To juxtapose with my previous shoot, i returned to the same location to capture a variety of similar images but this time at sunset. Returning at sunset would give me golden lighting that would illuminate the cliffs in a completely different way to my first shoot on a stormy day. I ensured that it was a clear day to allow for the suns rays to create the most interesting colors upon the surroundings and therefore give a direct contrast between the two shoots in this location. I find it really interesting how much impact the lighting and weather have on a location and this is why i keep returning to the same locations at different times and at different days to see how the change in these external factors convey a completely different story/mood.
As a response to Southam’s ‘The long cloud’ project I wanted to try and capture a sense of darkness and negative emotions. To achieve this I needed to wait until the weather turned moody with interesting cloud formations that would help to create a sense of isolation and intimidation. As I was on my home from school there was a storm approaching creating very interesting textures within the sky, I grabbed my camera and headed to Gronez to shoot it. The results of my shoot can be seen below.
Contact Sheet
Edits
Analysis of the shoot
Overall I was very happy with how this shoot turned out, primarily due to the luck I had with the sky forming such a dramatic clouds. This dramatic feel was enhanced through the editing process which i undertook in light-room, increasing the clarity and contrast and de-saturating most of the colors. I think the images of the cliffs have been successful in creating a sense of isolation and intimidation due to the large scale of them. However, next time I would try to get down near the bottom of the cliffs to give a sense that the cliffs are looking over us creating a much more intense feeling. This would also make the cliffs appear bigger due to the perspective. Within this shoot I think my most successful images are the ones which have flowers in the foreground because it gives the image a great deal of depth that otherwise would have been limited. The foreground also helps to lead the viewer to the specific parts of the images that i wanted to bring attention too. With the absence of any buildings or urban areas means the viewer cannot claim to know the time period at which the photos were taken. This gives a sense of mystery and the unknown which is really interesting as it gets the viewer engaged with the image. These ideas are also portrayed through having the ocean appear in my images because it is not known what lurks beneath it which Southam has quoted interests him about bodies of water. This links back to my original artist study on Hiroshi Sugimoto that has a clear purpose to show this sense that it doesn’t matter what time period the image was taken, the beauty comes from knowing that our ancestors have all experienced the same view.
Jem Southam, born in Bristol in 1950, is one of the UK’s leading photographers. He is renowned for his series of colour landscape photographs, beginning in the 1970s and continuing until the present. His trademark is the patient observation of changes at a single location over many months or years. I was inspired by this idea as it links to my current work looking at the change of sea, light and weather on one location. However Jem Southam is doing a similar concept just on a much larger scale.
He observes the balance between nature and man’s intervention and traces cycles of decay and renewal. His work combines topographical observation with other references: personal, cultural, political, scientific, literary and psychological. Southam’s subjects are predominately situated in the South West of England where he lives and works. However he completed one project ‘The long white cloud” in New Zealand that took my interest.
Within this project the photographs build and expand on themes that Southam has explored throughout his forty-year career. They show his continued fascination with the subtleties of colour, with reflection and transience, and with the effects of the shifting seasons and weather on the landscape. Southam’s documentary practice present a sociological and physiological investigation into the landscape
Southams project focuses on bodies of water found on the island of New Zealand. The series saw him document the watery landscapes enveloped by a huge variety of atmospheres and conditions. The resulting large-scale photographs document the country’s lakes, rivers and dramatic waterfalls, with Southam gaining inspiration from the constant and seamless cycle of matter, from air to water to cloud and vapour, and back again. Exploring notions of the sublime in the varied natural landscapes of New Zealand, these photographs accentuate the connections between the drama of nature to the inherent mythologies of the land. The clear interest in water through his project connects directly to my previous works that so far have focused on coastal areas.
