowed me to experiment with perspective.
Selects
To develop this we looked at presenting our photographs different forms, such as panographies.
Panography
I was inspired by Joiners by David Hockney.
I was inspired by Joiners by David Hockney.
Mise en scene
This is the Pearblossom Highway by David Hockey. He wanted to show one view from lots of different angles. Although the actual viewpoint of the image appears to from one point you can see all the different areas and objects in lots of detail. The individual photos are taken in close up so you see lots of details as well as seeing things from different angles. The close up photographs also make the viewer feel involved in the photograph as it draws you in by showing lots of detail. David Hockney said, when discussing the photo collage that he was aware that cameras can push you away and he was trying to draw you in. He wanted to represent the fact that everyone doesn't see things in the same view. He called the technique ‘drawing with a camera’ as it is a mixture of photography and painting. The bright colours and the amount of detail does create a vibrant and engrossing picture. In the image you can see a road going up to the horizon from the centre. There are road signs and trees on either side of the road. The colour of the sky is very blue and all the other colours are very bright and contrasting, the image pulls you in as well as looking aesthetically pleasing. He manages to keep the perspective as even though objects are photographed in close up they are places within a bigger landscape. |
Key words
Blue, distance, perspective, collage
Process
He took 800 photos over about 8 days and each one was taken very close to the subject of each picture. He went up on ladders and sat on the floor to get the different viewpoints. He took 200 photos of the sky and arranged then to give an effect he liked, not just to represent what was actually there – this is why he says it is maybe more like painting than photography.
What ideas do I take from the artist?
The idea of using photography like painting or drawing and assembling images in a collage to create something different though similar to what is actually there. Also the idea that you can show things from different angles like in Cubism where you think you can see all side of an object at the same time. This is also a way of distorting an image to create something new. It is interesting to think you can use photography in lots of different creative ways to show, alter and distort images and to create something new.
Blue, distance, perspective, collage
Process
He took 800 photos over about 8 days and each one was taken very close to the subject of each picture. He went up on ladders and sat on the floor to get the different viewpoints. He took 200 photos of the sky and arranged then to give an effect he liked, not just to represent what was actually there – this is why he says it is maybe more like painting than photography.
What ideas do I take from the artist?
The idea of using photography like painting or drawing and assembling images in a collage to create something different though similar to what is actually there. Also the idea that you can show things from different angles like in Cubism where you think you can see all side of an object at the same time. This is also a way of distorting an image to create something new. It is interesting to think you can use photography in lots of different creative ways to show, alter and distort images and to create something new.
My responses
Artist & me: David Hockney
I used the idea that David Hockey uses in this picture to assemble images in a collage to create something different though similar to what is actually there. Also to show different views of an object or environment all at once. I was interested in how David Hockney uses photography like painting or drawing to create new images and this is something that influenced my work on this subject. His composition uses many more images than mine, but the principle is similar and the end result gives a different perspective on the environment.
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The Formal Elements
The formal elements are a set of rules for good composition in photography. They are the foundation to striking photography.
The elements can be used together or separately.
The elements can be used together or separately.
A Journey Represented By The Formal Element: Texture
For the next set task we focused on one formal element, texture. By photographing a journey we could show nature and present the variety of textures in one area.
Contact sheets
Selects
Exhibition Visit
Constructing Worlds: Photography and Architecture in the Modern Age.
Constructing Worlds: Photography and Architecture in the Modern Age.
For this project I was inspired by an exhibition which I visited at the Barbican. The exhibition focused on architectural photography but went further than just being photos of buildings. The photographs were selected to inspire and inform but also to ask questions about what buildings and environment mean to us and how do they make us feel. The photographs raise issues about how architecture reflects society by asking questions like 'What does a soaring skyscraper reveal about our society?’
