Freedom and Limitations
Framing
For this initial task responding to the topic freedoms and limitations, I decided to embody the limitation of frames. I photographed around Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street finding frames in the environment around me such as car windows, phoneboxes and motorbike mirrors. I found that photographing through frames limited my images to varying sizes and meant that I did not have the freedom of choosing what went inside the frame, I had to capture whatever was directly through it. In a way, this was limiting as it meant I did not have much choice but it was also freeing as it enabled me to photograph things that I may not normally have chosen to capture.
Exhibition Visit
Over the half term I visited an exhibition displaying the works of Elliott Erwitt. This exhibition presented several different works from Erwitt surveying his entire career, ranging from images taken on the streets of New York to portraits of Jack Kerouac, Arthur Miller, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, John F Kennedy, Salvador Dalí and Che Guevera. These photographs portray freedoms and limitations in varying ways. Firstly, Erwitt's portraits of important political figures display a deeper expression in freedom in that these figures were fighting for their own idea of freedom. This is interesting as, although the viewer cannot see an immediately obvious expression of freedom, it is certainly there. There were, indeed, more obvious expressions of a fight for freedom within Erwitt's photography for instance, one of protestors supporting Fidel Castro in Cuba. Additionally, there were some images that expressed limitations such as his various pictures of dogs. This displays limitation since dogs, as pets, have limits. This is quite a blatant demonstration of limitations as they are, quite literally, on leads.
Elliott Erwitt (Beetles + Huxley)
A new exhibition to celebrate the 90th birthday year of photographer, Elliott Erwitt, will open at Beetles+Huxley in January 2018. The exhibition includes over 50 photographs surveying Erwitt's career, ranging from photographs of New York in the late 1940s, to portraits of well-known figures and rare vintage prints from across Erwitt's career. Erwitt moved to New York aged just eighteen, where he became involved in the New York photography scene, meeting influential photographers, Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker. The exhibition will include two early photographs taken in New York in this formative period, in which Erwitt's eye for composition is already evident. His first major project quickly followed in Pittsburgh in 1950, commissioned by the legendary Roy Stryker. Three recently rediscovered works from this project, further demonstrating Erwitt's developing eye, will also be on display. Elliott Erwitt was born in 1928 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris to Russian parents. Soon after he was born the family moved to Milan where he spent his childhood. In 1939, the family took the last ship out of peacetime Europe, arriving in New York five days after the outbreak of war. He studied photography at Los Angeles City College, but returned to New York aged just eighteen. Drafted into the US Army 1951, Erwitt continued to photograph during his service, carrying a Leica with a collapsible lens in the pocket of his uniform. Since joining Magnum in 1953, he has since become one of the world's most successful and influential photographers and served three terms as the president of the agency.
His reputation grew as he undertook important assignments including "the kitchen cabinet debate" between President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev in 1959 and the funeral of John F. Kennedy at which he captured the president's widow, Jackie Kennedy, in tears behind a billowing black veil. Over twenty retrospective photography books of his work have been published and he has been honoured by numerous solo shows at establishments such as the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art and the Chicago Art Institute. In 2015 he was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award by the World Photography Organisation. He lives and works in New York.
Movement
Philippe Halsmann - Fast Shutter Speed
"Work in various fields of photography has permitted me to return to portraiture with new ideas, with fresh enthusiasm, and with even deeper understanding of portraiture’s main challenges. It is important to remember that a portrait sitting is an extremely artificial situation. Very few people are able to lose their self-consciousness immediately and behave in front of the camera as though it were not there. In almost all cases the photographer has to help the subject reveal himself. In many sittings I have felt that what I said to the subject was more important than what I did with my camera and my lights. My great interest in life has been people. A human being changes continuously throughout life. His thoughts and moods change, his expressions and even his features change. And here we come to the crucial problem of portraiture. If the likeness of a human being consists of an infinite number of different images, which one of these images should we try to capture? For me, the answer has always been, the image which reveals most completely both the exterior and the interior of the subject.
Such a picture is called a portrait. A true portrait should, today and a hundred years from today, be the testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was." - Halsmann's Autobiography
Such a picture is called a portrait. A true portrait should, today and a hundred years from today, be the testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was." - Halsmann's Autobiography
Halsmann is a portrait photographer born in Latvia in 1906. He initially began photographing when he was just 15 years old when he acquired his fathers old view-camera. At this time, Halsmann used glass plates to develop his images are there was no film in Europe. His interest in photography immediately became people and portraiture, with his first few images being of his sister. He began photographing mostly members of his family, calling himself "the family photographer". "This fascination with the human face has never left me. Every face I see seems to hide – and sometimes fleetingly to reveal – the mystery of another human being. Later, capturing this revelation became the goal and the passion of my life. I became a collector of the reflections of the innermost self of the people who faced my camera." Halsmann describes himself as being increasingly interested in arts and literature in comparison with his fellow students, photography in particular continued to spark his interest. He was largely inspired by writers Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky as they explored human nature with the same level of psychological depth that he hoped to through his photography. Popular images in Paris at the time did not appeal to Halsmann, he saw them to be dry, boring unrealistic. Indeed, much of Halsmann's photography portrays realistic people and express obvious, strong emotions. For instance, the series below represents each individual in their own way by evoking their true emotions. In addition to this blatant expression of emotion, Halsmann further places emphasis on the emotions within his various images by subtracting the element of colour from these photographs.
My Response
For my response to Halsmann, I took several images of subjects jumping. I took these pictures in the studio in order to achieve a perfectly white background, however I found that the background did not reach high enough for the subjects to jump, so the background is not entirely white. Furthermore, I used a fast shutter speed to achieve a completely still image. I found this to be the hardest aspect of these photographs as some small sections of the images came out blurred and it was difficult to make every part of the subject completely in focus. Regardless, I think this response worked well, although it would have been better had the white background reached far enough.
Francesca Woodman - Slow Shutter Speed
At the age of thirteen Francesca Woodman took her first self-portrait. From then, up until her untimely death in 1981, aged just 22, she produced an extraordinary body of work. Comprising some 800 photographs, Woodman’s oeuvre is acclaimed for its singularity of style and range of innovative techniques. From the beginning, her body was both the subject and object in her work. Woodman tested the boundaries of bodily experience in her work and her work often suggests a sense of self-displacement. Often nude except for individual body parts covered with props, sometimes wearing vintage clothing, the artist is typically sited in empty or sparsely furnished, dilapidated rooms, characterised by rough surfaces, shattered mirrors and old furniture. In some images Woodman quite literally becomes one with her surroundings, with the contours of her form blurred by movement, or blending into the background, wallpaper or floor, revealing the lack of distinction of both - between figure and ground, self and world. In others she uses her physical body literally as a framework in which to create and alter her material identity.
