Refining Ideas

Refining My Ideas

I have several ideas and certain things I want to achieve. However some of there have merged into one big aim, without any clear finish point.

One huge feature in my recent ideas is working with human spaces, focusing more on empty spaces and architectural photography. Visually I see this body of work will be fairly minimal, lots of open empty spaces with an emphasis on pockets of light. I've always been interested in shapes and geometry within art, and the bauhaus style of work. I want to take some aspects of that and take it into my photography. Photographers I'm inspired by in this way are:

Thomas Demand -

I feel Demand's work is very minimal, these photos show human spaces. They give the impression of human life, common and familiar spaces such as an office. These are bland, mundane spaces however all of Demands work are constructed environments made of paper and cardboard. He meticulously creates these environments, showing a huge talent and incredible eye for detail. The photos do look very realistic, you don't even doubt them being fake due to the accuracy. However when you study the images closely you start to notice that they are too perfect, too precise. For example in the leaf photo (Bottom) Demand has bent the paper to give it a much more realistic texture and to create imperfections, things that make the photos more realistic and believable. Demands work is often printed on a huge scale, this huge scale allows the audience to the photo for what it really is, constructed. I admire Demands work and his process of creating photographs, it has a similar concept of Gregory Crewdson, making the false and constructed believable. Both spend a huge amount of time creating their photos and set out to create something that tricks the audience into a false sense of reality. Demands architectural creativity is also very present throughout his photography, his work is very 'German' and has strong geometrical shapes.   

Dan Williams -

Dan Williams was a young American photographer from NY. There isn't much known about him as a photographer, I discovered him via youtube. However I feel his photos do have a Demand and the lower photo reminds me of a Chris Dorley Brown photo. I feel these photos have a sense of scale I've seen from Jeff Wall. The geometric shapes and blank spaces are something I find very appealing and is something i'd like this forthcoming project to include.

I feel this mundane and bland office space is a good starting point for me when looking at empty spaces and the use of geometric shapes in the photos. Unlike empty places where things and activities happen such as courts or fields, I do definitely feel these offices have that sense of the mundane and banality.  something I aim to include throughout my work along with these strong shapes and spaces that show a trace of human life and the everyday.

Another body of work is finding beauty in the banal. This project has seemed to vary in terms of results. I feel there is a good project there, it just needs refining. To me it is a project that will happen over time, a project that needs to be found. I really do like the idea of finding beautiful things and scenes in the everyday and the banal. There is something captivating about one little piece of beauty and interest in something so bland and bleak. 

I do feel that bleakness is a trend that continues in my work, probably due to my upbringing and being British. For this project I want to find unique yet almost stereotypical things in the bleakness of England. However I feel this project can not be forced. I feel if I force this too much the results will be too cliché. 

Photographers who photograph in this style are - 

Robert Chilton

I feel Chilton's work is very mundane, he sets out to find things in the everyday, but things that are different and again, bleak. 

I have followed Chilton's work for a number of years now and I feel some of his work does seem too forced, for example the slide photo does seem quite poorly photographed, and again this idea and notion of an overgrown playground is quite stereotypical and almost too easy.

Road Works

Road Works

Again this photo steers away from finding beauty in the banal. However I do quite like this as a starting point for a different body of work. Inspired by Chris Dorley Brown I'm attracted to city spaces and those that use them. I feel this photo doesn't really work as a photo focusing on the people as much as it focuses on the buildings. The buildings do show strong lines and I find the age of the buildings quite interesting but it doesn't really scream look at me as their isn't anything hugely interesting about it, it's not a challenging photo and ther isn't any narrative, something I would want to create in a photo like this. It does show strong angles, and I am fond of the visual aesthetics of the photo with all the details and features of the photo, I feel this photo does have some great textures and does show a bleak and run down area, for me this photo isn't worthy of portfolio, however I do really like the ideas that have developed because of it.

One thing I'm interested in is looking at a scene and photographing it from different angles, this would look at one scene and would be photographed from different perspectives but both photos would have one feature that linked them both to the same moment in time. It also wants e to expand into a more forced reality type of photography, either through the use of post production or creating a scene that looks realistic but is actually fake.