‘Aeoteroa’, or ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’, was the name given to the North Island of New Zealand when the Maori navigators first saw signs of the new land in the formations of drawn out strands of cloud spreading across the horizon. It is the dynamic at the heart of this apparition that these pictures aim to explore. The remarkably rich and varied physical profusion of landforms of New Zealand apprehended and made manifest through the momentary shifts of light and the weather. – Jem Southam
The Mouth of the Okarito River and the Tasman Sea, New Zealand, Autumn 2018
I chose to look closer into the work of Jem Southam mainly due to his explortion of the natural world but more importantly the way it is changing through light and weather conditions. I have already explored these elements and having came across this artist it has inspired me to try and capture a sense of horror through darker images. I believe this is a side of landscape photography I haven’t properly explored due to the fact usually landscape photography is about making the landscape look the most beautiful. I think that taking inspiration from Southams project will allow me to create a clear juxtaposition between how the landscape looks in nice golden light compared to the dull de-saturated images that I will create in response to this artist reference.
Photo Analysis
The North Wall of the Fjord, Milford Sound, New Zealand, Autumn 2018
This minimalist image is evident of beauty and a great sense of emotion. The towering cliff creates a sense of isolation and intimidation that is enhanced through the harsh weather conditions. The thick clouds and dark lighting from the weather gives these ideas of anxiety and depression creating an overall moody atmosphere. Southam finds himself both entranced and repelled by bodies of water. “The closer we move towards them, the more a resistance builds in us, a dread almost — ‘How deep is the pool, what might be lurking within it?’ Does anything work on our imaginations as powerfully as the waters of the earth?” These ideas that Southam mentioned in an interview on ‘financial times’ links to the ideas I have previously mentioned in my studies about the water and how it creates a sense of the unknown. Although this image contains very little water, the huge cliff structure leads our eyes to the ocean and makes the viewer aware that it is a main focal point in conveying the story through this image. The slanted horizon is a countertype for the stereotypical landscape shot in which the horizon should be straight. This creates unease for the viewer helping to enhance this mysterious and moody atmosphere.
I chose these images as my final prints as I belive they have a narrative effect and also allow a aspect of tranquility within the contrast of the lights and darker tonal colours.
This is one of my favourite images for a few reasons. Conceptually the images clear religious connotations, there is an element of foregrounding and background, highlighting some areas such as the door, creating an indexical symbol to invite and enter the image itself, also demonstrating entering the after life. The clear invert of colours also shows nature having a prominent life, as well as the entry to the life of god. The contrasting texture throughout the image are too very interesting.
I chose this image due to the composition, I like the circular motion of the water mimicked throughout the image, and the central contrast of the lightness of the duck. It to also shows an element of life within the creation of god. The elements of the delicacy of the branches too shows a sense of heavenly beauty. I also chose this image as it is veery similar to one of my theorists images found within Astres Noirs, And I believe this is just an exciting image which clearly conveys the life of nature.
I wanted to use this image, as I believe there is a sense of illuminance and a real concentration of light, differing a very eye catching comparison to the others. To my mind the shapes and dimension too within the piece are very interesting and allow a much more successful literal glow to live, a symbol for prosperity.
This image has a fluidity of movement, and an identity within escapism yet a loss of personal identity. From terms of isolation this is a successful exposure of how you are able to see a figure yet have no personal judgments on the person. It is a significant gesture for that of how we might perceive god and the holy Trinity, the richness of the whites shows too a safety within the figure and an element of reliability. The long extension to the back of the piece shows a possible connection of narrative and character to the rest of the people and so on.
This is my favourite image and will also be the front cover. It reminds me of my previous experimentation within looking at the haiku and beauty within the everyday. I believe the lines and watery mirrored lines, re-creates something quite beautiful. The lines are dainty yet show a strength, there is an essence of purity and life within the image itself. I believe too, though much of the image is white, every aspects you are able to see all the details from within. With this image you would not be able to conceive how this is an element near where you live as it is, something so beautifully composed yet we take for granted. This comes under the creation story and the fact everything is created for a purpose, of unity of life. Due to the lines and heavenly colours I believe the title of ‘ascension’ is applicable as it shows the life of the branch raising above the water and as it connotes to the representation of life and death.