In this first image from Woodman, the figure appears ghostly and surreal. Through her use of a slow shutter speed and tripod, Woodman is able to produce a picture that looks other-wordly and abstract in nature. As the background of the image is in sharp focus, the blurriness of the subject is further emphasised. In addition to this, by placing the subject directly in the middle of the composition, Woodman creates an almost perfect sense of symmetry. In doing so, the viewer's attention is largely drawn to subject as opposed to any other aspect of the image. Emphasising the subject as the main focal point of the image can also be seen in other ways. For instance, in making the image black and white, Woodman detracts focus from the colours in the photograph. Also, the subtraction of colour creates a more dramatic and emotive aesthetic. Indeed, Woodman draws on deeper issues through her photography such as mental illness. Her choice to photograph in black and white can also be seen as a conscious decision. Woodman may have made this decision in order to further place emphasis on these deeper issues that she herself struggles with and wishes to bring to light through her craft.
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This second image of the series by Woodman shows the same subject, but rather more actively. In the previous image, the figure appears to be spinning in some sort of struggled or even derranged sense, whereas here, the figure appears more light-hearted and happy. In this image it almost seems as though the subject might be dancing. Woodman's highlighting of these two differing emotions can addtionally be seen as her commenting on societal views of mental health or illness. For example, although this second image appears happier and more carefree it is, in fact, still just the same figure. Furthermore, this second photograph also features a heavier level of contrast. Here, the figures face can slightly be seen, although not in much detail. The subject's face is seen merely as a pitch black silhouette contrasted against the bright, blurred white of it's clothing. This contrast can also be seen more in the bottom of the image as more of the subject's legs are shown in comparison with the first photograph. This heavier and prominent level of contrast is additionally emphasised through Woodman's decision to make her images black and white.
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Finally, the third photography of this series of images by Woodman is intruiging for it's composition. In this image, the subject is caught perfectly between the two lines going down the cement wall in the background of the image. This is interesting as it evokes the viewer to wonder whether Woodman did this strategically or wheter it was simply just a coincedental, caught-moment. When looking at this series of photographs side-by-side it can be seen that she did not, in fact, do this on purpose as background of all three images remains exactly the same throughout all of the photographs. Woodman probably did place the subject strategically in between these two lines, just to give a more generally satisfying result but it is doubtful that she consciously tried to place the figure perfectly within this restricted frame. Furthermore, this final photograph is interesting as it is the only one that features an entire section of the figure completely still and in focus. All of what can be seen of the figure's right leg is perfectly in focus. Interestingly, there is absolutely no detail shown on the subject's leg as it is completely darkened through the high level of contrast utilised by Woodman.
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My Response
In my response to Woodman I tried to keep the subject in the centre of the frame while also having one section of the subjects body in focus. I found it difficult to keep one section in focus as I did not photograph the subjects entire body, however, I think the second and third of my chosen, enlarged images show the subject's face in relatively sharp focus. I additionally edited my best images to be more dramatic and contrasted in black and white. The background of my photographs were slightly darker than that of Woodman's images, but aside from that I think my response worked well.
Originals:
Edits:
Laurence Demaison
Having practiced various means of artistic expression (painting, drawing, sculpture) since childhood, and completing formal training in architecture in 1988, Laurence began her self-taught journey into photography in 1990. Particularly interested in the female portrait and nude, and finding it difficult to adequately convey her mental images into words and direction, she gave up on the use of models and began to use herself exclusively as the subject of her photographs. Freed from the burden of words and the presence of others, she embraced the solitude, silence and freedom, while struggling to confront the image of her own body. Rather than portraying her body as it was, she sought to conceal, modify, even destroy it and reconstruct it in a form more acceptable to her. The result is a series of self-portraits which expertly use the reflective and distortive qualities of her materials along with the shadowy effects of light and negative images to create "paper phantoms", ghosts of herself that are there, yet disappear in an instant. Additionally, No particular manipulation intervenes beyond the shot (except chemical inversion of films for some series)
My Response
For my response to Demaison I took several images of different subjects in various locations. Initially, I started photographing just around the school, in doors, using blank walls as my background. These images worked well as I managed to capture a good amount of blur this way. However, I found that the images that worked best out of all the ones I took were those that I captured in the studio, using false lighting as opposed to natural. This fake lighting gave the images a more dramatic look as, by placing the subject under flat lighting and additionally posing them in front of a flat, white background, the subject becomes detattched from their surroundings. Detaching the subject in these kinds of images works particularly well it allows for the focus to be placed more heavily on to the subject as opposed to any other aspect of the image. Furthermore, when editing the photographs, I made them black and white to resemble the work of Demaison. I also emphasised contrast to add depth back to the images and additionally cropped them so the subject is placed in an almost square frame.
Originals:
Edits:
Scanography
Process:
Development
To further develop my responses to movement I wanted to experiment with different techniques that were more physical as opposed to virtually editing images in Photoshop after I have taken them. In this development I took several images of different subjects using colours to abstract the image. Through this response it becomes obvious that colour is an aspect of photography in which there are infinite freedoms. For instance, I used different coloured lights to create a coloured effect on some of my images and, on others, I used different coloured sheets of plastic to manipulate the colour of my images. Indeed, there are many other ways that the colour of images can be explored which allow for photographic and creative freedom.
Pushing the limits of the photography - focus
In this task, I took several different photographs with my camera on manual focus. Here, I intentionally unfocused the contents of my images so as to challenge the usual convention of photography - having images be in focus. When deciding what to take photographs of, I thought it would be much more interesting to capture bright, vibrant colours and strange shapes. Indeed, without the element of focus included in photographs, colour and shape become automatically more prominent. I think my response worked well as I managed to find several interesting colours to use within my images.
Composition
This next task also challenges the usual conventions of photography. Here, I took several images - the first being composed correctly, including everything within the photograph inside the frame. I then successively captured the same contents changing the composition slightly. This task intends to comment on the difference that ignoring and following stereotypical methods of photography can change the outcome of an image. I think this task worked well, however I do think that I could've photographed more interesting scenes.