Next: I'd like to continue with finding beauty in the banal as I feel there is still a lot to come out of it, and a lot of work needed to make it a successful body of work. However I'm excited to play around with the notion of forced reality and looking at a scene from two perspectives with one feature that reoccurs. 

Church

Church

Again this photo steers away from my 'bleak beauty' work and looks more towards London and architecture. I like how this photo shows change and how London has developed. I also feel this photo shows how people have adapted to different buildings, for example this is an old church which has since been converted into flats and housing. This old church stands against a more modern tower block, typical of high rise flats found across London. There are similarities found in both buildings, voth have strong lines and airly simple shapes with old and modern chimneys. These buildings do contrast eachother quite well and show a change in time and development in building materials and architectural styles. The telephoto lens has compressed both the foreground and background, by doing this it minimises the depth between the buildings and gives a much flatter feel to the image.

Although this isn't fitting with my beauty and banality theme I have in other photos, the blank tower block does show bleakness and looks mundane, this does somehow contrast with the once religious church, but this itself has fallen to ruin and is just as bleak. If the church was a beautiful and stunning building that stood against this mundane concrete tower block, it would show more change and more contrast. London was a hugely industrial city when the church was built and a as smalmore church it was more than likely built for practical purposes rather than being a fancy and decorative church. I think that the church and tower block are both dull buildings regardless of their age, since then the church has also fallen to ruin and looks pretty dismal. The centre of the image is filled with the cross, a religious symbol that would have once sat high above the area, something that is now over shadowed by a bland tower block that is repeated all over Britain. This is a symbol of affordable housing and are often seen in poorer areas of cities. As the church has changed over time it shows it wasn't used, the church was once a huge part of English culture but as society has changed over time, religion has died, churches have been used for other purposes other than as a place of god. 

Overall I feel this image is much more a symbolic photo. It represents change over time, looking at buildings, housing and how society has changed as a once religious building is now a run down set of flats and the religious cross is now over shadowed by a bland block of flats also falling into ruin like the church did.

Shoreditch Bridge 54

Shoreditch Bridge 54

As a development in my photography I decided to use a large format MPP 5x4 camera. I wanted to specificly look at spaces and architecture. I created this photo focusing on the shapes and tones. This photo doesn't really fit with my beautifully bleak trend. However I feel it shows a range of tones and the detail in this photo is huge. I quite like the geometric shapes and lines althought they do all follow the same direction. The main reason for this photo was to get a huge range of tones and details in this image, especially as each photo costs in excess of £8 to produce. Although the composition isn't anything hugely interesting there is a good range of depth and the tones are all evenly exposed.

When looking at other photographers who use large format cameras there is more substance to their photos, and I feel I almost wasted money on this photo.this could have had so much more depth and visual detail, everything in this photo is roughly on the same plane giving it very little foreground and background separation. Next time I choose to use the 5x4 camera I'll ensure the photos have a great depth and stronger concept both visually and theoretically.

This photo wouldn't fit with the bleak beauty approach I've previously taken, however I do feel this could sit with a more architectural body of work. In the future I'll spend more time thinking about the photo and what I want to create and how I can use the camera to its fullest potential.

Overgrown 2

Overgrown 2

Again this photo looks at modern buildings and confined spaces for nature. There a certain features I like about this photo but others I don't like and things I can take from this to improve my work in the future. What drew me to take this photo was the stained blank wall, and the overgrown plants leaning against it. I feel there is some repetition in this image, the stains on the wall seem to mirror the plants below.

Again this photo shows modern 2000+ architecture and building materials, all very bland and similar to all other buildings. The grubby modern wall shows lack of use and the overgrown plants and dying grass hang over the metal cofinments that were designed to keep it in place. All showing a lack of care / maintenance. These plants are purely decorative and have been forgotten about, as no one cares including me. 

