After considering the principles of organic architecture and how animals build dens i really wanted to incorporate this into this woodland den. Alongside the beach dens this type of den was the most common type of den we would build as children as they were the most fun to create. There is a whole program of education called “forest schooling” which my mum has always bee a massive advocate for which encourages children to interact with the environment to build dens ect. When she asks the children she teaches at school they all say that this is the favourite element of school for them as children really enjoy getting dirty and engaging with their environment. I have to say making this den was by far the most fun. I think its probably got something to do with how we have an innate part of us which enjoys foraging as we used to for food in the past. When we were kids i also remember how these dens the whole process could be turned into the game, the exploring the area and finding the best spot to build the den, the gathering of branches and then the building of the structure.
I choose to do this photo shoot on quite a bright sunny day as i considered that under the trees might be quite dark and i wanted my pictures to have light shinning through the trees. I spent a really long time deciding where to build this den, considering all the principles of organic architecture and where the best starting point would therefore be. I choose this spot as all the ivy meant i would be able to wind all the branches into it to create my structure and it also had a good strong solid base of the tree to lean the structure off. This compostion also included quite a lot of light and so the woods doesn’t look like a dark, dank environment.
These process photographs are defiantly the best of all my photographs as you can really see how the structure develops and becomes more and more a part of the environment. As the den develops its disappears more and more into the environment of its surroundings. I think this is really amazing to see in contrast to my other dens which stood out against the surroundings.
I really love the skeleton structure of branches that i created underneath all the ivy and therefore for this shoot i decided to take photographs which detailed the process more explicitly. The above photograph was an early on photograph of the structure. I took this image as i wanted to convey how the branches of the structure all fit together to create a criss cross in which ivy can be woven through. I took the photograph from a fairly low angle so that the branches appear as if they are reaching outwards from where they begin. I think there is a slightly sinister nature to these bare structures as the den does look naked and almost quite witchy with all the gnarled branches. I deliberately only used branches which had already broken off trees and therefore the structure is made up of den wood which i think you can tell from these images. The majority of the branches are thick pieces of dead ivy which is why they are all interesting shapes and patterns. I think the light in the photograph above further adds to this feel as it is a bright white light, the picture slightly over exposed which gives the branches more of a bleached look which again is suggestive of bones. I composed the image so that the entrance of the den was dead in the center of the frame, The lightest point of the images being the branches surrounding the den and the spiral of their pattern leading you into the center of the den.
The above and below pictures are slightly more abstract compositions of the dens structure. The above images have a lot less light in them and the branches become more like silhouettes. The light source comes from the background, behind the branches and therefore the structure of the den stands out against them. I quite like the images as again the patterns of the branches gives the appearance that the branches are reaching outwards.
The below photograph is a composition from lying on the floor of the den and looking upwards. I really like this image as this is apparent from the sky an light which is behind the branches. The branches become an elaborate pattern in which the colour of the sky and the green of some leaves is behind. The light source from the sky is fairly bright, almost causing camera glare in some parts of the frame. This bleeding of the light past the branches into the den actually works quite well in suggesting a less sinister mood then the other photographs. Your eyes begin at the bottom of the frame where the light is the most intense brightness and then follow the twists and turns in the branches to the top of the frame. I think this photograph is more like a “magical” den rather then a sinister seeming den. I think it might be quite good to have the two interpretations juxtaposed together.
The above and below photographs show the final completed den. I used clashing colours in the den of the bright red blanket and the green of the forest and leaves as i wanted my den to partially stand out within the photographs. Once i added the green leaves to the wooded structure it almost completely disappeared into its surrounding. By having the bright red blanket its almost anchors the den in the photograph. The above and below photographs are just slightly different compositions of the same concept, having the light hitting the blanket and reflecting off it as well as a section of the dens entrance. The light in both photographs is a bright intense white, both reflecting off the den in the foreground and also shining through the trees in the background. Both photographs are composed to focus on one side of the den and the entrance, rather then the whole entrance. The dark shadows in the frame however over the second half of the blanket is very suggestive of the rest of the den surrounding this point depicted in the photograph. I also struggled in images due to the busy nature of all the leaves and branches to get a real focal point which the blanket also helped with. It broke up all the very earthy colours of the frame.
Above is my favourite photograph of the den as a whole. I composed the frame using the rule of thirds so as to have the entrance of the den to the left side of the frame. This then allowed me to include more of the environment around the den and the bright source of light in the background. In this composition the den looks as if it is apart of the tree itself and growing from its structure which i quite like. The bright light of the background helps to create a boundary of where the den ends which you struggle to see in some other photographs due to the den blending into the surroundings. The red blanket once again also helps to distinguish a depth inside the den which is hard to tell with all the leaves and earthy colours.
Below is a slightly different composition going on the same idea of having only part of the den in the frame. It doesn’t however work as well as the above composition simply because the light in the background isn’t as vibrant in defining the dens shape.
