The Contemporary Urban Environment

Rut Blees Luxemburg

http://updates.rutbleesluxemburg.com/

'Folly', 2003

Instantly this image makes me think of a horror movie and that something bad will happen around the corner. The handrail leads you down further into this disconcerting area, a space that doesn't look like it has been used for a long period of time. It is interesting that Luxemburg decides to show the shadow of her camera within this picture, it makes me feel as if this is my shadow and I am alone in this area.

Liebeslied

At first glance you see a stairwell, but when starting to deconstruct you notice things like: The graffiti along the wall and writing towards the left of the image, The lighting, how there are three different sources, one lighting the writing, another causing a rim light effect on the concrete and the last coming from outside the stairwell. Like 'Folly' this image has several lines for the eyes to follow, the handrails down the stairs lead you across the image but are broken by the vertical line of the concrete in the middle. The stairwell is a very public place and is generally used quite a lot by many different people which means that the writing on the wall will be viewed a lot. It isn't like the normal graffiti that is found because with this one you have to get very close to be able to read what it says, this makes it more personal as maybe only a few people using the stairwell will stop to read it. In an interview I found between Rut Blees Luxemburg and David Campany, Rut says "It looks like a very private form of communication, the opposite of most graffiti or street writing which might tend to be a disenfranchised citizen announcing something to the world in general". She also goes on to say that she is attracted to the privacy of a space in public and how a space can offer a moment of repose/rest.

http://www.union-gallery.com/content.php?page_id=653

'Piccadilly's Peccadilloes', 2007

This image shows possibly the whole idea and essence that Luxemburg was getting at, the idea of a space giving you that moment. It is likely that this part of the street does not still look like this and the puddle will not be there all the time and when it is it could be bigger or smaller. The colours of this image are very similar to the image above which give both the images this, quite weird and uneasy feeling about them.

Throughout Luxemburgs work you notice that she is very intrigued by the night time and areas that by day are not anything special but at night become something terrifying. These long exposed eerie images all have the same thing in common, that there are no people within them, only trails of people and the imagination of the viewer.

Richard Wentworth

'Tirana' from the series 'Making do and getting by' 1999

This image looks as though there are different pieces of plastic or glass propped up against a wall in an alley way. It is quite difficult to understand as there is not really anything in the image to supply context. The camera position on the boundary of 'personal space' it is not intruding on these objects but is still close enough to be observing. The lines of the pavement and wall draw you along to the objects which then leads you to question what they are and what are they doing in this place.

Bottlestick

Bottlestick comes across as one of those 'space offers a moment' type of image. In a way this links back to Rut Blees Luxemburgs work because this is not the sort of thing that will always be there, it is likely to be cleaned up after a certain amount of time. Due to the crop of the image it certainly makes you question the area in which this is and why this bottle is there. Wentworths work seems to show how the streets are a stage for social activity, how the people that use them give them meaning.

Vera Lutter

San Marco, Venice, XX: December 3, 2005

Vera Lutter in this series has a different approach to that of the previous two photographers in which she looks at the broader space or area of the city. She also uses a very different technique to the other photographers that I am looking at, this makes them more interesting and different to look at. She transforms a room into a 'pinhole camera obscurer chamber' this allows her negative prints to be directly exposed often over many hours onto photosensitive paper. So because these images take several hours to capture anything moving quite quickly like a person walking will not be captured. It seems that quite a large depth of field has been used as it appears everything is in focus, this allows the audience to look at all the detail within the image and suggests that the entire subject is important to view.

'333 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL', 2001

This image of Chicago has a higher vantage point from which it has been shot, we are looking slightly down on the city. Like the image above, a great depth of field has been used to keep the whole scene sharp and in focus. The road leads your eyes up the image, potentially into the heart of the city. This area becomes important because it is the main way that people can get into the city to work and make the city come alive with their daily 'goings on'.

