I have decided to also consider Andy Goldsworthy in my artists research because while he also doesn’t build dens/homes in the environment he uses his natural surroundings to create structures and patterns. He uses an extreme variety of materials to create his structures from snow to petals to clay.  Goldsworthy is considered part of the Environmental Art movement as both a sculptor and a photographer. His work become instillation’s within the environment as they are created for the space in which they are made from elements of the space. Because they are created in such unpredictable locations his work is deliberately ephemeral. I like the concept that he leaves his designs within the environment and allows nature to naturally make them disappear. With many of the dens we made as children out of branches we left them as they were, sometimes even coming back to them a week later as they were natural and therefore would just disappear back into their surroundings. This is the whole point of many of Goldsworthy’s designs that they are fleeting and are only around for a shot period of time. I guess this also links to how with den building you become so absorbed with the process but then you always have to leave them behind in the environment they are in or at least partially dismantle them, taking back all the blankets.

“I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and “found” tools–a sharp stone, the quill of a feather, thorns. I take the opportunities each day offers: if it is snowing, I work with snow, at leaf-fall it will be with leaves; a blown-over tree becomes a source of twigs and branches. I stop at a place or pick up a material because I feel that there is something to be discovered. Here is where I can learn. “

The main idea behind why Goldsworthy creates his pieces are that he wants to understand nature better by participating with it. He feels closer to nature and as if he can understand it by manipulating it. Goldsworthy talks about how to him the process is as important as the final result which is what i am also considering within my project by photographing the process of the den building. He talks about how he considers the material as important as the final piece as each action of creating his structures are not independent of each other. When he picks up a material to place it somewhere else he is not just considering what he can create with the material itself but the space and influence he creates on the place the material has been moved from. Goldsworthy then finds it significant of how when he makes a change to the environment and then leaves, changes continue to happen because of the first change that he initially made, that nature always carries on. He therefore considers movement to be a key part of his pieces as the piece will change as time moves forward. I think this is really interesting to consider with my natural dens and has given me another idea in photographing them. I could photograph the process of building the den and everything i was previously going to do but then i could keep coming back to the den over a couple of weeks and photographing how it falls apart and once again becomes reverted back to being a part of nature.

“Each work grows, stays, decays. Process and decay are implicit. Transience in my work reflects what I find in nature.”

“Failure is really, really important, but failures have to hurt. … And if I start making this work with the intention of it collapsing, then I’ve lost that intensity of the will for it to succeed, which makes the failure that much more poignant and significant. So there’s a really odd sort of state of mind that I guess I get into when I’m making these works, that is necessary for me to extract the finished piece [and] extract the right kind of feeling for the work as I’m making it. … To achieve what I want, to achieve the works that I make, I have to be fully committed to them succeeding. I couldn’t make them otherwise. And you cannot feel that commitment without feeling or having a deep sense of loss when they do collapse or fail, and that’s inevitable.”

“When I make something, in a field or street, it may vanish but it’s part of the history of those places,” he says in another interview. “In the early days my work was about collapse and decay. Now some of the changes that occur are too beautiful to be described as simply decay. At Folkestone I got up early one morning ahead of an incoming tide and covered a boulder in poppy petals. It was calm and the sea slowly and gently washed away the petals, stripping the boulder and creating splashes of red in the sea. The harbour from which many troops left for war was in the background.”

Above are the most den like structures that Goldsworthy has created that i could find, But after really considering his work the concept of all his pieces really does fit in with the process of den building and even the end product. To summarize all the similarities;

-Firstly they are both created from the materials on hand at the time in the specific location. Goldsworthy will use elements of the environment around him to create his work like when building a den you will use  down the beach rocks but then in a wood you would use branches. This then influences the environment you are building in as you are moving things around and creating new things.

-Next the structures are then left behind within the environment and become once more apart of the land. The den structures decay slowly and become once again part of the surroundings much like the work of Goldsworthy in which he creates the structures and then leaves them.

-Both are also all about the process of creation and can be in need of constant repair which makes the whole point of the den being the process and not the final product. When creating dens they constantly fall apart and some of Goldsworthy’s work is never completed as it cant be.

-Another point is that you use the surroundings around you to create the structures, as in with den building there is no official plan or structure which you know you are going to make you consider what you have and what can be achieved with it.