Exposure
This task additionally tests the usual conventions of photography as, through adjusting the exposure of photographs, the image can become darker or lighter or under-exposed and over-exposed. In order to manipulate the exposure of the photographs I captured for this task, I took each image at a different ISO speed, however, I kept my aperture and shutter speed on f8 and 1/60 for each different image so as to really focus on the exposure of the photographs. I think this worked well as you can see the obvious change in light to dark or dark to light throughout the series of images. However, the last series does not show much obvious difference between the images.
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Keld Helmer-Peterson
The pioneer of Danish Modernist photography, Keld Helmer-Petersen (1920-2013), is internationally acclaimed for his images of structures, patterns and details found in industrial areas, cityscapes and nature. He started photographing in the late 1930s and first made his name with 122 Colour Photographs in 1948. This book is especially well known due to its innovative use of colour in thoroughly composed photographs of patterns in landscapes and buildings. During the 1950s and 1960s he established himself as a photographer of architecture and design. Simultaneously, his artistic work shifted towards the more abstract, as he found inspiration in German and American photography as well as international abstract art. In his last works, Helmer-Petersen experimented with the potential of digital technology. In so doing, he returned to the black and white graphic expression that he had cultivated in the 1950s and 1960s. From 2008 up until his death, he placed a variety of old negatives and found objects; refuse, insects, wires, etc., on a flatbed scanner in order to treat them digitally (with the help of the photographer Jens Frederiksen). This process resulted in the experimental trilogy: Black Noise (2010), Back to Black (2011) and the posthumously published Black Light (2014).
Helmer-Petersen was born and grew up in the Østerbro quarter of Copenhagen. He started taking photographs in 1938, when he received a Leica camera as a graduation present. At an early stage, he became aware of the trends in international photography; in the 1940s he subscribed to the US Camera Annual and in this period became familiar with German inter-war photography, which had developed at the Bauhaus movement. Architecture and design played a great role in Helmer-Petersen’s work, both professionally and as an artistic field of interest. From 1952 to 1956, he worked with photographer Erik Hansen, after which he established his own studio specializing in architecture and design photography, in 1956. In the decades that followed, he worked as a photographer for his generation of architects and designers.
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My Response
In my response to Petersen I photographed various areas around the school that I thought looked structured and included lines, so as to follow the feeling of Petersen's photographs. I think these images worked well as many of the objects I photographed turned out to look a similar style to Petersen's images after I edited them. However, I think this task would have been better had I photographed objects that were even more structured than the ones I captured, such as telephone wires or fences etc as I think my final edits did look slightly more grainy and darker than Petersen's photographs.
Limiting Space
Austrian artist Willi Dorner squeezes human bodies into nooks and crannies for his Bodies in Urban Spaces project. Groups of dancers, climbers and performers wearing brightly coloured clothes run through busy malls and high streets and cram themselves into doorways, alcoves and any gap they can find in public buildings. During a tour of Austria, England, France, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the US, Willi and his cohorts have drawn attention from local police who have stopped several performances for fear they were burglars or vandals.
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Willi Dorner – born 1959 in Baden, Austria – studied at the 'Austrian Society for Dance Therapy' and is a certified Alexander technique teacher. He also studied at Erick Hawkins Studio in New York and at the School for Body-Mind Centering in Developmental Movement. Further work was with Andrew Harwood, Dani Lepkoff, Irene Hultman and Stephen Petronio. Dorner was a member of Nina Martin’s company in New York and I.D.A. - Mark Tompkins Company in Paris.
He started to choreograph his own productions in 1990. Besides his international touring dance performances Willi Dorner has been involved with film-making and is keen on creating events that give the audience the opportunity for new experiences, insights and a different perception of every day’s life. Willi Dorner’s stage performances and site specific works are presented in festivals and venues in Europe, Africa, North and South America and China. |
My Response
For my response to Dorner's 'Bodies in Urban Spaces', I took several photographs around the school of different subjects. In order to express an obvious feeling of limited space, the subject's I photographed squeezed into many different places that we found around the school cite. I think these images worked well in that we ended up finding some good places to present a feeling restricted spcace, however they do not have the same artsy aesthetic as Dorner as the subjects I photographed were not wearing the same, or even similar clothes.
Development: Studio I
In further developing my response to the idea of limiting space, I took several images in the studio as well as outdoors around school. In these images I used a manufactured small space made of two studio backdrops pushed together to appear as a small corner. I think these images worked well as the subject's I used show an obvious feeling of restriction in the photographs, although in some they are smiling. I think the outdoor images worked much better as I managed to capture them without showing the subjects faces. Also, the spaces where much more obviously restricting than the manufactured space I used in the studio.
Second Development: Studio II
In further developing my response to the limited space task I displayed the idea much differently to the previous development. In this second response I used a large piece of paper and a subject to demonstrate limitation in a highly visual, obvious way. Here, the subject is restricted by the paper through the poses that they can portray and, additionally, to the way they can move. This task worked well in that I think it was better than the previous as the subject looks much more obviously restricted. In the previous studio response to restricted space I felt that the set up scene did not really look very restricted, whereas in this response I don't feel that was a problem.
Edits:
In editing this response I felt that blocking out the colours and additionally making the background white would further play on the idea of restricted space in that it makes the paper appear two dimensional while the subject remains three dimensional. Also, in removing the background so it is white, the subject and paper appear to be isolated as there are no surroundings. I think this worked well as it turned out to look how I wanted it to as the subject matter appears as though it is floating in space. However, I think if I had used more colours when blocking them out on different sections of the paper it would potentially look more intricate.
Exhibition Visit - Barbican: Another Kind of Life
Another Kind of Life follows the lives of individuals and communities operating on the fringes of society from America to India, Chile to Nigeria. The exhibition reflects a more diverse, complex view of the world, as captured and recorded by photographers. Driven by personal and political motivations, many of the photographers sought to provide an authentic representation of the disenfranchised communities with whom they spent months, years or even decades with, often conspiring with them to construct their own identity through the camera lens. Featuring communities of sexual experimenters, romantic rebels, outlaws, survivalists, the economically dispossessed and those who openly flout social convention, the works present the outsider as an agent of change.