Mise en scene
I was interested in this photograph of a fairly ordinary looking road because it is much more than just a photograph of a road. The angle at which it was taken and the use of perspective makes the road appear to go on forever. The lack of people makes you concentrate on the buildings in an abstract way and see the shape and texture of the fronts of the buildings and the road surface. It makes me think about life going on, which is strange as there are no people, but it seems to show the background to life.You can imagine the people who live in the street and walk along it and play in the road even through they aren’t there. You can also imagine time passing as the photograph was taken almost 40 year ago and makes you think about then and now. Key words Street, empty, eternal, age, perspective Process The photographer made sure the symmetry and the perspective were perfect to create the desired effect. The photographer also waited for the street to be empty of people to emphasis the emptiness. What ideas do I take from the artist? The ideas that I took from the photograph are using buildings as abstract shapes with texture and patterns, the effect of perspective and also how a scene with no people brings about certain feelings in the viewer. Also how an older photograph can inspire feelings about time passing and how the scene has changed to what it is now in the present time. |
Mise en scene
This photograph is of part of the face of a building. As only part of the building is seen it becomes a pattern where you notice the shapes and textures. As you look more closely you see the shapes are the structure of the building and in the openings there are signs that people are living as each shape has been adapted and added to. The photograph is of a building in Caracas that was never finished and people moved it to squat there. The squatters have organised themselves and the building has shops, hairdressers, a gym etc. The photograph doesn’t show all this but shows how each section of the building has been changed by the people living there. What first seems to be just a pattern becomes an actual building where there are things going on. Key words Regular, pattern, life, community Process The photographer would have carefully lined up the photo so that it is not distorted and to avoid converging verticals. Also so that the floors and columns are grid-like. What ideas do I take from the artist? The ideas I took are photographing just part of a face of building or other object, not the whole thing, as this makes the viewer concentrate on the shapes and patterns. Also when the viewer is looking at the pattern the idea they start to see that something else going on and that the place is actually where people are living and they have changed the building to make it into a home and a community. I also like the idea of filling the frame with one subject so that all the focus is on the details of the subject, rather than other aspects of the photo. It also makes the photo more powerful because there is nothing else to focus on apart from the building. |
Mise en scene
This is photograph of roof tops in Cairo where every surface that you see seems to be covered in rubbish sacks. The buildings look unfinished and almost don't look like buildings more like just blocks or shapes. The blocks are red and a lot of the rubbish sacks are bright blue giving contrast between the two. There are no people immediately obvious in the photograph. The blocks go on into the background and seen to go on forever. As with the other photographs I have chosen this almost seems to be a picture of abstract shapes.The photograph shows the contrast between the buildings and the human impact which is the rubbish that has been put there. It makes the viewer wonder about the people who live there and how they can live this way, even though no people are visible. Key words Colour, shape, infinity, poverty Process The photo will have been taken far away and high up so that many different buildings are visible within the frame. A wide angle lens may have been used and the lighting conditions chosen so that the colours contrasting. This may have been part of the editing process too. What ideas I took The ideas I took from this photograph include the importance of the viewpoint to create an image. This photograph is taken from high up so you are looking down the the buildings and get a particular view. The use of colour to emphasise an effect. The idea of making buildings into abstract shapes and also the way that a photograph with no people in it can make the viewer think abut the people who actually live there are have created the scene. I like the idea of making people think about what they see, rather than just enjoy looking at it. |
Landscape Project: My London
My unit now develops into my personal responses with the class brief "My London".
I decided to present London with diverse architectural periods, showing old and new London.
I decided to present London with diverse architectural periods, showing old and new London.
I was also inspired by these particular photographs which I found online.
I was also inspired by these photographs by anonymous photographers.
First Observation
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Selects From First Observation
Second Observation
Selects from second observation
Third Observation
Selects from third observation
Exhibition Visit
Conflict, Time, Photography
Conflict, Time, Photography
I visited this exhibition at the Tate Modern in London. The exhibition is of war photographs but the images are organised around time - how soon after the conflict the photo was taken. The show opens with a room titled Moments After, with Don McCullin’s black and white image of a shell shocked marine in Vietnam, taken just minutes after he had been engaged in battle, and continues to photos that are taken of a place 100 years after a war has finished. It included the work of Luc Delahaye, Simon Norfolk,Susan Meiselas, Stephen Shore and Sophie Ristelhueber.
This exhibition inspired my final piece because it is about time passing and how places change over time. It is interesting to consider the relationship between photography and time - as the exhibition does by looking at photos taken of things that have just happened and things that happened a long-time ago, but also about how places change or stay the same. I was also interested in how seeing a place so many years after something happened. It is very moving and makes the viewer think about the event that happened. It made me think about memory and how photographs can hold memories. Also about how people see different things in photographs depending on their own memories. This inspired me to visit the places where old photographs had been taken as I did in my final piece. I looked at how they are today compared with the old photo and made an image combining the two times.
Here is one of the photos which particularly inspired me.