I think by considering Goldsworthy’s work it has made me consider den building in a more in depth way then before. I didn’t realize when i set out to research Goldsworthy’s work that all the concepts for his designs match up so well with den building. I will therefore have to consider them when i create my den.

IMAGE ANALYSIS

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Below is one of my favourite of Goldsworthy’s photographs. I think it will be significant to consider how he photographs his work just as i did with Christo and Jeanne-Claude. His structures are on a lot smaller scale then any of Christo’s work and i am going to be working on a scale in between both artists so it will be good to consider both to find a middle ground. Goldsworthy seems to take photographs of his structures in a very formal and straight photographic manner. I think this is because for him the main element of the photograph is to act as a documentation of the act, as my photographs are going to do. Goldsworthy’s therefore must be considering through out the process of creation where he is creating the piece in the environment and how it would look photographed. The photograph for him however is definitely a secondary element and it is the act of creation which is the point of his work.

The structure below is small which we can tell from the surroundings and the angle of the photograph looking down. I think it is an interesting design in which Goldsworthy has taken sticks which are straight and created a circular structure. It is very reminiscent of tipi’s and seems to rely on the same structural principle that all the sticks weight is placed at the center of the design and by all leaning together they counter balance each other. What makes this structure so interesting is the identical nature of all the sticks. I’m not quite sure what kind of tree or even whether the sticks naturally look as they do in the picture but i would assume they do in reference to Goldsworthy’s concepts. Therefore it has taken Goldsworthy time and skill to find sticks in which the gradient of dark wood to light wood all match up to create a structure with a dark circle in the center. Colour wise the photograph works really well in having the light brown of the sticks bringing out the light brown from the leaves in the surroundings. The lightest point of the photograph is the background of the frame and also the flecks of light colours of leaves scattered across the moss. The darkest point is then the dark ends of the sticks which ties in with the darkness of the moss in places. All the colours with in the photographs are natural and therefore compliment each other . None of the colours in this particular pieces are bold and bright to stand out, they all work together and give the piece an overall appearance. The photograph has been composed so the structure is in the dead center of the frame.

I think it is quite important to consider how the structure has been photographed from the side and not above. By taking the photograph from above the scale of the piece would have been harder to identify and also the texture of the sticks placed together may also have been lost. Also you can consider that the structure may not be a perfect circle, from this angle you can not tell but from above yo would be able to notice tiny details which are slightly out.

 

 

London-based artist Idris Khan was born in the UK in 1978. Since completing his Master’s Degree with a Distinction in Research at the Royal College of Art in London in 2004, he has received international acclaim for his minimal, yet emotionally charged photographs, videos and sculptures.

Drawing on diverse cultural sources including literature, history, art, music and religion, Khan has developed a unique narrative involving densely layered imagery that inhabits the space between abstraction and figuration and speaks to the themes of history, cumulative experience and the metaphysical collapse of time into single moments.

Whilst Khan’s mindset is more painterly than photographic, he often employs the tools of photomechanical reproduction to create his work. Photographing or scanning from secondary source material–sheet music, pages from the Qur’an, reproductions of late Caravaggio paintings–he then builds up the layers of scans digitally, which allows him to meticulously control minute variances in contrast, brightness and opacity. The resultant images are often large-scale C-prints with surfaces that have a remarkable optical intensity.

Khan’s oeuvre has expanded to include sculpture and painting. For sculptural works, using materials such as steel plates, cubes and horizontal stone slabs, Khan sandblasts the surface with templates of musical scores or prayers, continuing his investigation into the ways in which cultural, visual, cinematic and temporal memories coalesce into a dense, synesthetic whole.

Examples of Khan’s work;

Here one can see that Khan has built up the layers of his photographs digitally, with use of exposures and contrasts, therefore making his original photograph have similarities to chalk drawings, as the lines don’t have sharp ends.

Again, one can see a tree with lots of layers done digitally, it is interesting to look at in this photograph as it feels like there is a lot of movement in the image. As if no matter what is going on around the tree it will stay strong and won’t fall, I feel like this because the tree is the darkest aspect of the photograph so it feels like it has the most layers, therefore being the strongest. This could be metaphorical as one can see street lights in the background which are quite faded and then comparing to the tree which is quite dark it shows that no matter what nature will always beat man made objects. Therefore simply by the use of layering one can realize that it completely changes the way one see’s the object which the photograph has chosen to shoot, as before editing this would simply just be a tree, where as it’s looked at with a different frame of mind when edited in this particular way.