Frankfurt Airport, VII: April 24, 2001

This image spans over three panels and has the most movement out of all of her works. It shows five or six aircraft that had come into that certain gate during a day. Again like the other images of Lutter's work I have looked at this one does not have any people in it. It is also noticeable that she does not shoot her images at eye level, they are all quite elevated looking down upon the subject.

The City - Deconstructing Environmental Photographers

 We have been asked to deconstruct 6 images of the Flatiron building in New York, noting the similarities and dissimilarities between all of the images and consider them in terms of aesthetics and concepts.


Edward Steichen, 'The Flatiron, New York', 1905

This image is quite dark and atmospheric due to being shot late evening after it had been raining, I can tell this because of the street lamps and the way the path in the bottom third of the image is very shiny. The building has been set in the background so it appears as almost a silhouette, the tree branches that are coming across the image seem to be the focal point. All of these things create a painterly effect that could push this image into the sublime. It could even become about the two figures that you can see walking in the park, the image here is not just about the Flatiron but also what goes on around it. The figures, trees and buildings to the right do show the enormity of the Flatiron that had only been finished two years prior to when this image had been taken. Due to the way this has been shot, we start to think that there could be a deeper meaning behind it. Maybe Steichen was making a comment at the growth of Human kind and the loss of nature. 

Alfred Stieglitz, 'The Flatiron', 1903

This image by Stieglitz has a different feel to it because it has been shot during a cold winters day, possibly early morning after snowfall. Steichen's image has a similar composition by having the camera set up in the park with the trees masking the building. Being shot in the winter and having snow on the trees could suggest that nature has had its time in this place and it is now the turn for modernisation and for a city to be born (the old and new). The building towers over the trees just in front of it emphasising this idea of modernisation. The camera has been set up so it is far enough from the building to get the whole thing in but close enough that the angle is still looking up at it dominating over the surrounding area. The tree in the foreground and the building have quite a bit of contrast which is the same for Steichen's and Coburn's images, the Flatiron almost blends in to the overcast sky.

Alvin Langdon Coburn, 'The Flatiron Building', 1911

Unlike the images above by Steichen and Stieglitz, Coburn has decided to capture the hustle and bustle of the city by including a lot of people. There looks to be some movement in the people (blurring) so a slow shutter speed is likely to have been used, this also gives the feeling that the city cannot live without this movement of people. The camera looks to be at eye level looking up at the building which shows the scale as the people are so small compared to it. Coburn has decided to capture the trees within this image like Steichen and Stieglitz, he could be suggesting the same comment about nature and humanity. The Flatiron is quite light and gray tonally compared to the black silhouettes of the trees and people, this makes it stand out and become more important than that around it.

Walter Gropius, 'The Flatiron Building, New York', 1928

A much closer camera position has been used this time and the Flatiron is almost the only thing within the image, this gives a documentary feel. A much smaller building can be seen in the middle which gives scale to the Flatiron as it was the first skyscraper to have been built in New York in 1903. Gropius has only photographed the building as he was an architect who must have been interested in this building. He has photographed the building during the day with barely any clouds, this allows us to see the detail of the building rather than it being quite a surreal subject.

Walker Evans, 'Flatiron Building seen from below, New York City', 1928

Quite a different shot compared to the others, the camera position is a lot closer than the others. This has meant that Walker's camera angle is also much more severe, like a tourist looking up at an attraction. Maybe Walker shot the Flatiron looking up to suggest that the modernisation and development of the city had begun and this would be the way you would have to view buildings, by looking up from the street. Like several of the images of the Flatiron building Walker has also decided to shoot when the sky is very clear with no distractions in it. The use of showing small parts of another building, lamp post and possibly the subway tracks could suggest that this is an area that is used a lot. 

