Environment 'Urban Space' Unit: Initial Research

My first ideas were subconsciously influenced by the series 'A Machine for Living' (1999) by Dan Holdsworth whose work I rediscovered after taking a few test shots over the weekend. 

Holdsworth uses a long exposure to capture Bluewater, a large shopping centre and its surrounding car parks set in a huge disused quarry.

Before looking at Holdsworth's work I had researched the history of Bluewater's location, mirrored in my emerging unit theme I am really intrigued by the way we use and re-use space. After the quarry had been abandoned a question was asked, what to use the space for, so a shopping centre was built. Although the shopping centre is massive it is the surrounding car parks which took my attention; built to home cars during the day but what happens at night, the space is once again empty, deserted. 

I find it quite ironic and a weird concept how we are running out of space to build housing to live but then we fill an empty space with thousands of more spaces which are empty, temporary homes for transportation.

I like how Holdsworth creates an eerie atmosphere through long exposures using the artificial lighting which gives his images an unnatural colour and the way that scale is hard to discern due to the absence of human life.  

Again I have looked a little into the work of William Eggleston, at his mundane everyday scenes often taken in run down towns. The car parks photographed are therefore usually empty which gives a sense of isolation and disconnection. 

Although Holdsworth doesn't want his images to be associated with the location rather just a  place, Eggleston's location are unidentifiable as they are usually tightly framed and of no significants like a shopping centre. 

The way he shoots the emptiness gives you this strange sense of abandonment, that no one has been there for a while, like he may have just discovered this place after 10 years. 

The second image of his is very eye-catching for me as the weather seems to reflect the sort of emotion you should feel when viewing it a sense of loss and emptiness. 

 I find the dull, neutral colour palette of Eggleston similar to that of Stephen Shore's images; in both photographer's work I also find that often the only measurable object is a lone lamp post creating a sense of isolation. 

His series 'Uncommon Places' also focusses solely on the everyday scenes that we see everyday. I feel like the above to images could be compared to one another in the sense that one portrays a tired, empty town while the other depicts a busy town showing how a similar amount of space can look so different.

I am particularly drawn to the early morning tones of the first image with a slight fog encompassing the three cars in the shot which sit abandoned and isolated.

While reseraching 'urban space' I came across the photographer, Branislav Kropilak whose work mainly focusses & investigates the intimate relationship between humankind and technology. His work revolves around industrial design, architecture and urbanisation, looking a lot at gemoetry and pattern.

His series 'Garages' looks at this idea that we build structures on land which are then unoccupied for half of the time; I really like how different spaces like this look when empty compared to when full. 

The vacant space is beautifully composed each time in this series which creates a slightly haunting atmosphere, which reflects the idea of the effects that we as humankind are having on the environment constantly growing and urbanising more of the land.
The artificial lighting in these images is obviously perfect for the purpose and reason he had for shooting them however I dislike the garish lighting and prefer natural sunlightreflecting off the flat, man-made surfaces. 

James West, a British photographer based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, photographs a lot of his surrounding area almost documenting his environment in which he lives in. He often works in all manners of places from fields to car parks to royal halls; the images below are from his series 'Empty urban spaces'. 

These urban spaces depicted in his images begin to create the feeling of dereliction and abandonement of a run down town. The top image shows a car parks lined by greenery showing how empty rural space was urbanised and turned into a car park which is now empty and recaptured by nature.

I like the lighting in both of the images, the first due to the reflecting nature of the moody, overcast weather and the vacant scene; while the second image is very misty highlighted by artificial lights. I like how you feel as if something is being hidden within and beyond the fog unexplored, this also scares me in a way not sure why. 

I discovered the architectural and landscape photographer, Kim Høltermand, who by day is a fingerprints expert in the Crime Scene Unit of the Danish National Police. I feel like his career can be seen reflected through his meticulous shooting style with the perfectly mirrored scene. 

'The Deserted City' series was shot around Copenhagen on an early Sunday morning, with weather conditions being very foggy; the fog combined with the vacancy creates this image of an eerie apocalyptic feel as if everyone has just disappeared. The neutral colour palette is quite peaceful and still, while the white parallel lines jut out disappearing into the distance which enhances a feeling of empty urban space.

In Bryan Schutmaat's work he depicts the American West as this populated, urbanised space but at the same time creating this sense of abandonement as if we have explored and moved on. Again his work is quite documenarial it the way that he frames the shots to highlight the occupation of space. 

Like Eggleston and shore, Schutmaat captures the everyday scenes, I feel the weather looks quite optimistic in contrast with the scenery of what look like abadoned buildings almost a nostalgic image to evoke people's memories of the places. 

The colour palette is quite bland but in a sense it perfectly mirrors the mundane scene portrayed in the frame.  Both of the above images are similarly composed with vacant car parks leading up to an unoccupied building with half the frame filled with blue cloudy skies. 

After reseraching a few photographers work I am really interested in looking more in to the effect that weather conditions can have on the atmosphere of the image. I will possibly revisit some of the locations I went to on the weekend including the IKEA car park (however maybe not Bluewater again as I got told off for not having a permit to take photos of a car park!). 

I may also look a little into other locations which are usually vacant, only used as an 'urban space' part of the time such as fields used for fun fairs. I am intrigued by the way a space is transformed by occupancy.