My interpretation;

For my first two photographs I decided to interpret in the way of Idris Khan, I tried to use his technique exactly by using a black&white filter, by contrasting and playing with exposures and layering a lot. Therefore it gave a very similar feel to what Khan has produced. The reason I chose the photograph below to edit, is because I felt like Khan’s images always have a lot of movement, and this photograph was already an action shot, so i feel like it represents the movement with just layering the still image.

I enjoyed editing this photograph as I now prefer the layered image to the original edit. This is due to the layering of the tree’s, as now it looks as if there is a large forest in the background, this is from the layering of trees and use of exposure hiding the buildings which are in the original. The use of the tree’s being layered makes the environment look more remote and peaceful, which is what I wanted the photograph to represent.

In the two photographs below I’ve used the same editing format as Khan, however I’ve only allowed the layers to be seen on the model, and not the background. I’ve also kept the color format and not changed it to black&white which Khan typically does.

I like the use of this technique on the photograph below as it shows the movement of the models hair. Therefore showing the weather conditions on this day, very windy, and representing the models attitude towards life, as he has a carefree attitude.

In this essay I will be analyzing how fashion photography has changed from the 1920s to our current decade, with reference to the book ‘FASHION CULTURES, Theories, Explorations and Analysis’ Chapter 9 written by Elliot Smedley and edited by Stella Bruzzi and Pamela Church Gibson.

‘Fashion photography emerged within and grew to dominate the commercial arena during the 1920’s and 1930’s’ page 144

the reason behind fashion photography emerging and growing to dominate the commercial arena was because the cultural movement of Surrealism had a profound impact on fashion magazines in the 1920s and ’30s. For example, paintings by Salvador Dalí and Giorgio de Chirico featured in Vogue alongside avant-garde photographs by Man Ray. Some fashion photographers adopted their revolutionary principles, attempting to give visual expression to the unconscious mind. New techniques and unexpected juxtapositions were used to challenge perceptions of reality, to amuse and to disturb. Another example of fashion photograph being influence by Surrealism was the chief photographer of French Vogue, and later of Harper’s Bazaar, Baron George Hoyningen-Huene who inspired a generation. His own work reflected a painterly fascination with light, shade and classical forms. His protégé Horst P. Horst produced similarly inventive images, fusing surreal and classical motifs.

Photography by George Hoyningen-Huene for Vogue US in 1929. 

One can see in the above image it has been influenced by the surrealism period as the below ladder has been painted on and the men aren’t actually climbing up, giving it a surrealistic effect.

Then elitist fashion imagery, which owed much to illustration, was superseded by more commercial picture. This was due to Hollywood being a large  impact on the movement of fashion photography, because films began to be produced and it got extremely popular, therefore changing the way of fashion photography;

‘Films threw up the new role models, images of a consumer society,  visually based fantasies and narratives, and new codes of representation’ (Craik 1994: 101) … most notably how they become ‘blemish free’.’ Page 145

When fashion photography was influenced by Hollywood, it was also a period of time when magazines didn’t want to show excess as it was during World War 2. In this time period Man Ray was also a key photographer as most of her photographs were social documentary as a recording of fashion, showing women in wartime Britain in every situations.

This realistic aesthetic emerged across sea’s and influenced the Americans.  Alexandra Liberman, the art director a Vogue, realised that ‘the intimacy of the unopposed news photograph could be grafted onto fashion photographs to give them a wider appeal, greater realism’ (Harrison 1991: 42). This was shown when;

‘In the 1950’s, Liberman commissioned photographers who used the techniques of social documentary, specifically Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, whose images contained contrived spontaneity.’  page 145

Storytelling is a strong element in Richard Avedon photographs in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Here Suzy Parker and Robin Tattersall in an evening dress by Griffe (Moulin Rouge, Paris 1957).