This exhibition inspired my final piece because it is about time passing and how places change over time. It is interesting to consider the relationship between photography and time - as the exhibition does by looking at photos taken of things that have just happened and things that happened a long-time ago, but also about how places change or stay the same. I was also interested in how seeing a place so many years after something happened. It is very moving and makes the viewer think about the event that happened. It made me think about memory and how photographs can hold memories. Also about how people see different things in photographs depending on their own memories. This inspired me to visit the places where old photographs had been taken as I did in my final piece. I looked at how they are today compared with the old photo and made an image combining the two times.
Here is one of the photos which particularly inspired me.
This photograph is of a place where First World War soldiers were shot for desertion or ‘cowardice’. The photograph was taken in 2014, 100 years after the start of the war. The photo is called Soldaat Jean Raes, Soldaat Alphonse Verdickt, Time unknown / 21.9.1914. Walem, Mechelen, Antwerpen giving the names of the soldiers and the location. The photographer is Chloe Dewe Mathews and the photographs were taken as near as possible to the exact time that the executions occurred, though this one is time unknown.
The photograph shows the corner of a church and an ordinary cobbled street. The photographer says ‘the places have been altered by a traumatic event’ and she wanted to reinsert the individual into the place so that their histories is not forgotten. I think, although the photo itself looks normal, once you know what happened there in the past it becomes incredibly striking. Not only is it shocking thinking about what happened there in the past it is also interesting to see how the scene has changed and what it may have looked like 100 years ago. You can see a new-looking housing on the left of the photo, which wouldn't have been there 100 years ago, but apart from that I think the scene would have looked quite similar. |
How does this inspire me for my final piece?
This inspired me to revisit places where historical photographs had been taken and to compare how the scene has changed to what it is in the current day. My photographs are also intended to ensure that the history of these places is not forgotten and that we will look at the places differently in the future once we know their past. I was also inspired to think about memory and whether people who look at my images will remember what these places were like in the past and whether their memories are accurate or have be distorted by time. Combining the old and the new together can make a new reality as with the pieces in the exhibition which changes the way you see places when you know what has happened there in past.
This inspired me to revisit places where historical photographs had been taken and to compare how the scene has changed to what it is in the current day. My photographs are also intended to ensure that the history of these places is not forgotten and that we will look at the places differently in the future once we know their past. I was also inspired to think about memory and whether people who look at my images will remember what these places were like in the past and whether their memories are accurate or have be distorted by time. Combining the old and the new together can make a new reality as with the pieces in the exhibition which changes the way you see places when you know what has happened there in past.
Final Piece
For my first observation I was inspired by Chloe Dewe Mathews, Jackson Patterson and Taylor Jones.
Jackson Patterson
Patterson's work was usually focused on landscapes.
Mise en Scene
This photograph looks like it was taken in Central Park in New York. It is a modern photo with an older photo superimposed on it. The old photo is very carefully placed so that the landscape lines up exactly. The mixture of old and new makes you think about how the scene has changed over the years. There are children on the old photograph and seeing them in a new setting also makes you think about how they might have grown up. Another contrast is the weather and time of year. The older photo has snow and the newer photograph looks like autumn as the leaves are falling from the trees. The idea that you can take a view and show how it has changed over the years is very interesting as it brings all sorts of other things to the photograph and makes you wonder about time passing, childhood then and now and that some things stay the same while some change. Key words Age, children, growing up, memory Process The photographer would have found the old photo and then gone to the exact same location to retake the photograph. They also used Photoshop to blur the bottom left of the old photograph, where the girl is. What ideas do I take from the artist? I am really interested in the idea of using photography to illustrate ideas and cause reactions which I think is what this photo does. Superimposing a photo is quite simple but it gives a greater effect and can cause different reactions in the viewer. |
Taylor Jones
Jones' usually focused on people and maybe photos from his family.
Mise en scene
This is a photograph of grass beside a road. The photographer is holding another photograph of the same scene but with people on it. The two photos line up. There does not appear to be any particular difference in the age of the photos but the difference is that there are people in one, and you assume that there are no people in the background photo. The use of the technique causes a reaction in the viewer and makes you think it is not just a photo of a mother and child on a grass verge. You think that the people have been put into the photograph for a reason. This might be because they are no longer there or maybe the child has grown up. You think that if the people were around the photographer could have just taken there photograph with them in it. The photographers hand is quite big in the photo but somehow you don’t really focus on it – your focus is drawn to the people who have been added. I think this shows that the effect of superimposing the photo is greater than your interest in how it was done, Key words Double, space, presence, time Process The photographer would have gone to the exact location where the old photograph was taken and retaken the photo, holding up the old photo with their hand. They may have taken two photos and then merged them using Photoshop to ensure that the background is not blurred. What ideas do I take from the artist? How you make one image the main focus of a photograph by the way that it is displayed and so the viewer almost ignores other parts of the photograph, like here where the hand is not important. It also makes me think about causing reactions and making the viewer think or make assumptions, |
My Response
Inspired by Taylor Jones, I decided to print out these old photos which I found and visit the places to hold the photos up.