This exhibition is prominently relevant to the topic of freedom and limitations in that it represents groups on the outskirts of society that are limited by their position. In underlining their limitations, the freedoms of other groups in society is highlighted. In some of the images within this exhibition the representation of these peoples limits are shown in a more visual way, for example, poverty or deprivation. However, in other images, it is more heavily based on interpretation.
This exhibition is prominently relevant to the topic of freedom and limitations in that it represents groups on the outskirts of society that are limited by their position. In underlining their limitations, the freedoms of other groups in society is highlighted. In some of the images within this exhibition the representation of these peoples limits are shown in a more visual way, for example, poverty or deprivation. However, in other images, it is more heavily based on interpretation.
Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark was a photographer famous for photographing portrait images of those on the outskirts of society. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania in 1940 and moved to New York City in 1966 or 67, where she began photographing demonstrations and protests against war. Mark was known for touching upon very key social issues over her career. These include homelessness, loneliness, drug addiction, and prostitution. She primarily worked in black and white and this choice added to the impact of many of her photographs. Her images of our world's diverse cultures have become landmarks in the field of documentary photography. She traveled extensively around the world chronicling the human condition. Her portrayals of Mother Teresa, Indian circuses, and brothels in Bombay were the result of many years of work spent in India. Mark showed the plight of the homeless when she photographed a Los Angeles homeless family, the Damms, whom she first shot when they were living in their car in 1987.
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She returned five years later to their "home,” an abandoned rural property on which they were living illegally. Mark didn't abandon her subjects and she often returned to further chronicle their lives years later. In 1983, she did an assignment for Life magazine spending time with runaways and street kids in Seattle, Washington. She captured the heartbreaking lives of these children and the photos became the basis for the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, "Streetwise." Mark photographed Erin Blackwell (better known as Tiny) for the film’s poster and over the years she updated her portrait, showing a woman who seemed to move from adolescence directly into middle age. Mark recounted some of Erin's hardships in her retrospective book, Exposure, including drug abuse and giving birth to nine children by five different fathers.
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Paz Errázuriz
“I was always interested in exploring identity, especially in the context of a homogenised society,” Errázuriz explains. “Through looking at the identities of others, I began to discover my own.” Following the 1973 Chilean coup d’état which established the repressive military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, photography became more than a personal interest for Errázuriz, resolutely morphing into an unapologetic means of political resistance. “I started working in the street as a photojournalist, and that’s how I first got a glimpse into the underworld of alternative and marginalised communities,” she reminisces. “I did a lot of work on female prostitution, which I knew nothing about – it was an incredibly taboo area, sex was a forbidden word.”
“It was an incredibly dangerous time for them, they were constantly hiding, running away from the police, being jailed… They had to lead a completely secret life. I witnessed it all, and through photography I perpetuated their rebellion” – Paz Errázuriz
This is, indeed, extremely representative of the subject's within these photograph's desperate limitations in society. Whereas, those who are more openly accepted, obeying society's definition of normality, would most likely never face these kinds of struggles just for being themselves. In a sense, this series also represents those who were so harshly unaccepted as free. For instance, the fact that these images portray the part of their lives that forcibly remained secret must have been extremely freeing for them as they could let go instead of being forced to limit themselves in this moment. Furthermore, this series is an intriguing representation of both freedom and limitations through its observation of those who used to be extremely unaccepted in society. |
Photographing Around the barbican
After the exhibition I photographed around the Barbican taking pictures of buildings, structures or spaces that represent the topic of freedom and limitations. For instance, in photographing gates/intricate structures limitations are shown in an obvious way, as gates themselves are a limitation in a certain sense. Additionally, I photographed several images of the park/green space within the Barbican centre. This is representative of both freedom and limitations as the park in the centre of the Barbican is a free, open space but its freedom is also limited by the several concrete buildings entirely surrounding it. Enlarged are some of the photographs that I felt worked best in responding to the topic of freedom and limitations.
First Strand
For my first strand I will explore the freedoms and limitations attached to wealth and poverty. For instance, I mainly want to focus on poorer and richer locations in London, photographing around those areas in order to show their differences and similarities and draw attention to the limits of poor areas and freedoms of rich areas and vice-versa. Additionally, I will potentially edit these different locations into one single image together so as to show the comparison more obviously. When trying to display poverty vs. wealth I think it is important to include the kinds of shops in the area, whats inside them and what the kinds of buildings that are there look like. Indeed, poverty and wealth are two obvious portrayals of freedom and limitations and I want the difference between them to be shown through my responses to this initial strand, however I would also like to be able to show the more subtle differences and even similarities between these two polar opposites.
To narrow down the areas that I want to photograph I researched into the varying deprevation rates in different areas of the city. As the map on the left shows, there is a lot of deprevation around the North East areas, so I think it would be good to photograph around those areas. Potentially, I will also look to photograph in the West Central area as it the wealthiest area near to me.
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First Location - Wood Green
For my first, more deprived area I chose Wood Green, mostly because I think that shops are a telling factor of an areas wealth and there is a shopping centre in Wood Green with several discount stores. Therefore, when photographing around the area of Wood Green, I sought out shop fronts and the insides of shops that showed discounted items or advertised price as this is an obvious convention of discount stores. Additionally, I wanted to show the contrast between wealth and poverty through shops and I knew that in wealthier areas, the price would not be advertised. I think these images worked well as I managed to capture several discount stores and their contents.
Development
To develop my first response to this strand I wanted to take pictures of the people within the area as opposed to just the kinds of shops that were in the area. I think by taking images of people I will be better be able to compare societal differences between poorer areas of London and more wealthy areas of London. I think this response worked well as I managed to get a wide range of subjects that allowed me to take their picture. In developing this I think it would be interesting to take the portraits on a white background, however I do think that having the area in the background of the photograph gives more context and additionally suggests a narrative.
Second Location - St James's
For my second response to this strand I will photograph the area and people in St. James's and compare this to Wood Green, contrasting a richer area against a poor one in order to present the freedoms and limitations of wealth and poverty. In photographing around St. James's I wanted to take pictures of similar things that I had captured in Wood Green. I wanted the pictures to be similar so I could later edit them together to show the contrast in a more obvious way and further comment on the juxtaposition of the freedoms and limitations. I think this response worked relatively well.