The reason for their work to be influenced by social documentary photographs is because they began to take their cameras outside the studio. This therefore made the images feel more realistic to the audience, however they were idealized moments that enabled;

‘women to imagine what they would look like, to men, in this situation or outfit, without having to commit themselves in any way to that situation or that outfit’  (Barnard 1996:120)

Then, in the 1960’s, there were 3 new photographs who changed the style of fashion photography;

‘The emphasis on sexuality in fashion photography was promoted by the self-styled ‘Terrible Three’ – David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy’ Page 146

These photographs were working-class Londoners with an irrelevant attitude to the world of fashion and the pretensions of its protagonists. Their work was a dominant theme that represented women’s independence, yet at the same time also placed value on beauty, sexuality and success.

David Bailey’s photograph: an East End woman in the 1960s London.

One can see the way Bailey has placed value on beauty, sexuality and success in the above image. This is shown by the comparison of a faux girl in the background and a working class citizen in the foreground. It makes the viewer compare the women, in all of these aspects.

In  the 1970’s these themes continued by photographers such as Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton. These photographers could barely be seen as documentary, as they were very explicit photographs. Therefore, these photographers had to suffer consequences;

‘They therefore encountered charges of misogyny and sexism; the photographers were accused of being exploitative and regressive. Here, fashion photography encountered critical discourse – and entered the public consciousness – through feminist debate.’ Page 146

Guy Bourdin, photograph of Burlesque. 

Helmut Newton Saddle I, aus der Serie: Sleepless Nights, Paris 1976. 

As shown above one can understand why women would be offended by Bourdins and Newtons images, as their photographs are trying to make it socially acceptable to make women be sexual objects.

In 1980 there was another new style in fashion photography which is known as ‘straight up’. This style is featuring people spotted on the streets rather than using professional models. It was classed as fashion photography because there would be credits stating where the subject had bought their clothes. The style of this decade was known as ‘punk’ and ‘grunge’. Photographers such as Steve Johnston and James Palmer photographed in a ‘straight up’ style and of people dressed in the punk outfits.

Examples of work by Steve Johnston. 

Example of work by James Palmer.

Then in the 1990s it became the decade of ‘Harsh Reality’ in fashion photography. The main four photographers of this genre were Corinne Day, David Sims, Juergen Teller and Nigel Shafran. They all shared a similar aesthetic based around notions of realism;

“There style had its roots in the insecure political climate of post-Thatcherism and global recession; there was a perceived platform for change.” page 148

Corinne Day ecompassed the mood of the new decade with a seemingly ‘unprofessional’ technique, represented by her series of photographs of Kate Moss which wasn’t currently a ‘supermodel’ at this period of time in her life. The set of photographs appeared in The Face in 1990.

The Face in 1990, Kate Moss, taken by Corinne Day. 

Due to the way the model, Kate Moss, responded in front of the camera, these photographs link to Twiggy in the 1960’s.  Both models came across as ordinary people in the photographs, due to the way they smile and have squinty eyes etc. making them not look as superficial as other models, and more relatable to everyday people. The difference was Twiggys photos were taken by a man, therefore the males sexual desires were placed onto the model.

Model Twiggy from the 1960s.

‘Behaving like ‘human beings’ and documenting ‘realistic’ activities became a prominent feature of contemporary fashion photography in the early 1990’s, and dominated the decade.’ escaping to reality, Elliot Smedley. page 143

In conclusion, one can see visually, there are always themes that continue to appear from past decades into contemporary work. This is due to being inspired by past photographers, and creating new themes by combining past ones. The main theme which stands out to me throughout the decades in fashion photography is trying to make the viewer feel relatable to the models in the images, and therefore they can therefore image themselves in this costume.

Artist references:

• Jonathan Bielaski
• Anthony Kurtz

When i started thinking about my den project and how i am going to recreate my structures within an outside environment i also wanted to take inspiration not just from my old archive photographs but artists which explore the concept of adding to the environment. Christo and Jeanne-Claude are not artists which build dens like the ones i am intending to make but i thought it would be really interesting to explore their work as they add material to the environment. I want to consider how they photograph these structures that they create and how the concept behind their work isn’t just all about the final photographs but also the whole process of creating the projects. Their pieces are about the act of making the structures and the structures then being present to be seen by people and interacted with. All of the locations they build in are public places and the structures are made to be among people. This is exactly the same as my dens which are created to be interacted with and played in by children. I really really love all of their pieces of work, the photographs are incredibly captivating and i can imagine the pieces are even more magnificent to see in reality and all their scale. All the pieces come from the minds of both the artists in collaboration and they have created around 20 projects. Interestingly they have ideas for many more but the structures take a lot of time to plan and then it is very difficult to get permission to be allowed to created them. Many of their projects have been re-jected as they couldn’t get permission to create them.  The Wrapped Trees project took 32 years (1966-98), to get permission and then plan to have it created while The Gates project also took 26 years, (1971-2005).