Inspired by Taylor Jones, I decided to print out these old photos which I found and visit the places to hold the photos up.
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Here are my contact sheets.
Here are my selects.
I think these were quite effective, however I could definitely refine my work as I faced a lot of problems. For example, it was hard to find the exact locations of the images because some places had changed a lot. Also it was hard to hold up the photo whilst taking a photo, and whilst focusing my camera. After I had taken the photos I realised I should have taken two photos for each place, one where the background was focused and one where the old photo was focused to avoid the blurred background.
Development
As a development of my work I decided to superimpose the photos on Photoshop. This allowed me to perfectly line the photos up.
As a development of my work I decided to superimpose the photos on Photoshop. This allowed me to perfectly line the photos up.
On this select, because the old photo was so big and nearly took up the whole frame I edited in slightly differently on Photoshop. On the layer which was the old photo I lowered the opacity so you could see the new photo through it. It was quite hard to line up perfectly because I took the photo at slightly the wrong angle.
I liked how it looked though because you could see the contrast between new and old more easily than on the other selects.
I liked how it looked though because you could see the contrast between new and old more easily than on the other selects.
Development
Due to earlier problems I faced I decided to redo and develop my earlier developments.
I found an app called Museum of London: Street museum. This app has old photos from around London and the exact location which they were taken in. This made the whole process of finding and locating old photos from online a lot easier.
Once I had taken the new photos I edited the old photos onto the new ones using Photoshop. I blurred the edges so that the photos appearing to be blurring into each other.
Due to earlier problems I faced I decided to redo and develop my earlier developments.
I found an app called Museum of London: Street museum. This app has old photos from around London and the exact location which they were taken in. This made the whole process of finding and locating old photos from online a lot easier.
Once I had taken the new photos I edited the old photos onto the new ones using Photoshop. I blurred the edges so that the photos appearing to be blurring into each other.
How did I create the effect?
Final Development
Conclusion
In this project I explored different ways of looking at environments as well as ways of representing it. I looked at framing and composing images of the environment and explored how that affected what you saw in the final image. I also looked at the various elements that can be used to make an image, including representing a journey using texture. It was interesting to look at how to make the image and see how that affects how it is viewed. The two are interlinked and we explored this more when we made images in the panography project. We created an image using lots of different photographs. I explored the themes of old and new with my landscape projects and with my photographs superimposing old scenes in new. The Conflict, Time, Photography exhibition particularly inspired me with its photographs making a record of places where things had happened in the past. I explored this theme further using Photoshop and manual methods to put an old image in a current view and used this method in my final piece for this project. The Environments work inspired me to look at our environment in a different way and to see things that I would not have seen before. It also made me think about how we can represent the world around us in photographs and images to tell all sort of different stories that do not just represent what is there at the moment the photograph is taken. Photographs can look back at things that have happened before as well as making you see everyday things in different and new way.
In this project I explored different ways of looking at environments as well as ways of representing it. I looked at framing and composing images of the environment and explored how that affected what you saw in the final image. I also looked at the various elements that can be used to make an image, including representing a journey using texture. It was interesting to look at how to make the image and see how that affects how it is viewed. The two are interlinked and we explored this more when we made images in the panography project. We created an image using lots of different photographs. I explored the themes of old and new with my landscape projects and with my photographs superimposing old scenes in new. The Conflict, Time, Photography exhibition particularly inspired me with its photographs making a record of places where things had happened in the past. I explored this theme further using Photoshop and manual methods to put an old image in a current view and used this method in my final piece for this project. The Environments work inspired me to look at our environment in a different way and to see things that I would not have seen before. It also made me think about how we can represent the world around us in photographs and images to tell all sort of different stories that do not just represent what is there at the moment the photograph is taken. Photographs can look back at things that have happened before as well as making you see everyday things in different and new way.