Hiroshi Sugimoto is a Japanese photographer and architect. He leads the Tokyo-based architectural firm ‘New Material Research Laboratory’. Sugimoto has spoken of his work as an expression of ‘time exposed’, or photographs serving as a time capsule for a series of events in time. His work also focuses on transience of life, and the conflict between life and death. Sugimoto is also deeply influenced by the writings and works of Marcel Duchamp, as well as the Dadaist and Surrealist movements as a whole. He has also expressed a great deal of interest in late 20th century modern architecture.

I am particularly interested in his project titled ‘seascapes’. In 1980 he began working on an ongoing series of photographs of the sea and its horizon, Seascapes, in locations all over the world, using an old-fashioned large-format camera to make exposures of varying duration (up to three hours). The locations range from the English Channel to the Arctic Ocean, from Italy, to the Tasman Sea and from the Norwegian Sea to the Black Sea in Turkey. The black-and-white pictures are all exactly the same size, bifurcated exactly in half by the horizon line. The systematic nature of Sugimoto’s project recalls the work Sunrise and Sunset at Praiano by Sol LeWitt, in which he photographed sunrises and sunsets over the Italy. Within this project there is a clear attention to the depiction of light and how it shapes the landscape as appose to the traditional landscape images from the romantic genre. 

All the images within this project are rather similar within the way they all consist of exactly half of the ocean and half of the sky. Another similarity is the fact they consist of black and white color tones which also links to my previous two artist references. Tommy ingberg’s images are all in black and white and also Ernst Haekel has works that happen to use the black and white color range. On the other hand, there are also a variety of shutter speeds clearly being used to capture the images with some of the photos being rather clear others are extremely hazy making it almost impossible to work out what the imagery is of. This unique perspective of the sea has elements of time and movement embedded into them as well as a clear interest for nature.

Analysis

This particular image and all the others embedded within the book are all neutral black and white. The image is formatted horizontally and there is a divide directly in the middle distinguishing the sea and the sky. There is no land mass or man made objects within this image, it contains only three elements; light water and air. Having very little features in the image gives a minimalist approach which is visually pleasing. This image has indications of movements on the water surface however mostly is hidden under the fog, haze and light clouds.

Splitting the frame in half, the images are classically balanced and no emphasis has been inferred to either sky or the water. There are no lines within the image that lead us to any part of the image or which emphasize one area or another. Minor pattern or texture on the water or within the sky do not demand our attention but provide some variety within an overall sameness. The affect of the computational structure is that while our eyes may freely wander, they tend to gravitate back to the center of the image and the horizon. Within this image and all the others contained within the project, he places the horizon in the center. I think this is to do with the instinctual human way of seeing. If we stare into the horizon, we stare right into the middle of it. In fact, anything we look at, due to the basic nature of human perception, is put right in the middle of our field of vision. I assume that Sugimoto knows this and has purposely constructed the image in this sense to reflect this.

The elimination of any land mass or man made objetcs means we have no way to determine where or when the images were made. Land mass characteristics allow identification of a place as well as man made structures or even a particular boat. These factors may even give a sense of time frame on when the image was created however with the absence of these we cannot know when or where the image was taken. This gives a sense of mystery and the unknown which is really interesting as it gets the viewer engaged with the image. Another thought that comes to mind when I consider the minimalist approach is a connection to the biblical view of the creation of the earth, being originally covered in water with light introduced before land surfaced.

I think through this particular image and the project as a whole the intent was to create a sense that, regardless of where we are, we could all go to a large body of water and see the same thing. The fact that we would share the same visual experience regardless of if we did that now, in the past or in the future. Our internal experience stimulated by the view will be more individual and vary from person to person. I think that Sugimoto’s view based on the quiet nature of the image is thought provoking. I also think he is expressing the ocean as a place to relax, where the repetitive sounds and beautiful view allow our minds to disconnect with any stress and simply enjoy life.

Ernst Haeckel (February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist, and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology including anthropogeny, ecology, phylum, phylogeny and protista. Haeckel promoted and popularised Charles Darwin’s work in Germany and developed the influential but no longer widely held recapitulation theory.

The published artwork of Haeckel includes over 100 detailed, multi-colour illustrations of animals and sea creatures, collected in his Kunstformen der Natur (“Art Forms of Nature”). The book consists of lithographic and halftone prints. Lithography is a method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone or a metal plate with a smooth surface. Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect.

I decided to study the artwork of Haeckel due to his clear relation to nature and in particular living species. Undeniably there is huge variation within the species however all stemming from only four DNA variants there are some similarities too. I was really inspired by the vibrancy of his artwork along with bold solid colors. His black and white work is also very interesting as it allows us to view the species in much more detail revealing interesting shapes and textures. This use of black and white also links to my previous artist reference which therefore applies to the word ‘similarity’ that was given as part of the exam project. I think it would be interesting to combine inspiration taken from the two artists to produce a series of images that focuses on the thoughts and feelings of humans (Tommy Ingberg inspiration) and the diversity of species (Ernst Haeckel inspiration).