I decide due to my book being loud with large images with volumes of tonal integrity and inspiration of life and chaos, I want an interesting expressive and large way to which I can present my images themselves. My book is going to be a very large square with an image on every page, so I believe the huge effect of this book, needs to be mirrored with an innovative presentation. After looking at the artist Batia Suter, she prints off many of her images and sticks them across walls for her final presentation, without a frame to keep the feel to her work. I belive this too could be an interesting presentation for my work, However, Due to my not having available gallery space, their is no where that would be readily available for me to stick my work all over the wall. A similar theme I could use, Is printing off many large prints, and sticking on another to large A1 boards and creating a . large abstract narrative story telling piece. My second idea, is to print off every single image I have and create a window frame boarded with small pints showing the same narrative construct of my book itself, although this doesn’t have the huge size per image, it does have the effect of amount of imagery used.
Above is the type of presentation of my images I want, I believe I will print off 9 sets of three images each for my final all on A3, I will then apply foam board to the back of the images to make them come off of the wall slightly. I will see if there is a way I could get a large space to present my wrk here in school, if not I will find a space closer to home and create the presentation from there. I believe it is important that I do this as it goes with the narrative of my book, the size is the best way to see these images, and it shows an element of innovation to my project. I cold also expand this presentation idea to painting on a very large surface ad diving just one image up to around 6 parts, and do this multiple times for a more abstract feel. Below I am going to show the three rows of three an demonstrate which images I could have placed next to each-other.
I plan to execute two photoshoot ideas in one go. I plan to use a new idea, lens ball, of which I will photograph key landmarks and locations for Jersey within the lens ball. The ball itself is circular and therefore follows the format of the project idea and also adds the attachment to Jersey as a place and adds another similarity. I will shoot just St Helier for this shoot however I will head out in other shoots to shoot lens ball in rural areas so I can have the difference in location.
Similarities:
Circles
Jersey (local attachment)
Differences:
Urban/Rural
Locations within Jersey
Subject Matter
Locations to shoot
Orange = Lens Ball + Blue = Tiny Planet/Pano
Other locations to shoot outside St Helier include Gorey village, Mont Orguiel Castle, La Rocco Tower at sunset and Corbiere Lighthouse.
For this shoot I wanted to focus on the idea of abstraction through pattern especially in nature and the urban world. I really liked the idea of basing my photography around capturing everyday scenes of subjects in a new light which highlights the unseen patterns which are present in our everyday lives and the structures of things around us. A photographer I have looked at which I have got particular inspiration from is Brett Weston, someone who has devoted to focusing on natures pattern and the unseen world around us. The images that I found to be more inspiring were his images based around plantation and occasionally the effects of humans on the landscape such as footprints and man made intervention into the natural environment. His skills that I wanted to be able to transfer were surrounding his effective use of a low exposure to create a more dramatic scene surrounding everyday things through exaggeration of shades and tones. Some examples of his work can be seen below:
Once I had looked over some of his photos that I found were particularly inspirational for my shoot and its aims I then decided to go onto produce a mind-map. By making a mind-map it would allow me to jot down ideas and aims for the shoot and what I wanted to over achieve, this would also cut down on time wasted on the shoot as I would have a goal of what to produce on me and how to take it with it all the time directing my aims. Here are some of my ideas that I wish to use on the shoot:
The place I have decided to take the images is called Val De La Mare due to its variety of different textures which can be found alongside the water and the trees. A map of the location can be seen below:
Here are the results of the shoot:
After finishing my shoot I decided to go onto edit the shoot down to only ten images, by doing this it would allow me to identify which were the images that were most effective from the shoot and reflected my intentions the most. Here are my decision on the top ten images of the shoot:
Once I had selected the ten images I then decided to go onto whittle them down once again to only five, by doing this it would allow me to further identify the images which were most effective from the shoot due to analysis in more depth, whilst also making it easier for me to choose an image which best sums up the entire shoot. Here are me selections:
I chose this image because I loved the overall sense of the browns which came through the decaying grass. For me the crushed plants added a cool texture which highlighted the contrasting yellow stalks compared to the rest of the brown leaves. What I particularly liked was how the leaves all faced one direction, allowing for a smoother look to the overall image due to how it all seemingly moves in continual way. Overall I found that the piece did relate to the topic of texture, however I was not too pleased with the outcome as I didnt think it carried enough contrast to emphasize the darkness.