The Wrapped Trees

This project is my favourite of theirs as the photographs are seriously enchanting and as i love light i love the way it effects the structures. In 1998 Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped 178 trees with 592,015 square feet of woven polyester fabric and 14.3 miles  of rope. The trees were situated in Fondation Beyeler and Berower Park in Switzerland, a key part of the project being that people could walk along the line of trees and the structures could be seen. Each tree was individually designed to have their own pattern and eight teams of 33 individuals put together the designs. The wrapping was removed on December 14, 1998 and the materials were recycled.

I think this project is very significant to consider in the creation of my dens as i am going to have to explore material in trees to create some of my structures. I think by chance i have chosen the perfect time of year to create this project as in spring the environment is just starting to regrow but is not overgrown where it would be difficult to create structures. Christo thought carefully about this within his wrapped tree project, creating it in autumn when the branches would be leafless and therefore the material would cover a more minimal structure allowing more light to shine through the structures. He also very carefully chose to use a very transparent material when exposed to light so as to create an elegiac quality to the work. The transparent material allows for the structures, even not in bright sunlight to be transparent enough to see the skeleton of the branches underneath. This whole project to me is very reminiscent of the trees becoming like bodies, the branches the skeleton and the material becoming skin covering them. By using material as the covering for the trees it is also able to move in the wind which i can imagine gives the impression that the trees are breathing and pulsating. I would really love to be able to create this impression of movement within some of my own dens, to have flowing material which suggest a life to the structure despite the absence of people. I also really want to explore the use of semi-transparent material and light. I will have to create one of my dens on a really bright, sunny day so that i can explore taking photographs with the light shining through the material.

I also within his project really like the sketches he made before he created the den of how he wanted the project to come together. Alongside the photographs they create a very powerful visual image that every element was planned out and the impression Christo wanted to give with his trees was calculated. All of the photographs available of this particular project are when the sun is shinning through the branches which leads me to believe that it is probably best to photograph the material in sunlight for my project too.  I also quite like how the photographs are taken from a distance away which creates a perspective with the images of the scale. This is something i also need to consider with my project.

The Umbrellas 

As i am considering making a structure out of umbrellas, this is another one of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s projects which is perfect to consider in relation to how I’m going to create my own. This project was on an absolutely massive scale, linking both Ibaraki, Japan and California, America together. One artist was present at each site on October 9, 1991 when the 3,100 umbrellas began to open.  Both projects were created in similar valleys in opposite places and the project was all about celebrating the similarities and differences between the two places coming together. All the umbrellas were made in California before half being shipped to Japan. The umbrellas were colour co-ordinated, Blue for Japan, symbolizing how the land is enriched by water to grow the rice and yellow for the uncultivated grazing land of California. The umbrellas were available to interact with for 18 days, their removal beginning on October 27th 1991.

I think this project is important for me to consider in relation to how colour works within the environment. When i initially thought about building my dens i wanted to use bright vibrant colours so that they stand out against the landscape. Seeing how effective this in within this project has convinced me further that this is a good idea so that my photographs are as effective as possible. The two photographs above have also inspired me for how I’m going to take the photographs as one of them is taken from slightly below so u can see inside the umbrellas and one is taken looking down on top of the umbrellas. After seeing how effective these two different designs are i am going to experiment a lot more with different angles when photographing my umbrella den to see the different perspectives i can create.

The Gates

As with the other two projects these structures were also made on a massive scale with  7,503 fabric panels being put up within Central Park in 2005. The size and scale of each panel depended on the different width of the paths around the park as each panel was made to frame the walk from beginning to end perfectly. The pieces of material are free hanging from the structure to create almost like an archway as you walk along the path. The material in every panel was a bright Saffon colour and 60 miles of the material was needed to create the whole design. 600 workers were required to install the Gates. The Gate structures were created to reflect the rectangular structures of the city blocks surrounding the park and making up New York. From these high up tower blocks surrounding Central park The Gates looked like a golden river.