Photo Analysis

The diverse range of colors against the white background makes the image really pop and aesthetically appealing for the audience. The use of predominately orange and teal colors compliment each other contrasting nicely giving an overall effective result. There are a large variety and use of similar textures within this photo from the intertwining tentacles to the soft edges around the top of the species. There is a clear precision and careful shading that has taken place, but they also give a detailed insight into the understanding of organic evolution. Haeckel’s works is the emphasis on the essential symmetries and order of nature; even in the strangest of creatures, he managed to find a sense of biological beauty which to me is what makes his work stand out. Often people would associate a jelly fish as a scary and not so beautiful specie however his art has really transformed how some species are viewed in this case the jelly fish looks magnificent.

The art and science of  Ernst Haeckel outlines the 19th-century artist-biologist’s most important visual works and publications across a hefty 704 pages. The compendium includes 450 drawings, watercolors, and sketches from his research, which was in large support of Darwin’s theory of evolution. Most notably the book contains the Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), a collection of 100 prints of varying organisms originally published between 1899 and 1904. This particular image has come from the book which displays very detailed imagery of what appears to be a collection of jelly fish.

To begin the repetition task we where set with the task of creating a Gif for ourselves

Gif

1. a lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images.”
2. a file in GIF format.

The Graphics Interchange Format, is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite on June 15, 1987.

To create a GIF within Photoshop is very straightforward. It can be done in three simple steps :

“a file in GIF format.

1. open your chosen images in Photoshop
2. go to: file > scripts > load files into stack
3. select ‘open files’ and ‘ok’

Tommy Ingberg

Tommy Ingberg is a photographer and visual artist, born 1980 in Sweden. He works with photography and digital image editing, creating minimalistic and self-reflecting surreal photo montages dealing with human nature, feelings and thoughts. Ingberg leaves the interpretation of his work up to the viewer but says, “For me, surrealism is about trying to explain something abstract like a feeling or a thought, expressing the subconscious with a picture. For my work I use my own inner life, thoughts and feelings as seeds to my pictures. In that sense the work is very personal, almost like a visual diary. Despite this subjectiveness in the process I hope that the work can engage the viewer in her or his own terms. I want the viewers to produce their own questions and answers when looking at the pictures, my own interpretations are really irrelevant in this context.”

Ingberg mainly focuses on people and creating an atmosphere that relates to the them. He portrays the characters feelings through his landscapes, objects and the posture of the model. By using mainly dark, saddening and depressing moods it is clear to see the state of mind that the artist has experienced or is experiencing. The running theme throughout his pictures are that they are all in black and white which links to the ideas of similarity. However each image differs in the story it is set out to create using different props to do so. I chose to study Tommy Ingbergs work because not only does he create extraordinary surreal illusions but the deep meanings and stories which are told through his pictures really influenced me. Also, there is a clear link to our exam title with his ability to keep a similar theme through his works whilst them

 The Photographers Photos

Photo Analysis

The construction of this image has been made to appeal to the audience when viewing it. By using a minimalist approach and centering the character it allows the audience a pleasant viewing experience allowing them to embrace the story being created. It is clear that montage and manipulation techniques have been used to construct this image resulting in a very surreal and interesting composite. It would appear that natural lighting has been used when capturing the elements of this image giving a very natural look. This helps the overall piece feel more realistic as it is clearly not real. There is a large use of tonal range from the very bright tones within the balloons and also dark tones in the sky and rock. There is a large depth of field within this image which allows us to dive deep into the image. The main subject is very sharp, in focus and so is the sky in the background. There is no color within this image as Ingberg has opted for the black and white scheme which I believe helps to convey the feelings and thoughts of the person. Having the image de-saturated like this also helps to bring out more detail in elements of the photograph such as the sky where we can really see the formation of clouds.

I like this photo due to the emotion and story it creates and tells us. The photo clearly tells us that a person wants to escape the place in which they live in however there is something stopping them. The lighting helps to create this sense of imprisonment. The dark clouds are in front of the man as if he is heading into a darker place and putting himself into a bad situation and the bright clouds which suggest goodness are behind him indicating he is drifting away from what’s good in his life. This photo uses the technique of leading lines within the rope leading us up the body to the balloons which is trying to pull the man away from his life on earth. This photo is in black and white which I think helps to add to the dark and depressing atmosphere.