What I really liked about this image was how the green leaves overlapped the darker grain of the wood below. When looking over the image I really liked how the leaves almost presented themselves as a frame for the grainy texture of the wood, preventing it from becoming a present throughout the image and turning into a eye-sore for viewers. As a result of this I found that the contrasting yellows which are emphasized in the wood through saturation really brings more tone into the photo due to it add variation to the texture and overall colours present in the photograph.
I chose this photograph because of the unusual line which had been cut across the base of the tree trunk. For me this added an extra sense of abstract to the piece due to the surface texture of the wood being disrubted by the cut mark making its way across the entire composition. What I found complimented this was the dying ivy growing down the side of the trunk, for me the lighter brown from this added that bit extra to the piece as it prevented a continual same colour presence throughout, instead breaking it up and adding variety. Overall I was really happy with the composition of the piece due to its unusual element through the cut, with the ivy and the different bark textures adding a much needed variation to the overall piece.
The reason I selected this image was because of it high contrast which highlights the grain and unseen colours really well. For me personally I really liked the variety of different browns and yellows present within the photo as it presents viewers with a different perspective regarding cut wood on a wet day as textures not previously seen are revealed when more closely observed. The grain knot I found broke up the composition and prevented it from becoming too overpowering and generic due to how the added black becomes an instant focal-point for anyone looking at the picture for the first time. As a result of this I am quite happy with the result due to how it provides an unseen insight into the textures present on trunks which previously would be unseen unless further inspected.
Finally I chose this because I think it really well summed up the idea surrounding the topic of texture through both its green and brown leaves branching out. Because of this I really liked the contrasting dead and lives leaves together as the texture stays the same but rather the colour changes, as a result of this I think it adds a much needed extra bit of texture due to it stopping the otherwise dominant green from becoming too much and detering the viewer. When looking over the image in regardings to the topic of texture, I found that it related well, however I was not too pleased with the overall outcome due to it lacking contrast behind the leaves which would have made it more defined.
Once I had looked at each image in more depth I decided it was time to move onto picking one image to sum up and represent the entire shoot. To do this I would have to consider looking at its visual aspects whilst also its conceptual ones and how well it related to my intentions and overall aims:
Overall when looking over all the images I found this one to be most effective regarding the topic of abstract textures. This was mainly due to the unusual cut mark made across the base of the trunk which for me added an extra sense of abstraction due to it looking a bit surreal and mysterious. This was complimented by the dying ivy which I definitely thought added that needed break between the continual texture and colour of the wood and the dark cut. For me I thought this image was executed the best due to how it represented my initial aims of the shoot whilst also taking into consideration my topic title of abstraction through texture (seen through isolating the subject from its surrounding environment).
The drone images I produced came out nicely however I think its important to share the time it took to really get those images. We were at Noirmont for around 3 hours shooting, it can take 10 minutes just to get one shot right, especially on the accuracy level I was aiming for to ensure my images were perfect.
Noirmont Lighthouse
Trying to capture an image such as the one above looks simple but requires skill and patience, two things that I honestly don’t have with drones! I have very little experience but luckily I had someone to talk me through and help me along the way. The drone will hold its GPS position automatically however this can drift in around a 1 meter size area which is not good when you are trying to get a perfectly straight top down image such as the one above, You can see the light bulb on the top is perfectly in the center and it may have taken up to 10 minutes to get it perfect, you end to find that you make a slight left correction for example and it moves too far and you want to go back a bit but its too far and it will never sit perfectly where you like it when you’re shooting a subject close such as this with a high requirement for visual accuracy. I took a number of images I believed were central and confirmed this later then selected the best images to go forward to editing.
As part of my experimentation stage, I have taken a number of my own images and experimented with editing them in Adobe Photoshop. I have used the ‘extrude’ tool, which has split my photographs into geometric shapes. I found this to be interesting as it portrays every pixel of colour in my photographs individually in shape form. This tool also gives my images a sense of movement and dynamism which isn’t achieved in a usual still photograph.