Second Development
To further develop my response to this strand I wanted to show the comparison between the two areas and the difference in wealth in a more obvious way - in one photograph. When photographing in the two different areas I noticed that the main difference were the shops and what was in them. For instance, in the image below of St. James's, the stores were all clothes shops, particularly suits and they were expensive designers and they tended not to advertise the prices. However, in the Wood Green, the shops were all having sales, or closing down sales or were just advertising their low prices. To represent these differences I edited the two photographs below together as shown below. I think this worked well, although in my development I will need to make sure the two photographs are more similar as I found it difficult to get the perspectives right when I was editing.
Third Development
In further developing my response I went back to St. James's to take pictures of people so I would be able to compare them against the images I took of various subjects in Wood Green. Indeed, there was an obvious difference in the appearance of some people as many people I saw in St. James's were dressed in fancy uniforms with suits or top hats whereas, in Wood Green, there was not a single person dressed in a top hat. I think these images worked well as I managed to capture many subjects that looked quite lavish and rich, however I think some of the images came out slightly overexposed as I took this response on a sunny day and was transitioning a lot from the inside to outside and forgot to changer my camera settings accordingly.
Removing The Background
When I develop this response in more depth I would like to make a bigger image, in the style of a collage, including many of the subjects I photographed from both Wood Green and St. James's in order to have a more obvious, side-by-side comparison. In doing so, I think it could potentially look better if the portraits did not have their original backgrounds and I, instead, edited them so the subjects are all on a white background. Therefore, I will go on to try some different techniques, experimenting with removing the background and leaving it, in order to see which looks best.
Process:
Fourth Development: Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek
In order to mix both portraits from Wood Green and St. James's I wanted to make a collage of portraits, alternating to and from subjects from the different areas. Although, this is not the same as Versluis and Uyttenbroek's series titled 'Exactitudes', I have drawn inspiration for my own response from this series in the way that they structure their images. In fact, the 'Exactitudes' series enabled me to come to the conclusion that I wanted to do the opposite idea while using the same layout in order to compare the two different areas. However, this series also inspired me to try a similar idea to Versluis and Uyttenbroek as I can also show the 'Exactitude' of the two areas through making one collage of portraits from Wood Green and one of portraits from St. James's, placing the two images side-by-side to then show their differences. Although, in doing this, their similarities may not be as obvious as those in the 'Exactitudes' series, so I will also experiment with leaving the images with their backgrounds in order to more obviously show the differences in area.
Exactitudes
Photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 21 years. Rotterdam’s heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in many cities abroad. They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element.
First Experimentation - Wood Green + St. James's
In my initial response to the 'exactitudes' series I mixed both portraits from Wood Green and St. James's to make one picture that showed the differences of the subjects as opposed to thier similarities. Although, while this is the opposite to the series, I layed the collage out in a similar way, as shown below. I think this image worked well in showing the differences between the two different areas. For instance, there is an obvious difference in dress with those from Wood Green looking more casual. However, I think this type of image would work better with more subjects so that the portraits are smaller. Additionally, I don't think the technique I used to make the frame was efficient as it isn't perfectly straight.
Second Experimentation: More Portraits + Backgrounds
My second experimentation includes more images which is more similar to the 'exactitudes' series. However, here, I included the backgrounds of each image as I thought this might more clearly demonstrate the distinction between the two areas. Indeed, I do think that the inclusion of backgrounds shows clearly the two areas and gives each individual portrait more context. Additionally, the image including more portraits definitely looks better. Although, I think the background looks better when there is simply one image as opposed to a collage because I think that the several, differing backgrounds included into one big image looks much too busy and overcrowds the image.
Final Experimentation: 'Exactitudes'
To further development my experimentation of collaging my portrait images, I wanted to try and make them look more similar to the 'Exactitudes' series. However, instead of their similarities being obvious, I organised them by location so all of the portraits from Wood Green are in one collage and the images from St. James's are in another. I think this works much better than the first two experimentations as I think the images being more focused on the subject is far more aesthetically pleasing. Also, I think this aesthetic is heightened further by including two side-by-side collages. I think this final experimentation works best of all of three as it is not too busy and obviously displays the differences and similarities of the people in these two areas.
Development Map
I began the strand by looking to the shops, buildings and other indicators of class in Wood Green, photographing them in order to portray the limits of poorer areas...
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I developed on this portrayal of a more deprived area by stopping and asking people in Wood Green if I could take their portrait. I intended this to show a contrast to richer areas where I would wanted to also capture portraits. This is relative to the topic of freedom and limitations in the sense that wealth represents freedom and deprivation represents limitation...
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I then developed this strand by photographing store fronts and other indicators of wealth around the area of St. James's, similar to the first response I did of Wood Green. I tried to capture similar images as I had the intention of editing the two locations together in one, single image to more obviously represent the freedoms and limitations of the wealth of the two areas...
I next developed this strand with the intention of showing the difference in wealth between the two areas in a more obvious way, by editing them into an image together...
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My final development for this strand was based on the 'Exactitudes' series. I edited two collages of each location's portraits that I took in order to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the people in the two areas.
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Then I developed this strand by photographing portraits of people around the area of St. James's, similar to the response where I took portraits of those in Wood Green as I wanted to somehow portray the two sets of portraits in an image together. I wanted to do this in order to show the freedoms and limitations of the wealth of the two different areas through the similarities and differences of the people within them...
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second strand
After visiting the Andreas Gursky exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, explained below, I decided that for my third strand I would take a closer look at the way in which artists like Gursky digitally stitch images together to create one large, imposing image, giving the overall effect of a vast, ongoing landscape. This relates to freedom and limitations as it breaks the usual limits of photographs that aren't edited in this way. By stitching several different photographs together of one scene, one image is created that would not be possible otherwise. This is freeing as creating big images like this allows photographs to portray much more detail of a scene than if a photographer decides to stay within the usual restricitions of framing. Additionally, the general aesthetic of these kinds of images expresses freedom in a more obvious way. Indeed, being that the images are so large and striking, there is a lot more visual freedom for the viewer as there is more to see and the picture itself even appears more free.