Berenice Abbott, 'The Flatiron Building', 1938

This image is quite similar to Walter Gropius' image in the way that you can see a lot of the detail of the building and that there isn't really anything that takes your focus away from the Flatiron. Abbott has composed this image with the Flatiron just off centre and like the two images above has decided to angle the camera upwards to make this completely about the building rather than of its surrounding area like Steichen, Stieglitz and Coburn. Again like Gropius' image Abbott has used a great depth of field to make sure every part of the image is in focus, this is because she is suggesting that the whole scene is important to look at. So saying that we then look at the buildings to the right that give the Flatiron its domineering scale and with a flat sky that doesn't distract you from the buildings. There is little contrast within this image due to the lighting being quite diffused.

The Environment Task 2

For the second part of this brief we are looking at the urban space. We have to pastiche another image from below and submit a set of images based upon our own conceptual approach to representing 'urban space'.

Brassai, 'Paris after dark, No.27, 1933

Lee Friedlander, 'Albuquerque, New Mexico', 1972

Thomas Struth, 'Bukseo Dong, Pyongyang, North Korea', 2007

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The City

For this part of the brief I want to focus on the people within the city rather than the city itself. 

Harry Callahan - Chicago, 1950

This isn't quite the image you would expect to see when researching for an Environment project, but instead of just looking at the city I am interested in looking at what keeps the city alive. This is a very invasive shot by Callahan, when looking at it I feel that I am extremely close to this person and that I am walking against the flow of the people within the street. 

Martin Parr

Philip-Lorca DiCorcia - Heads

Similar to Callahan's work, DiCorcia with a flash set up on scaffolding photographs people unawares at a distance. This means that he is able to capture people when they are deep within thought, or within their own space.

Thomas Struth

This is an image from the series 'Museum Photographs' where Struth traveled to many different museums taking pictures of people looking at artwork. This shows how busy certain places can get with tourists and using a slow shutter speed shows some movement from the people trying to get across the room. 

Walker Evans

This is a very interesting series because Evans hid a 35mm camera under his jacket with a wired release up his sleeve. This meant that he was able to photograph people on the subway without being noticed. Due to these people being photographed unnoticed meant that they would be captured in their own space, thinking about their day to day lives or like the picture above deep in conversation. The candid style of shooting allows you (the viewer) access into a world that you normally would only have for a few seconds until the person that you are looking at notices you looking at them.

Over 60,000 businesses can be found in London

 but as little as 10,000 tourist destinations (according to Google).

This would suggest that there are more business people within London, but they are rarely seen, obviously because they are working during the day. Generally in the morning and evening the only time they will be still is when waiting for the train or tube. Tourists will spend quite an amount of time taking pictures and slowly walking around so they do not miss anything.

There are a few things that I would like to stay away from when photographing for this project, things such as street fashion photography and posed shots. I want to be able to capture the depth of the people not just what they want us to see when they are smiling down the lens. I am aiming to create a candid documentary I suppose, in the way that I don't want any of the people I am photographing to notice the camera but I will be documenting the stereotypes e.g. people in suits and people with cameras and maps.

Below are the types of images that I do not want to create, they are far too posed though still fall into documentary imagery because they are documenting what is being worn.

The use of the wall in the image above really helps to place where you are when viewing this image, this is something that I will be constantly thinking about when I go to shoot my own work because this series is about the urban space.

I had a go at shooting some candid type shots of some people that I felt were interesting to look at:

35mm scans

The shot above is very busy with people but this creates more of a narrative with the focus on the lone woman who appears to be waiting for someone, everyone else seems to be moving around and on their way to a destination. So even though we are at an observing distance from this woman there is still a connection, which is what I would like to get from the rest of the work from this series. This image is a bit too busy for my liking, it doesn't hit the tourism feel that I am after as no one can be seen taking photos of anything. But from this I have a better idea of the places that I want to go within London.

This image is almost verging on street fashion photography, which is not the way I want to take this series. I just think that this was good practice at photographing people without them noticing. 

I am quite interested at looking into the way that tourists and business people differ, the way that tourists take the time to look around (stop and stare) and business people rush around. There are a few aspects that I would like to use from the references above, like the way Struth has used a slow shutter speed, but instead of photographing tourists I will use this to photograph business people. This will hopefully emphasis my idea that they rush around and do not take the time to see what is around them. I am also drawn to Martin Parr's work, it will be interesting to be able to photograph tourists taking pictures of the attractions or even taking pictures of their friends.