Compared to the first overgrown image, this photo has no real depth, it also has no surroundings to give it at context or any form of narrative. This photo is a very simple angle, and cold have worked better if it wasn't strait on, if I also included more surrounding areas it may have given the plants more importance. This photo isn't portfolio worthy at all, with the only aspects I actually like are the stains in the wall comparing to the overgrown trees standing below them.

Things to consider in the future:

- Make sure the photo and subjects are interesting, they need to engage with the audience and have a context/ underlying subject that isn't always visible. 

- Even by changing the angle of this photo it would have made more creative shapes and a stronger geometric feel.

- Don't take photos in the spare of the moment, make sure it's interesting and has depth.

Overgrown

Overgrown

This is a more urban development of finding beauty in the banal. In this case I focus on how nature has been contained and has almost broken free due to a lack in human care/activity. This shows a perfect example of boring modern architecture. This has become a common style of building throughout the UK. Breeze blocks and blank walls with metal separating each seamless dull wall. These buildings often have pockets of plants and shrubs for decorative purposes, often forgotten about and left to grow wild. This photo seems to be a great example of this, the plants have started to sprawl over their parameter and made their escape up the wall, whilst swallowing a tree. The spikes at the top of the wall create a feeling of  imprisonment, not dissimilar to the tennis photo. For me this shows a lack of maintenance and care in modern society.

I like the angles and strong geometrical shapes within this photo, these contrast with the wildness of the plants creating natural movements against the blank concrete surroundings. I also feel these strong lines all point towards the centre of the image and main focus of the plants. In raids to the angle of this photo I feel it could be too wide of an angle, this could work better on a slightly more tele lens, allowing more more compression. It could also work in portrait orientation compared to landscape.

For me this photo takes a look at a more modern and urban bleakness and banality. I think this is an interesting photo but I'm not sure If I'll focus more on nature within the everyday, this could become quite repetitive but may stay as a underlying feature. 

Next: I'll focus more on urban environments and the everyday that lies in them. I'll concentrate on subject and look for things that draw the audience in, finding something unique or uncanny. I may also look at creating photos in both landscape AND portrait, however I feel all photos in a series sit stronger in one uniformed format. 

Tree

Tree

This photo shows traces of human use, a storage building left abandoned and the only entrance boarded up. The green fence added at a later date to keep people out shows it's just been left and forgotten about. It's probably on a list of buildings to be demolished, just sat the waiting to be torn down, not that anyone would really care, however the photo does show a lack of care and really does ring true to how people forget about places. The time of year also helps add to this sense of abandonment and dullness, the trees being bare shows a lack of life and the overall dull colours create a slight sense of gloom.

Visually I'm not fond of this image at all, I feel the composition is too forced, too stereotypical, I hate how the branches of the tree arch perfectly over the roof of the building. The lighting also looks forced, the tree and fooor looks as though it's been lit by a flashgun being fired directly at the subject. This was not the case at all, it was just the natural lighting and the tree is generally a very light tree, something I didn't see when taking the photo. If I was to use flash, I'd balance it with the ambient lighting making it seem natural, not fire it as though it was shot on a full auto mode on a DSLR with a pop up flash. The building could have some potential however I feel it lends itself too easily to being 'bleak' and 'abandoned'. This is something I don't like as it doesn't show me pushing myself as a photographer.

There are a few things I do like about this image, these being a nice depth to the image, from foreground to background with a wide variety of highlights through to shadows. The photo does also lead your eye around the frame, by the tree branch. There are also some nice tones of green on the far right. But these are all superficial features that don't even come close to it being a good photo.

What to take from this photo?

- don't be pretty, the framing is too conventional and it's a too easy photograph

- check lighting, although this is all ambient, it looks forced in a horrible way

- push yourself further and be ruthless, don't waste film on photos that are mediocre.

- no real depth to the photo, nothing to hold onto, nothing uncanny. Too easy and pretty.