Exhibition Visit
Visiting the Andreas Gursky exhibition, I noticed that there are several links to the idea of freedoms and limitations. For instance, many of the images displayed within the exhibition were formulated using a techniuqe of sewing multiple images together in order to make the prints bigger. Gursky repeatadly creates photographs like this, taking several images of the same landscape and then editing them together later on to make the image extremely vast and imposing. This technique can express an element of freedom as Gursky is breaking the regular limitations of photography through creating such vast photographs that wouldn't otherwise be possible. Furthermore, this draws attention to the limitations of size, space and framing at the same time as disregarding them. Many of Gursky's images explored the relationship between man and nature, something that additionally draws on the idea of freedom through the far-reaching landscapes and open spaces.
Andreas Gursky (Hayward Gallery)
Hayward Gallery reopens with the first major UK retrospective of the work of acclaimed German photographer Andreas Gursky. Known for his large-scale, often spectacular pictures that portray emblematic sites and scenes of the global economy and contemporary life, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant photographers of our time.
Driven by an interest and insight into ‘the way that the world is constituted’, as well as what he describes as ‘the pure joy of seeing’, Gursky makes photographs that are not just depictions of places or situations, but reflections on the nature of image-making and the limits of human perception. Often taken from a high vantage point, these images make use of a ‘democratic’ perspective that gives equal importance to all
Driven by an interest and insight into ‘the way that the world is constituted’, as well as what he describes as ‘the pure joy of seeing’, Gursky makes photographs that are not just depictions of places or situations, but reflections on the nature of image-making and the limits of human perception. Often taken from a high vantage point, these images make use of a ‘democratic’ perspective that gives equal importance to all
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elements of his highly detailed scenes. This exhibition features around 60 of the artist’s ground-breaking photographs from the early 1980s through to his most recent work, and includes some of his most iconic pictures such as Paris, Montparnasse (1993) and Rhine II (1999, remastered 2015).
Andreas Gursky marks the beginning of the Hayward Gallery’s 50th anniversary year and is the first exhibition to take place in the gallery following its two-year refurbishment. For the first time since the Hayward’s original opening, the gallery’s pyramid roof lights will allow natural light into the spaces below. |
This first image from Gursky is massively representative of the topic of freedoms and limitations. For instance, the rolling hills of the landscape demonstrate the freedoms of nature. Additionally, the fog sitting on top of them gives the image an illusion of never-ending depth as there is no obvious point where the landscape ends, therefore, this image displays the way in which nature has no restrictions or limits. Furthermore, the fact that Gursky has made this photograph out of several much smaller ones makes the entire image much more impressive and imposing. Indeed, although the picture does not appear to be that big without having seen the print, it is made clear that the hills are extremely sizeable by this stictching technique that Gursky so often uses. Also, the inclusion of the cable car in the centre point of the photograph gives the image perspective and demonstrates to the viewer how vast the landscape and photograph really are without having to see the physical print.
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Secondly, 'Klausen Pass' is another direct example of the obvious representation of the freedoms of nature. This photograph emphasises, again, the imposing size of the landscape and the hills. What's most intruging about this particular image is the way in which it is so intricately detailed. Through the stitching technique that Gursky uses, his images are always much more notably detailed than other photographs that are not made through this method. This is an example of an aspect of Gursky's work that I will specifically look to portray in my own response to his images. In this certain picture, titled 'Klausen Pass', Gursky shows minute details through the inclusion of people. Here, at first glance, it is not obvious that there are subjects within the image as they are so small. This is partly because it is much harder to see the details of Gursky's images if they're not physical prints as he blows them up so big. But, this aspect of his photography is largely expressive of the topic of freedoms and limitations as he diverts the usual structure of images by stitching several together.
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Finally, this photograph is an additional example of Gursky's representation of the freedoms of nature. For example, similarly to the first photograph, the image portrays the illusion of a never-ending depth as the end of the Ruhr cannot be seen. Another interesting aspect of this particular image is the way in which Gursky uses such muted colours here. In displacing the focus from the colours within the image, the focus is emphasised onto the subject matter which is additionally what all of Gursky's photographs do. Although some do contain vivid, bright colours, in using his stitching technique, Gursky always priorities the subject matter of his photographs over anything else. For instance, through making his images so large and imposing, it is difficult to focus, first, on anything else apart from the contents of his photographs. Additionally, this particular image also emphasises the size and impressiveness of the natural world. Although it can't be seen easily when the image is displayed smaller than its original print, there are people fishing in the river. In a way, this can be read as a comment on the limitations of people as they are not as free in comparison to nature, having to destroy the natural world for a sense of escapism.
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First Response
For my initial response to the work of Gursky I wanted to capture a vast scene, so I went to the top of the Tate Modern. To ensure that all the images would look seamless when stitched together I used my camera on full manual mode with ISO 100, F8 and whatever shutter speed my camera suggested. I also used manual focus as opposed to auto to make sure that the camera would not automatically change any of the setting I had chosen and the pictures would look obviously different went stitched together. In order to get my images to be of similar size to Gursky, I wanted to take photographs both of the length of the scene but also the width. As this was my first attempt at this style of photography, I didn't take enough images for the outcome to be complete so I had some images that were not fully done and looked like this:
Second Response
For my second response to this strand I went to Trafalgar square in hopes of being able to capture photographs of groups of people from an above angle, however I don't think I was able to get high enough to be able to get the desired effect that I wanted. I then walked down to St. James' Park taking photos of anything I thought might look interesting enlarged with greater detail. I think this response went better than the last, however there were only two photographs that I thought worked well and they were more wide than I wanted them to be.
Third Response
For my third response I took pictures of the London skyline from a rooftop, I also photographed around the Thames however I preferred the images that I got from the rooftop location. In photographing this response I focused more heavily on making the final, stitched images more square while still making them look big enough so that it's obvious they're made up of several smaller images. I think this worked well, much better than my previous two responses.
Development
In developing this response I wanted to experiment with simplifying wider images by taking things out of them as I thought this would be a very obvious demonstration of freedom, it is also another technique used by Gursky, which is in fact what inspired me to try it. In order to do this I thoguht I would need a different landscape to the ones I had been photographing as a cityscape wouldn't really work for these types of photographs. Therefore, I photographed in fields in Enfield trying to capture images that were as empty as possible, however many of the photographs I captured I will still need to remove some parts of the image in order to make them completely empty. I also edited them in order to make the horizons straight, like Gursky's image. I think these images worked well, however, I prefer the outcome of some of the more busier images I've taken.