The Body

For this part of the brief we have to photograph a stranger either being staff or student from the uni or someone that lives and works in medway.

I am going to photograph a student from the uni.

Initial ideas are to find someone from one of the fashion departments because fashion photography is an area that interests me the most and I have the greatest pleasure in shooting.

I have been looking at quite a few photographers for inspiration and these are the ones that have stood out. This shot has to be a black and white analogue shot, so the photographs that I have as reference are all black and white. This is where I will have to start thinking about the ways colours change into tones on black and white film.

Irving Penn

Penn has a great use of chiaroscuro (Light-Dark), his images are very dramatic due to the contrast between the highlights and shadows. This is due to the way he lights his images, sometimes using just one harsh light on the subject creating a quick gradation (barely any tones). The camera position and angle are very different looking at these images, the first one is very close and looks to be about eye level. This draws you in to the personal space of this person and creates a connection, whereas the bottom image is shot further away with the camera looking down at the subject ever so slightly. There is still a connection to this person because of the stare into the camera but it makes you feel differently when viewing it.

Richard Avedon

The poses and movements of the models in the images below appear to create a world in which there is less gravity than in our own world. Basically these images create a place that has a different time and space to ours, this is something that many photographers do by using mythical elements from the world. The more you look at these images the more you expect the model to move due to the way they are posed but obviously because it is a photograph the movement has been frozen.

Albert Watson

Again it is clear that this is a studio set up, which lets the photographer have full control over the lighting and what is to be seen by the viewer e.g. if there are any props, distractions from the subject or other people. Which sometimes cannot be controlled when out on location, due to public places and colour within the scene. The movement or pose of the models in these images suggests that by wearing these clothes it makes you feel alive and able to express yourself with ease. The clothes also help to suggest this idea as they are flowing and also very expressive in their own way.

And of course Lara Jade

These images are very engaging due to the way they have been composed, you find the models eyes at a level where you would normally look while talking to someone. The camera position is close and involved in the model, you start to feel like you are invading the personal space. Despite the first image being black and white, the styling of the clothes makes it appear colourful. Both of these images have quite a great depth of field, this allows the viewer to see everything as the photographer has made the decision that the whole image is important to view. The lighting in both the images is also very similar, possibly both set up as 'butterfly' lighting as you can see the shadow under the nose. The difference is that the bottom image is more contrasty, it is likely that a bowl has been used to create a harsh light whereas the top image is softer so a softbox could have been used.

Tim Walker

The reason I want to look at a few Tim Walker images is because he has some of the easiest pieces of work to show the use of mythological elements. He uses a lot of fictitious characters and scenes that would normally be found within a fairytale. His work is very much about leaving this time and space and entering another world that is still similar enough that we are able to identify with it. He uses many ginormous props, which certainly would not be found normally but we do not disagree with it for being in the image.

Mert and Marcus

This pair of photographers have a similar take on fashion photography to Tim Walker, they have quite extravagant sets, but generally their work can be related closer to our own time and space rather than finding yourself falling down the rabbit hole. I have found that looking through their work they vary from black and white images to very colourful images, not just in the clothes but also the sets they are in and the use of gels on the lights.

The reason for choosing to show the two images below is because they are both quite simple in their composition and lighting. The first image has the model stood directly centre of the frame with maybe only one or two lights. The grey background is dark enough for the clothes that the model is wearing to really stand out and cause the viewer to study them. The pose is also important as it creates lines for the viewer to follow. 

Quentin Arnaud

It is rather interesting to view this series of work as he has decided to take away the faces from his models. Normally when we engage with someone we look at their eyes and facial expressions to better understand how they are feeling and connect with them. Due to the lighting in this series all of that is missing and we are left looking at this black void that becomes alien like. In my portrait I think that it will be important to make the eyes the main focus of the image to better understand how my model feels about the course she is on. 