90's Bubble

90's Bubble

There are several visual features of this photo I really like, this ranging from angle and composition to the similarities found within the photo. I have always been interested in architecture, especially things that are different and have a unique purpose and look to them. This was taken looking in on a local tennis school, to me this photo is based on the relationship between man made spaces and how it's used. There is a certain element of constriction and imprisonment in this photo so much so it almost creates a feeling of constriction, with the air filled tents swelling up and starting to bubble over the fence. This photo gives a sense of man made architecture being confined against unused nature, almost as if it's been left outside the fence.

Visually there is certain reflections throughout the photo, there is a sense of mixture similar to my 'Seaweed' photo. The green grass is separated from the green signs although a very similar colour, there's also a reflection between the man made grey bubbles of air of the tents and the natural similarity of the grey clouds being pockets of air, the only real difference being Nature Vs Man. I chose to focus more on the sky and it's likeness to the tents, hence the crop of the photo.

When showing this photo to my coursemates some didn't Know what it was, which is something that has evolved after taking this photo. As these air tents aren't hugely common they do look strange, especially in this case with the fence being in such close proximity, it adds to the sense of imprisonment. Different people had different ideas of what the photo was of. One saying a concentration camp, others saying a pop up medical tent. This adds some form of mystery to the image, however there are subtle clues which tells the audience where this was created. Völkl is a tennis brand, but in the only readable sign the text is reversed making the biggest clue even harder to read. There is one other clue on the far left sign, the white person stood orange floor and green walls are typical of a tennis court, again this isn't easily readable and not immediately obvious. There is only one trace of a human visible in the photo, this being a shadow of someone stood inside the tennis court tent in the centre tent of the image.

I'd like this photo to be quite open to interpretation, to me this photo reminds me of the 1990's Bubble Backpack's. 

Waves

Waves

There was something that attracted me to the sea this day, I've always felt the sea to be the most powerful force on the planet due to it's sheer size and it's potential power. The beach was completely empty, not just empty because of the dismal British rainy weather but it looked like it had not been touched in years, weeds grew around Carling cans and danger signs warned visitors of 'Soft Mud'.

The main aspect of this photo I was drawn to was the waves, a strong crashing wave produced by what was a relatively calm sea. I took a few photos but chose this one due to the way the waves are almost frozen in time, focusing solely on this pocket of underlying power in a bland and bleak setting.

I feel this isn't a hugely strong image, there are aspects of it which I do like, but It's definitely not a unique or original photo that i'd be wanting to display. 

Why?

Although I do like how it shows the power of the sea, it doesn't have any depth to it. It could just be any other photo taken on an empty beach. In regards to finding beauty in the banal it isn't anything special or different. There is very little for the audience to hold onto, nothing that makes you look again, it's too descriptive and easy to understand. Comparing this to the Seaweed photo there is no mystery of what it could be, it's just the sea. Who cares.

Seaweed

Seaweed

This photo has something different about it, something that draws me in and makes me look more. What made me take this photo was the way the seaweed moved with the sea, it was quite mesmerising watching the seaweed move in relation to the tide The loose seaweed being pulled to and fro with the sea created amazing shapes and something that was beautiful in a very bleak and murky way. Seaweed isn't glamorous, especially when it is clumped together. Both of the seaweed and murky water makes for a horribly bleak and grim setting, however I believe the motion and way the seaweed is formed by the water is a beautiful and fluid thing. This beauty is hidden within the overall murky and bleak setting, something I definitely want to explore more in further photos.  

Visually this photo has quite a painterly feel to it, again going against what you'd usually paint / the ideal sea. However due to the motion and fluidity of the seaweed it definitely resembles some aspects of painting of fine art.

In this photo there is also a lack of definition, one person said they thought they were clouds, another saw it as mountains. This has definitely changed how I see this photo and how photos can draw people in and make them think about and discuss the image.  

I'm interested in how my audience views my work, and what their initial thoughts are, how do they view it? What aspects are they drawn to? Does it make them go back to it? 

If I were to re-create this image, I'd look at how I could play more on how the audience views it. I feel the image does have a sense of mystery to it, and I'd like to spend more time working on mystery in my images. Making it more difficult for the audience to define what it is they are looking at and potentially making it more abstract to view, this could work well as a moving image.