Example of Gursky's Work
My Response
Original:
Edit:
Original:
Edit:
Second Development
To further develop this response to Gursky's 'Rhein II' image, I decided to edit those landscapes on top of each other in order to make the image look busier. This is also a technique used by Gursky, as shown in the examples below. This response relates to freedom and limitations through commenting on man's effect on nature, especially in my own responses. Within my own responses, manmade structures place limits on the freedom of nature as they over-crowd the naturally free spaces. I think this development worked well as I managed to make the image look more busy and full. However, I think I could've made the editing of layers on top of each other less obvious by choosing a landscape that would be easier to layer. For instance, the image below has lighter sections in it that make the editing noticeable.
Examples Of Gursky's Work
First Attempt
For my attempt at repeating sections of an image I wanted to use a picture that would be simpler to edit. I chose this one as it doesn't have a lot going on within it, however, I think this technique would work better with an image that has more inside it. I think this initial attempt worked well in terms of my technique, although some parts of the image are quite obviously blurred and light where they're not supposed to be. I will improve on this in my second attempt.
Second Attempt
My second attempt at this method definitely worked much better for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think using an image that was already busy made it much easier to add more crowding into the photograph. Additionally, by repeating the smaller, further, background part of the image as opposed to the big, main section of the image, the editing appears more seamless and less obvious. Although I think this attempt was largely successful I do also think it could be improved possibly by inlcuding more layers of buildings to make it even more crowded.
Third Development - Adrian Brannan
Adrian Brannan graduated in June 2000 from the Glasgow School of Art, where he studied visual communication specialising in photography.
Adrian is currently working as a full - time freelance photographer/artist. The photographs are typically taken from multiple vantage points with different film, processing techniques, and at different times on different days. No digital processes are used at any stage of Adrian's work, and the many of photographs are printed in his own colour darkroom. All of the collages vary in complexity. Some earlier works in this series were be created with around fifty images, but in recent years often over one thousand individual 35mm film photographs has become the norm as Adrian continues to progress with this addictive medium. Viewed from a distance, the original works are a cohesive spectacle of colour and movement. On taking a closer look, it becomes aparent that an intricate network of photograhic detail has been observed, captured and recreated into an artwork which blurs the lines between traditional painting and photography. Each and every time you view a piece of Adrian's work, new aspects and details are discovered.
Adrian is currently working as a full - time freelance photographer/artist. The photographs are typically taken from multiple vantage points with different film, processing techniques, and at different times on different days. No digital processes are used at any stage of Adrian's work, and the many of photographs are printed in his own colour darkroom. All of the collages vary in complexity. Some earlier works in this series were be created with around fifty images, but in recent years often over one thousand individual 35mm film photographs has become the norm as Adrian continues to progress with this addictive medium. Viewed from a distance, the original works are a cohesive spectacle of colour and movement. On taking a closer look, it becomes aparent that an intricate network of photograhic detail has been observed, captured and recreated into an artwork which blurs the lines between traditional painting and photography. Each and every time you view a piece of Adrian's work, new aspects and details are discovered.
Brannan's focus on cityscapes is relevant to my project thus far as I have mainly been focusing on city scapes. Additionally, in further developing my response to Gursky's '99 Cent' and 'Les Mées' images, in which repitition of sections of the image is applied giving an crowded, busy look. Althuogh Brannan uses a different technique in giving off a busy, crowded appearance, his technique is still similar to Gursky's as he stitches together many smaller images to make one big one. This is also relevant to my project as I have been stitching smaller images together throughout my second strand developments and responses. In responding to Brannan's work I intend to have far less smaller images within the photograph and, instead, use a few, taller photographs to make up a panorama because this has been the technique I have been using throughout my project. I also think it could look interesting to take each picture at different times of day to show the progression of time from light to dark as opposed to Brannan's work where the various sections are somewhat randomly scattered around the photograph.
My Response
In my response to Brannan's work I wanted to capture the gradual process of the sun setting in one, single image. Therefore, I took several photographs every ten minutes of the sun setting. I also thought that it would be good to capture two different scenes, one facing the sunset and the other facing away from it, however, the sunset wasn't very colourful the day that I took these photographs so I don't think there is much difference between the two scenes apart from the fact that one started out slightly lighter. I think these photographs worked well, however, I do think that moving more closely towards Brannan's style of editing would make the photograph, overall, more interesting as there would be more going on.
Edit:
Process:
I also attempted to blur the lines in the sky between the sections that transitioned between colours so the photograph looked more seamless and natural, however I found this looked strange as the sections that were not the sky still had obvious lines between sections.
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I then filled the areas of different colours that were shorter...
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After lining each image up against the previous so the horizon is straight I flattened the image...
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Fourth Development
To further develop this strand I want to look into more wide panorama in shots in further depth. Drawing inspiration from Brannan's work I want to continue along with the idea of editing two different kinds of images together to make one, mixed, bigger image. In order to do this and keep it within the topic of freedom and limitations, I decided to take pictures of different kinds of windows, editing inside of them some of the wide shots that I had taken in my previous response. This is relevant to freedom and limitations as it brings the outside (free), inside (limit). It's also relevant in the sense that replacing advertisements with landscapes is representative of the way in which people look to escape the limits of their everyday life in looking for aspiration in freer locations. Additionally, I drew inspiration for the idea for editing two scenes together and editing them so they are interweaved from my previous strand in which I edited the rich/poor scenes together.
All the images I used:
Outcome
When making this image it took much longer than the previous wide scenes I've made as Photoshop could not edit the scene of Debenhams together so I, instead, did it myself, pasting each image on top of one another and making sure it was straight and everything aligned. Additionally, I could not get the cars in front of the bulding to look right which is what I think threw off the Photoshop programme, so I just edited them out. I also just thought this would look better as it would show more of the window. I found that with many of my photographs the Photoshop programme would not be able to stitch them together as some were too dark, so I will keep this in mind next time I shoot.
Location - Greece
In developing this response further I decided that using various, different locations would look more interesting and make for a variety of scenes as thus far I have only really photographed around similar, city locations. Therefore, for this response, I photographed poolside and ocean scenes in Greece that I will use to edit inside different windows and store fronts. While photographing I aimed to capture wider scenes as I think these types of images work better inside the windows and store fronts as they are more detailed.
Fifth Development - Ruud Van Empel
"This is how the artist goes about creating these images: First he collects all the features he needs by shooting a variety of young models in his studio and by subsequently wandering through Dutch forests, in search of fine leaves, perfect branches and the right waters. Only to tear it apart and spend weeks reconstructing it all until both the person and the setting match his desired standard of photo-realism."
