Concept

As outlined in my independent project intention form, for this project I stated that I was going to focus on architecture and structure with regard to the prompt word ‘division’. I started by looking up the dictionary definition of the word which was “the action of separating something into parts or the process of being separated” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016). I had the idea to work with the photograph as a physical medium which I could manipulate, taking Dryden Goodwin as inspiration who took portrait images of strangers and then scratched lines onto the photographs with an etching needle to create intricate details as shown in the image below.

I thought about printing out images and cutting them up or structuring something perhaps on top of a photograph and then rephotographing or scanning the new mixed medium. Another photographer who served as inspiration for this thought process was Rosanna Jones who stuck coloured tape over portrait images and then rescanned them in a series of images which she called ‘Concealment’.

As for subject, I decided to focus on architecture rather than portraiture as Goodwin and Jones did. I wanted my images to carefully consider shape, perspective, leading lines and colour contrast. I thought this could then easily marry into the physical division aspect as separating clean shapes would be easier and provide a wider scope of possibilities of working with the images in a more physical sense. In order for this to work, I will need to carefully consider the framing of my subject to ensure that the shapes are clean and nothing in the frame of the image ‘clutters’ it and detracts from the focus of the image. A quote from ‘Basic Photography’ by Michael Langford supports this in the following quote:

“The way you visually compose your pictures is as important as their technical quality. But this skill is acquired with experience as much as learnt. Composition is to do with showing things in the strongest, most effective way, whatever your subject. Often this means avoiding clutter and confusion between the various elements present (unless this very confusion contributes to the mood you want to create). It involves you in the use of lines, shapes and areas of tone within your picture, irrespective of what the items actually are, so that they relate together effectively, with a satisfying kind of geometry.” (Langford, 2000, 6)

Influences

Through my research into structure and architecture, I came across a photographer called Nina Band who focused primarily on architectural photography. In her project ‘Pensive Dimensions’ she takes her images of structures and recreates them using coloured card. As quoted on her website;

“In reaction to my architectural images, I have constructed paper representations that break down the shapes from the original photographs, as an alternative interpretation of the way we see forms. From doing this, my main intention is to challenge my audiences’ perceptions of angles, shapes and perspectives. By constructing images that look identical from the initial encounter, it formulates confusion between the two. However when viewed for longer, details become clearer and the two images become separate.” (Band, 2016)

I really liked the effect which her images created, and breaking down photographs into simple shapes conformed particularly well to division. Her images always feature a bold colour that draw your attention and are usually contrasted against more monochromatic colours like white, grey and black. I wanted to recreate this technique in particular as I thought it was effective and unusual.

Another artist that I took inspiration from is Matthias Heiderich. He also photographs buildings and has a very distinct and consistent personal style which is instantly recognisable. He explores the full range of colour in his work, taking some photographs in primarily pastels and others with bold and garish colour schemes. What drew me to his work most, however, was his focus on shape, leading lines and angles.

Process of Making

Following on from the task I set myself where I walked around the university campus taking photographs of the buildings, I took the same approach to this task and rephotographed the buildings looking again at shape and perspective. Whilst walking around Lincoln, I made sure to be very alert of my surroundings; from personal observation, the buildings that were further afield tended to be more historical and built with rugged brickwork, whereas the buildings on the Lincoln University campus are more modern and therefore provided the shapes and angles and clean lines that I was looking for.

I then edited my images in Lightroom, adjusting basic light settings in order to make the white-grey skies appear whiter and further emphasise the contrast between monochrome and colour. Once all the images were edited to my liking, I bought several different sheets of coloured paper and arranged them on a large white piece of foamboard, cutting many of them into shapes which I thought best represented the image. Unlike Nina Band who tended to approach her recreations more loosely, I tried to achieve the closest possible likeness to my images and cut them into more intricate shapes. I did not print my images or trace the shapes that I cut out in any way, and so therefore approached this task similarly to an observational drawing and spent quite some time considering perspective and measurements. The cards were layered and arranged and then photographed; the whole process of making forced me to carefully consider shapes, perspective and framing.