I think that it is a good idea to understand how the colours will change into tones when shooting black and white film. For instance if you want the model to stand out from the background then not only is the lighting important but also how the model is dressed. It would not be a good idea to use a blue-violet background and have the model dressed in orange as these tones in black and white are quite similar.

Another thing to look at would be the way different materials react to light as I will not be using a general backdrop. So the first image is a kind of similar material to the backdrop I have, it will be more reflective than this corduroy as the threading is much finer. The colour of the backdrop is slightly lighter than this jacket so tonal wise it should be yellow to yellow-orange.

In fact it may react in a very similar way to velvet, very reflective and seems to shimmer.

Below is the lighting set up that I would like to use for my shoot, single light from above and using a reflector to bounce some light onto the front of the model as I do not want the light to drop off completely. (Lighting reference: Albert Watson images above).

Side view of above:

Because I have chosen a Fashion Textiles student I would like to create an image that shows how they get from an idea to the finished item so props will be valuable to use like sketchbooks, offcuts of materials and of course some finished work. Generally when seeing fashion students around the uni they are also dressed quite well albeit a bit weird sometimes, so this is another thing to think about as I would like a balance at what is important to look at within the image. 

Interim review

The Object

Our first brief being 'The object', where we had to make a still life image within the studio. This had to be shot using a large format camera and colour film.

When walking around Chatham I saw a lot of people smoking and drinking and wanted to try and represent this visually somehow. The more I looked for this and how to represent it the more I started noticing that a lot of these people were pregnant women, so I decided to look into the effects these two things would have on an unborn child.

I wanted to create an image that had to be viewed rather than just glanced at, like Keith Arnatts 'Pictures from a Rubbish Tip'. These were images of rubbish that looked very beautiful in the way they were shot yet they were created from discarded items.

In my final image I wanted to get across the idea of a poor defenceless child stripped of its innocence due to the parents alcoholism. The image shows a doll left in a room alone with the door slightly ajar. The effects of the Foetal Alcohol Syndrome are a small head, smaller eyes, underdeveloped jaw and flat midface. I couldn't transform the doll to this extent as it was not very malleable, so instead I cut away some of its head and created an explosion of cans to show the damage this syndrome causes. I chose to photograph the doll on a play mat rather than a plain white backdrop as it puts the doll in a normal environment causing it to look more sinister with the alcohol cans.

I also decided that I only wanted to show the effects of the alcohol instead of doing the smoking as well. This is because the effects of smoking on an unborn child are more internal than the alcohol effects.

Overall I am quite pleased with the image, even though it is not a literal representation I think it still gets the point across that alcohol is very damaging to unborn children.


The Environment

For the Environment project we had to choose an image to pastiche and then also make work based on our personal conceptual approach to representing the landscape.

 I chose to pastiche Robert Adams 'On Signal Hill'. I managed to find a single tree upon a hill on an overcast day. My pastiche is quite similar and although I am pleased with it as a first attempt, I would like to explore a bit further along from where I was to find two trees together and also capture the image when the light is more on the landscape in the distance, similar to how it is on the town in the original.

My own work was about looking at a metaphorical journey of life, so I looked at photographers such as Nicholas Hughes and Paul Hill. I tried to combine the two influences together to form a comprehensive yet sublime series of images. The main thing that I feel I have learnt from looking into Nicholas Hughes is that Landscape photography can be pushed and doesn't have to be a crisp clear image.

When making this series I kept thinking about my own route through life over the last four or five years as I was stuck in a crappy job heading nowhere which is why the first image is very dark with the path disappearing into the woods, then I was introduced into photography which basically lit up my path, the last image has several different crossroads which is where I felt I was about six months ago at the end of college.

I spent some time in the darkroom experimenting with grades and times to make these images but feel that if I had planned my time better I would have been able to experiment a lot more and would have had some different images to show.