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Empel's digitally created scenes are similar to what I wish to portray through editing two different scenes together. As opposed to my previous response where the two different scenes could be differentiated very obviously, I would like to develop this by exploring the ways in which I could interweave the two different scenes more. However, the challenge will be that I still intend for the images to maintain an obvious difference. For instance, by adding different objects of the indoor scene into the outdoor scene, I want to create the look of photo-realism portrayed by Empel. However, I would still like it to be noticeable that some sections of the image are real and some are digitally constructed in the interest of showing the freedom aspect (outside) of the image and the limitation aspect (inside).
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My Response
To further develop this strand I focused my photography more indoors, photographing displays within John Lewis that go with some of the outdoor scenes I photographed in Greece. I felt this would better show the contrast between outside and inside, however I found when editing my sets of photographs together the line between what was inside and what was outside became blurred. Additionally, by photographing displays from inside the store and combining sections of them with the outdoor landscapes I have captured from Greece as opposed to replacing the entire display with a landscape, I will further develop on the idea of representing freedom and limitations through store's advertising. I additionally used the work of Empel as an inspiration for my technique as I layered several different objects from different images on top of the two indoor and outdoor scenes.
Images used:
Outcome:
When making this image I realised that the background from the wide shot of the outside pool was too busy and I thought it looked like too much behind the straw roof from the image of the display from John Lewis, so I simply edited the background to be all blue to match the colour of the sky in the actual outdoor image. However, I think this meant that the image ended up looking neither like an outdoor or indoor scene. Overall, I think this worked well in terms of the technique I used to edit the image, but I will look to move towards making an obvious difference between the sections of my images that are outdoors against the sections that are indoors as opposed to making them look like something in between the two.
Sixth Development
As I have already taken pictures of ocean/pool/water scenes and skylines with buildings I wanted to go to a very different location so I went to Enfield to take pictures in forest-type scenes. I think the vibrant greens, pinks and purples in some of the images I took make a really interesting contrast against some of the previous locations I've captured. Overall, I think these photographs worked well. In order to further develop this strand I will stitch the best of the images I took together and try to encorporate them into a previous indoor scene. In doing this I want to make sure that the difference between the outdoor scene and indoor scene is obvious.
Location - Enfield
Final Piece
For my final piece I wanted to develop everything that I had been doing throughout this response. Originally, I wanted to do this using all the different landscapes I had photographed within the same image. When it came to actually editing the landscapes within the floors of John Lewis, the London skyline looked disconnected in comparison with the other vibrant, bright landscapes, so I replaced it with more panoramas from Enfield. Additionally, I chose my background to be the panorama of the floors of John Lewis as I wanted to continue with the advertising aspect of my previous development. This way, the different landscapes within each floor represent 'displays' that shops typically use to advertise their products. Also, through presenting outdoor landscapes within and indoor one, I aim to demonstrate freedom and limitations in a more obvious sense, being that the outside/nature is free and the inside/man-made is limited.
Images used in my final piece:
Outcome:
Development Map
I started this strand by responding to the work of Gursky, attempting to make tall and wide images through stitching together smaller ones creating a larger, higher resolution image. This initial set of images presents the natural world in heightened detail. To me, this represents a subversion of the limits of usual photography as this technique goes beyond an image's typical frame. In this sense, these images also represent freedom as they are subverting limitations...
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I next responded to Gursky's wider, more simple images. Where my first set of images heightened the sense of intricacy and detail, my second development removed those qualities in an attempt to convey simplicity and vastness. This also represents freedom in a more visually obvious way through the portrayal of open space and the removal of visual elements...
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In my next development, I started with a simple stitched image and then used the technique of repetition to crowd it with urban elements that show mans effect on nature. This represents freedom and limitations as I took a free image and made it the opposite...
I didn't like the outcome of this technique using the simplified images, so I instead when back to the original cityscape photographs I had taken and applied this repetition technique...
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After photographing store fronts I decided to explore the interiors of retail spaces. Looking at the work of Ruud Van Empel, I used an interior display of poolside toys and inserted an outdoor picture from Greece as a background. In doing this, the indoor scene becomes an outdoor scene. However, I wanted to take this further and develop it into a more complex and expansive image in my final development...
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After exploring time, I moved on to subverting space. Specifically, combining two wide images and placing an outdoor scene inside using one type of architecture as a frame to hold another. In doing this, the outdoor scene becomes an indoor scene. I also used the manual layering technique of multiple images on top of one another. In relating this response back to freedom and limitations I attempted to keep within the realm of binary opposition representing the outside (freedom) being inside (limitation).
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After looking into manually applying different layers of an image on top of one another, I responded to the work of Adrian Brannan. I wanted to represent the progression of time through one composite image. This subverts the limits of photography by portraying the passage of time, where normal images freeze time. It additionally shows two binary opposites that can be representative of freedom (light) and limitation (dark)...
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For my final piece, I used a broader stitch shot of John Lewis with more frames that allowed me to insert multiple wide landscapes (one on each
floor). The interior architecture made it easier to clearly distinguish the outdoor images from the indoor images. The fact that there are three floors allowed me to combine landscape images from two entirely different places in one fictional space. This final piece culminates the experiments I've done with stitching and overlaying throughout the previous phases of this project. It additionally ties together all of the techniques I've been using throughout my response to this project. It collapses three different times and spaces (Enfield/John Lewis/Greece) into one image, it's complex and busy, it uses architecture as a frame, it contains stitched, high resolution images and it plays with the distinction between outside and inside in a novel way. Ultimately, these techniques have given me the freedom to create a completely fictional environment.
floor). The interior architecture made it easier to clearly distinguish the outdoor images from the indoor images. The fact that there are three floors allowed me to combine landscape images from two entirely different places in one fictional space. This final piece culminates the experiments I've done with stitching and overlaying throughout the previous phases of this project. It additionally ties together all of the techniques I've been using throughout my response to this project. It collapses three different times and spaces (Enfield/John Lewis/Greece) into one image, it's complex and busy, it uses architecture as a frame, it contains stitched, high resolution images and it plays with the distinction between outside and inside in a novel way. Ultimately, these techniques have given me the freedom to create a completely fictional environment.