I think this project is really significant to consider in relation to my project because of how the material moves in the wind and this flowing quality gives a completely different presence to the structures in the photographs. The golden material which stands out vividly within the environment has different tones depending on the light shinning through it and the shape the wind has made it into. I feel like this quality gives the structures more of a presence within the photographs and is something i would like to achieve in my structures. Weird as it sounds i feel like the movement of the structures like the Wrapped Trees project is suggestive of breathing and life and therefore gives the structures a personality. I want to make each structure differently so that they do have this element of individuality and i want each to have a character to them; i feel like movement would be very helpful in conveying this. 

 

 

So after considering these projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude there are elements of their work which i am going to strive to convey within my own. Firstly i think light is very significant in photographing the structures. The light shinning through the material creates different tones of colour which overall adds more character to each structure. Light can also allow the bare bones of the structure to be seen underneath the structure which creates very beautiful photographs. Colour is also essential; using bright and vividly coloured materials stand out a lot more against the natural environment. The colours used can also be symbolic such as with the Umbrellas project which is something i may consider with some of my structures. I was also planning to take photographs of my structures from different angles but seeing these photographs has informed me of a variety of other angles i can consider. Lastly movement of the material seems to be very important in conveying a life to the structure and a personality which is something i really want my photographs to achieve. I really love Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work and the scale it is created is incredible. 

 

 

 

 

After looking back at the archival photographs of my childhood dens i also wanted to look for inspiration for my new dens through other dens made by other people. It was actually quite difficult to find photographs because i think the creation of dens are normally very much in the moment and you get so wrapped up within the game that you forget to ever take a photograph. I found this with my own archival photographs that the best dens which i can actually remember making still all this time later are not photographed. This is simply because they were very much for the moment. I remember that i have heard someone that when asked what the best memory of a persons childhood was that featured no adult interference the most common answer is den building. Within my project i am only really considering den building outside in different environments but dens could be structures built at home or built literally anywhere. I’ve created a small mood board above just to consider some of the common features of dens. 

All of the dens i have seen have a roof. The whole point to them seems to be to create a space which is separated from the environment around them by a wall of material. I think a massive part to it is to create something, a space which is exclusively yours and for those others that you let inside. Another key feature seems to be the adding of blankets and pillows into the den so that it is comfy and cosy. This seems to have a lot to do with feeling safe and creating an environment in which the individuals feel protected. Most of the dens above are pretty much free standing which is why they all seem to have this tipi or tent shape to them. I’m planning on using the environment a little bit more within my structures so to have the blankets hanging off the trees and other elements of the environment incorporated into my structure. Colour also seems to be a big part of the dens, though this probably isn’t particularly planned but it is something i want to incorporate into my dens. 

Now that i have my idea of what my project is going to be all about, the first stage is establishing where i am going to build my dens. I want to choose contrasting environments but i also want to stick to locations in which i can remember building dens in the past. I think this is quite important in considering that i want to establish a link between the past and the present and this repetition of remaking these “homes”. I therefore thought that a really good place to start would be with my archive photographs so as to refresh my memory of the type of dens i used to make as a child and also where these locations are.

When i first thought about this project idea and how i was going to be able to achieve building all these dens, weather was a major consideration. I thought that i would have to be really careful to choose days in which it was nice sunny weather outside. Looking back through the photographs of our dens however their were two days once when i was about 11 and then again at about 14 where my family and all our friends built a massive den out of umbrellas on the beach because we were determined to have a BBQ. I’m pretty sure both these dens were built in rainy Easter half terms where we were all desperate to get back on the beach and the weather simply wasn’t being sunny enough. I think it might be quite interesting to recreate these umbrella contraptions though i will need to consider weather to an extent still as i can remember how precariously some of the umbrellas were balanced on top of each other and i don’t think the structure would be able to withstand much wind. Both these umbrella dens were also created in the same area of the same beach, Bonne Nuit Bay. I quite like the idea of re-creating this den as it would be one of the quicker ones to re-make and i love all the bright colours of the umbrella’s and then the rugs and throws on the sand as well. I think it might be quite good as well as a contrasting structure to all the others as it is a lot more open and also a lot bigger then the majority of other dens we made as children.