A number of images I took both whilst out-and-about and of the card recreations I made which weren’t wholly suitable and therefore weren’t used in my final project are shown below.

Some of these original images were not picked because I thought they would be too difficult and complex to recreate, such as the green brick on the corner of the white wall and the two photographs of the house with the yellow roof. One of the photographs of the house (bottom left) was not picked because it included shrubbery in the frame which complicated the image. I was looking specifically for clean lines and shapes for this project.

As for the paper recreations, all of these were not picked because the perspective, measurements and framing were off and did not accurately reflect the original images.

Reflection

Reflecting on my final images, I am very happy with the outcome. For the most part, the perspective, measurements, framing, colour and shapes were all quite accurately recreated in the paper versions of my original images and I think they answer quite well to the prompt word ‘division’.

However, there was definitely room for improvement. I think the original photographs were quite bland and boring and definitely didn’t recreate the level of depth and texture that Nina Band did in her own work. I also think that the images could have benefitted from having more bold pops of colour as they all have quite bland colour schemes. In addition to this, perhaps if I had taken these photographs on a more sunny day with a clear blue sky this would have added that interesting pop of colour similar to Heiderich’s work, and would have reflected the work of my influences better.

 

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Bibliography

Band, N. (2016) Nina Band’s Portfolio – About. Available from http://www.ninaband.com/about [Accessed 4 Dec 2017].

Band, N. (c.2016) Pensive Dimensions. Available from http://www.ninaband.com/2109920-pensive-dimensions [Accessed 3 Dec 2017].

Goodwin, D. (2012) Portrait of Mr Chamsi-Pasha. London: The World in London. Available from http://www.drydengoodwin.com/cradle_2008.htm [Accessed 3 Dec 2017].

Heiderich, M. (c.2015) Systems/Layers. Available from http://www.matthias-heiderich.de/systems-layers-ii/08philx0t5kjunnax2yzigade9gnlr [Accessed 3 Dec 2017].

Jones, R. (2013) Concealment. Available from http://rosanna-jones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/concealment.html [Accessed 3 Dec 2017].

Langford, M. (2000) Basic Photography (7th edition). London: Focal Press.

Oxford Dictionaries (2016) Definition of division in English by Oxford Dictionaries. Available from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/division [Accessed 5 Dec 2017].

Division

The action of separating something into parts or the process of being separated.

Synonyms: breaking up, cutting up, splitting, dissection, partition.

The following photographs were taken on the university campus using a 10-20mm wide angle lens and a 75-300mm telephoto zoom lens in order to test out the two different lenses on architecture photography.

I liked how the images turned out, especially due to the sun setting in the sky giving an interesting array of colours and scattered clouds. However due to the time of day which I shot the photographs at, I found that some of the pictures came out either blurry or underexposed; usually due to the camera compensating for the lack of light on aperture priority mode by dropping the shutter speed below what was suitable for handheld photography. If I were to shoot photographs at dusk again I would make sure to have a tripod with me.

During this seminar, we read and studied the writing style in which Georges Perec observed and made notes on his everyday surroundings in his book ‘An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris’ (1975). We were then tasked to recreate the style with our own observations. I sat in the middle of the busiest building on the university campus during mid afternoon and made the following notes on my surroundings in the style of Perec.

• Large open room. Ceiling that reaches up to the third floor.
• Floor to ceiling length windows that look out onto the Brayford.
• Hundreds of chairs and tables scattered around.
• White tables & chairs arranged in rows.
• Variety of blue and pink sofas and seats. Fabric-covered.
• Hundreds of people. Some sat in groups talking, some eating lunch, some on laptops, some on mobile phones and sitting alone.
• Woman approaches and sets down a small piece of paper and asks if we could fill in a quick survey.
• Small food counter selling sandwiches and toasties. Two men walk away from the till carrying plastic takeaway trays of food.
• Standalone island in the middle of the room holding a large jug of milk, water, juice and an assortment of sugars for tea and coffee.