Environment Unit Briefing & Initial Ideas

After the environment unit briefing, I began to think of issues or topics which interested me to base my work around. My initial idea is based around the idea of conflict between nature and man-made; looking at the effects that humankind have had on the landscape. I have primarily been inspired by three photographers and am researching by firstly reading the books; 

William Eggleston ‘Ancient and Modern’,

'Southern Suite, 1981'

 'The Louisiana Project, 1980'

'The Louisiana Project, 1980'

Joel Sternfeld ‘Walking the High Line’

'A Peach Tree, October 2000'

'Grape Hyancinth, April 2000'

'Looking East on 30th Street on a morning in May, 2000' (now and then)

and Mitch Epstein ‘The City’. 

'Chevron Oil Refinery, Port Richmond, California, 2005'

'Hoover Dam Bypass Project, Nevada, 2007'

'The City'

They all focus around the effects of human life, how nature and humankind live side-by-side and lastly the way nature recaptures the landscape. 

When looking at the three images in the brief I was drawn straight away towards Robert Adams’, ‘On Signal Hill, Overlooking Long Beach, California’, 1983 as I see it as an image highlighting the confliction between nature and artificiality. 

'On Signal Hill, overlooking Long Beach, California, 1983'

The sparse tree line in the foreground consists of two spindly trees looking as if they’re so frail they’re about to be blown off the edge of the hill; and like the audience, they are on-lookers to the mass of buildings in the background representing humankind as far as the eye can see. While they represent nature are being neglected, humankind thrives. The lighting and weather conditions make it look as though it is very clear in the foreground while there is a smog-like feel enveloping the buildings below further highlighting the destructive nature of humans.

    

I want to start my unit of work by firstly looking at the two subjects as separate forms, I am taking a Bronica SQ-B with Ilford Delta 100 B&W film out at the weekend to first capture nature. I will go up on the forest early in the morning to experiment with the effects of natural lighting as well as hopefully the morning fog we have been having recently due to the warm weather. I can then relate these images back to the effects human kind have on their surroundings, as the warmer weather could be due to global warming a cause of energy used to further develop mankind’s world.

After looking at Joel Sternfeld’s images of cities being repossessed by nature I want to explore this further in my shoots on the weekend; highlighting the contrast between the sharp lines, edges and artificial colours and the rhythmic shapes and neutral colours of nature.

The Synchronicity of Light, Exposure and Contrast & Medium Format

Last Thursday we had our first introduction to studio practice learning how to set up the foam board, backdrop, lighting and camera and setting it up safely. I got the chance to photograph with a medium format Bronica camera using an Iflord Delta 100 black and white film. I was very excited to experiment with medium format as I had used 35mm at A level and have always found analog photography really interesting compared to digital photography.

Until I have developed the film tomorrow I am unaware whether the photographs came out however I found using the light meter to balance the aperture, shutter speed and iso really helpful (recording what we used for each frame to compare to each other afterwards) which I want to practice with more in both natural and artificial lighting. One main thing I forgot to do was pull out the light sensitive screen however luckily the Bronica will not take the photograph with the screen in; therefore I will need further practice with this.  

I have found this process really enjoyable as a step up from 35mm processing and can’t wait to be inducted into colour medium format as well as large format photography.

Object Unit Initial Ideas

For our first section of ‘The Object and The Body’ unit, we must produce a still life which portrays an issue or topic that interests us and that we are passionate about. 

My initial idea in response to the brief is to do with the issues surrounding littering as well as the excess wastage us as humans create through unnecessary packaging, food waste and not recycling causing landfills to overfill. This was recently highlighted to me through the amount of litter I saw when wondering round Chatham, and also when taking gardening waste to the tip I noticed piles of items such as sofas and bikes that looked practically brand new. I have become intrigued by this idea of mass throw away, the repetition of similar objects, unwanted and discarded of different conditions. I feel that one person could look at objects that have become rusty, dirty, scratched and torn and be repelled however I look at these items and see beauty- I can picture them at their prime and even find them beautiful in the way that they have tarnished and eroded.  

My first idea is to create a homely environment- a living room type set up filled with furniture eg. sofas, tables shot against a blank background to hint at this feeling of a clean slate which begins to highlight an out-of-placeness to the objects. This then begins to make the viewer look more closely at what is really being portrayed in the image; detail would start to pop out such as dirt, tears in the fabric, scratches on surfaces which forces them to confront the sometimes uncomfortable subject matter of waste caused by the viewer themselves. The scene would represent the idea that many objects being thrown away every day should not necessarily be thrown away; as I found when moving house we ended up throwing away a lot of stuff as we did not need the anymore but could someone else have used it?

My second idea is to use this idea of mass waste of one subject such as a bicycle to exaggerate the point I am trying to depict. I would collect a certain object from different locations where they have been discarded, such as off the streets, in nature, out of tips and garages; and set them up in the studio creating a busy scene of lines and textures. I would then take the photograph as a close up shot to highlight the beauty and detail in these discarded objects, focussing on the vibrant colours more in the rust rather than of the original subject. I want the audience to first be unaware of the subject matter and have to look more closely to realise what it is such as the frame work of bikes overlapping each other; and then become intrigued at the meaning of the image.       

From the initial briefing the artist that stood out for me was Keith Arnatt with his images, ‘Pictures from a Rubbish Tip, 1988-1989’, he creates this beautifully positioned and set up scene of rubbish which he got from tips. His work really portrays a similar issue to that which I am extremely interested in; many of his images are set up as traditional still lifes with rotting food set on tarpaulin rather than fabric which tricks the audience. The lighting is very soft and warm which creates a contrast with the topic but also lets the texture of the items stand out without becoming unnatural. 

The second artist I have discovered through initial research is Andy Hughes, his images are naturally set on beaches in the foreground sits a piece of litter which at first we see as beautiful due to the setting and lighting but then are disgusted by the subject matter. A quote by him highlights exactly what I wish to show: "Many of the plastic items begin their lives serving humankind; they fulfil a multitude of purposes, sometimes carrying out their function in a most beautiful manner. But usually after a short time and after being thrown away they disgust us. This sweet and sour relationship is explored in my photographic work." His use of dramatic natural lighting perfectly highlights the objects from behind while an artificial light picks out the contours and textures of the subject. 

These are few other photographers I am interested in looking into further at a later date by researching on the internet and borrowing some books from the library:

I visited a few London galleries on Friday researching for the object, body and environment units which I will put up on my blog soon including the print rooms at the V&A museum and Steve Pyke’s work at the Flowers gallery.

My Still-life portrait

This is my still-life photograph metaphorically representing me through the objects, lighting, angle and composition I have used.