The above den was another one made down at Bonne Nuit. It was really common for us when creating dens down this beach to use the chains for the boats which are tied to the walls as a starting point for our structures. We were then able to drape the blankets across them to create small pockets of spaces which we could hide in. As we were down the beach wind brakes were also commonly used as the sides to our structures.

The most common den that we made as children were dens out of branches and leaves. These dens were created in a variety of different woods including  along the railway walk, St Catherine’s woods and La Mielles down St Ouens. The main concept for these structures was to use branches and prop them up to create a little space inside. We would then use either big leaves or pine needles or grass, basically anything in which they was a large quantity to create walls onto of the basic skeleton structure of our den. These structures are probably going to take the longest to re-create out of all of the different dens. I will need to think carefully about where i go to create a replica and also about weather. I think this kind of den will look a lot more effective to have light shinning through the structure then on a windy and rainy day.

As you can see below we also made some of these dens on the beach in areas where woods meets the stones. These dens were created in areas like Noirmont and again down Bonne Nuit.

As well as structures made in the woods out of leaves and branches when we were really young the structures manly consisted of one blanket just draped over a branch as we were a lot more easily satisfied. I think creating these structures will be quite interesting as they were a lot simplar and could be made in more of a variety of locations. They were made in random fields as well as woods and also the beach. As they are quick i could experiment with a variety of different types. I could also think a lot more about colour combinations as i wouldn’t need as many different blankets and therefore can really think about clashing colours and bright colours which contrast with the surroundings.

My garden at my house was also a very popular location to make a variety of different dens. I used to have a field attached to the end of my garden until 2 houses were built in it and we used to make massive dens right at the very bottom of the field in the hedge similar to the ones out of leaves. However once the field was built on the dens in the garden came to revolve around a little clearing area with a very climbable tree in the center. Most of our dens then came to be made in the top of the trees branches like a tree house out of blankets. However this tree was cut down and once again we needed to find a new place to create dens and so we turned to the clearing the tree had been in and simply used various garden structures to create dens coming down off the fence. I think for a photo shoot in my garden i would need to use this clearing area as it became the main area in which we would create our structures. 

The last kind of den we normally made were inside Dolmens and rock structures which already existed and we simply added a door or a blanket and blankets along the floor as well. I’m not sure if i’m going to re-create this kind of den yet as it wasn’t entirely created by us as kids, i think it will probably be my last option. 

 

Looking through all my archive photographs i personally took on my disposable camera there are a lot of photographs of my notebooks within these environments. It used to be a thing that i would make up stories inside the dens and act them out often writing down chunks of nonsense of what we were doing. I think it might be interesting to review these made up stories in relation to my project to see where the games played inside the dens came from and how they evolved. 

So after considering all the locations i used to make dens in i have decided to create my dens in the locations below. I have only chosen 5 locations to photograph for now as my photo shoots are going to be very dependent on weather as all my locations are outside. It might however be interesting to play with creating different dens for different weather. Each shoot is going to be very time consuming as i will need to build the den and photograph its creation and then the inside. I think i will then need to take the photographs of my friends on a different day as it might be too much to fit into one day. I will have to take them back to the location in which i built the den and then take the photographs at a different time but i guess this will depend on the individual dens and how available the my friends are to be photographed. I think its also going to take a really long time to create the “Wild” look that i want my models to have so i need to consider that timing within the creation of my piece as well. Looking back at the dens i used to make has been very useful in refreshing my memory and given me ideas of how i can create my dens. I might try and use some of the same blankets and material to create even more of a link between the photographs and the archive photographs. The locations i have chosen are below.

Locations:

Sand Dunes

Woods by Rail way walk

Beach – Brelades by the boats / umbrella den at Bonne Nuit 

My Garden

La Mielle – St Ouens 

Environment is such a broad and abstract word that i found it quite difficult to narrow down the word at first to different ideas. After i while i came up with three broad concepts but one of my ideas is defiantly stronger than the others as its more personal and unique.

Environments of lost things and places

-Photographing spaces which contain objects which have left behind and given away

-Could photograph car boots, charity shops, abandoned places such as houses and the farm which i have already photographed.