When interviewed about his work Ingberg described his art as “photography and digital image editing, creating minimalistic and self-reflecting surreal photo montages dealing with human nature, feelings and thoughts.” This statement is clearly justified through this image reflecting the struggles that a person is having and theior negative thoughts reflected through all the elements of the image. For example the balloons coming out of the mans head acts as a metaphor for the confused state of mind the person is in. To achieve such amazing art Ingberg says “I proceed by shooting the photographs I need, preferably in studio with controlled lighting. I then put it together in Photoshop.”

Having read through the exam paper and exploring the meanings of the allocated words given for this project, I have gathered some  potential ideas on where I could take this project.

Nature – Nature is infinitely variable, with it constantly changing from natural or man made causes it is undeniably differing everyday. There are only four DNA variants but from these the whole incredible diversity of life has evolved. I think within this topic there is a large area to explore but i would specifically be interested in exploring wildlife. It would be interesting to take a look closely into some of the species that exist on this planet and how they are similar yet different from one another. An artist that I could look at in relation to this could be Ernst Haeckel, a German artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species. 

Weather – With the exploration of whether I would look closely into the variations in the time of day, season and of course weather types. All of these factors can instantly transform a familiar landscape into something unearthly. I think the weather is very interesting due to the huge significance it plays in our lives. For example depending on the weather may depend on what someone decides to do that day. However it can also be a lot more powerful than just this, destroying Eco-systems and peoples lives with extreme situations of hurricanes and tsunamis. A photographer that comes to mind within this topic is David Mayhew, a world class photographer best known for taking pictures of extreme weather.

Facial Features – Facial features display a variety of characteristics and there is an endless amount of human expression and persona that continues to attract artists to the genre of portraiture. I think that portraiture is a really interesting type of photography due to the interaction the model create with the audience in telling a story about themselves. These stories will vary with every person as no one has the exact same path in life. Furthermore, exploring facial features has a lot to do with identity of a person which can be explored in several ways. A photographer which comes to mind for this topic would be Tommy Ingberg, a surreal photographer that shows the emotional interaction of the person through the person themselves and the landscape too.

Seaside – Inspired by Hiroshi Sugimoto’s seascape images, I want to create minimalist seascape images that are differing from the conventional seaside image. This will show variety in the way the sea can be photographed however has signs of similarity though how the images will be of a similar style and of the same subject matter. I have ideas to develop Sugimoto’s style into my own by using motion blurs to create a new perspective of the sea.

Architecture – There is endless variety within architecture however also similarity too. I think a possibility within this could be to explore both variations and similarities in order to show a contrast. My main aim when exploring architecture is to approach it in a minimalist way presenting structured and organised composites to reflect our society in modern day. A photographer which links directly with this theme is Werner Mantz who’s work linked with the ‘new objectivity’ movement in German photography before the second world war.

Bernd and Hilla Becher are both photogrpahers that look at typologies.

Bernd and Hilla Becher were both German conceptual (installation) artists and photographers. They worked as a collaborative duo and are best known for their extensive series of typographies of industrial buildings and structures.

“The husband and wife team of Bernd and Hilla Becher began photographing together in 1959. Bernd and Hilla Becher documented architectural forms referred to as “anonymous sculpture” for over thirty years. Their extensive series of water towers, blast furnaces, coal mine tipples, industrial facades, and other vernacular industrial architecture comprise an in-depth study of the intricate relationship between form and function.” – Fraenkel Gallery

I will begin this project by looking through the exam paper and breaking down the initial title “variation and similarity” I will then look into the starting points given in the exam paper and brainstorming my own initial ideas to create a starting point for the project.

Dictionary Definition: 

Variation – A change or slight difference in condition, amount, or level, typically within certain limits. A change or slight difference in condition, amount, or level, typically within certain limits.

Similarity – The state or fact of being similar. Having a resemblance in appearance, character, or quantity, without being identical.

Synonyms: 

Variation – abnormality, alteration, deviation, discrepancy, disparity, divergence, diversity, difference, fluctuation, innovation, modification

Similarity – parallel, relationship, resemblance, closeness, comparison, connection, correlation, harmony, parity, relation,

when I first read this title I thought of variation and similarities between people, their looks, age, beliefs and backgrounds all the pieces that go together to give each human a unique identity. I would consider developing this idea further through the use of portrait images, close ups of skin and features which stand out on an individual. In an age where people are constantly trying to perfect themselves o think it would be interesting to look behind this to remind ourselves why it is so important that we show our differences.

I also instantly thought about work on typologies which I have previously studied, work by photographers such as Bernd and Hilla Becher who took photos of similar structures such as water towers and collated them together in a grid to show their subtle differences which would otherwise not be noticed or appreciated. This concept could be applied to anything, from packaging commenting on to issue of materialism to architectural structures showing the development of natural landscapes.