-The photographs would be composed of landscapes of the locations as a whole and then loads of very close up shots of elements of things left behind. Could maybe take photographs which are more abstract of the different items, very close up macro shots and then could also include some portraits of people associated with these locations, the people behind the stuff being left behind.

Personal environments of different types of people

-Choose a variety of people and explore their personal space which they spend the majority of their time. I could take environmental portraits of the people within this personal environment and also action photographs of them interacting with this environment. I could also take close up photographs of elements of the environment which are significant, the elements which make it a personal space and makes it well “lived in/used”

-I could explore work environments such as my dad and how he spends all his time within his taxi for his job, my friend who works in a garage and basically works so much he lives there. I could then choose a variety of other people and explore the time they spend within their working environment.

-Another concept i could follow along the lines of personal environments could be bedrooms. I could photograph a variety of different people within the personal space of their bedrooms and specific elements of their bedrooms which make them so personal.

-Again along the same lines i could photograph the inside of cars. Not sure how interesting this one would be, might have to consider very specifically who i photograph but people normally throw loads of junk into the back of their cars. I could photograph the interior and then maybe the person in relation to their car, either inside the car or standing outside the car.

A Home away from home – Childhood dens

After coming up with these original ideas in which i have been thinking so heavily about personal spaces and the concept of personal homelike and familiar environments i came up with my favourite idea. Basically i want to create a body of work which revolves around making any environment into a home. This idea came because i remembered back to my childhood and how i continually made dens and tents and forts in any location that my mum took me to. It was a major part of my childhood to go to the woods or the beach and to use blankets and branches and literally any materials around to build houses. Immediately once i had this initial starting point i could image my whole project and the way it is going to come together.

-The starting point would be to go to various locations such as the beach and various woods and to build structures in the environment like how i used to do as a child. I would then photograph or video the process of me creating these “homes” at the various stages of creation. I would then have a series of photographs of creation which will work well as a a little series. I am thinking of like when i was a child using really vividly coloured blankets like bright reds and blues, really unnatural colours which will stand out vividly against the landscape. I might also experiment with creating structures which blend in to the environment but i want to re create the way i made structures as a child and those were normally a combination.

-Once i have made the structures i can then take various photographs of the inside, such as looking out from the inside, looking up at the roof of the den, various more abstract photographs to contrast with the more straight on ones which record the building of the structure.

-I was then thinking i could add in an element of the fantasy that the dens signified when i was a child. I could try to incorporate all the stories that me and my friends made up to play inside the dens. I was thinking that i potentially could try to bring in elements of my art into my project. I could take the photographs which i have taken of the dens and then i could illustrate them, adding in elements of fantasy worlds that i made up when i was a kid.  I could then link these to the books i read which influenced thew worlds i made up. So many of the games i used to play as a child revolved around books i read and using those same characters to make new outcomes. I could therefore use elements of these books within my project. I think i might even have written down elements of the games which might be quite interesting to also review as i’m pretty sure they are nonsense scribbles.

-The next step i thought in my project would be to have inclusion of people. I quite like having the photographs of the structures on their own and empty. I think they might look quite eerie in this manner with just the blankets and bright colours against the natural colours. But i think the project needs to have an element of people in order to really work because its all about how children can make any environment into a home and i think it needs another side to it. Thinking along these lines of childhood i thought it might be really good to take pictures of my childhood friends in these environments looking like wild children. I think it will be quite symbolic to actually use the people that i originally made dens with when i was a child in the photographs now. I’m thinking that i should have my friends with crazy wild hair like they have been dragged through bushes and mud and paint on their faces. I’m thinking that it could work really well in considering how even now when my friends are all grown up they can still remember making dens ect and still have that element to their personality. I think having these wild looking people in contrast with these crazy looking dens will work really well.

-The last element of my project i’m thinking of so far is to explore archive photographs of my dens from in the past. I’m pretty sure i have loads of photographs of the dens i made as children and with me and my friends in them. This will work really well alongside the new photographs of my friends as wild children to compare the people and how much they have grown but then also to show that they still have this childish elements to them.

Now that i have my main idea i have already begun to think about all the specifications for my photo shoots and how my project is going to pan out. From the initial straight point i now know exactly where my project is going to go.