My topic in 3 words: Styles of abstraction

Topic described in a sentence: I will be exploring how three different categories of abstraction, colour, texture and pattern compliment and contrast each other when put together.

My Topic described in a paragraph: I will be looking at the topic of abstraction regarding three of the more dominant areas of it. I will firstly look at colour and the use of heavily saturated photography to isolate the subject from its surrounding environment. Texture is another theme I wish to explore through the almost unseen world present when looked at closer inspection and how natures pattern often are aesthetic and in huge variety. Lastly I will be looking at pattern and the idea of isolating once again a subject from its surrounding environment so that it becomes up to the viewers to interpret what it could be in regards to surface and look.

Design:

• Look and feel: I would like a matte cover which would produce a photographic but card like feel which would really compliment the material being used for my overall design and theme.
• Paper and ink: For the sleeve I would probably use printing ink to produce the title and author name, but within the book I would use glossy paper due to it producing a more detailed outcome.
• Format, size and orientation: The format would be three portrait books due to me wanting them to be able to fit into sleeves, I would probably make the size of them relatively small just below the size of A4 paper.
• Binding and cover: The cover would be the title of that topic of abstraction within the book such as saturated.
• Title: Each book will have a different title regarding the contents which can be found inside.
• Structure and architecture: The page layouts will mainly be one or two images to a spread with the occasional three images if I want to create the impression of a triptych.
• Design and layout: Once again the pages will mainly have one to two images per spread with the occasional three or four
• Editing and sequencing: I will be ordering the images into each book regarding which title they best fit into, saturation, texture or pattern. Each book will have the photos ordered into a way in which each compliment each other or have a greater overall theme.
• Images and text: I would like to keep the book very minimalist and so possibly would just have the location or word saturation with its number such as #1 or #2

Who is he?

Brett Weston war born 1911, Los Angeles, the second son of photographer Edward Weston. Brett was removed from school at a young age to become his father’s apprentice in Mexico, this surrounded his by revolutionary artists of the day such as Tina Modotti, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, not only did this influence his but also presented his with a striking contrast to life in Mexico but as also where he first started taking photos with a small Graflex. This introduction that Brett was shown and the work of the painters unintentionally influenced his sense of form and composition, this quality of design was evident in Brett’s early images of organic and man-made subjects. Here he started to appreciate how the camera transformed subjects close up and how the contrast of black and white altered further the recognition of the subjects. Overall it is not hard to understand his attraction to focus on abstraction dye to the characteristics he was influenced by would allow him to be uniquely identified with throughout the rest of his career.

Weston later returned to California in 1926, and Brett continued to assist him in his Glendale portrait studio whilst exhibiting and selling his own photographs at the same time. From the age of seventeen a group of his images were included in the German exhibition ‘film und Foto’, considered to be one of the most important avant-garde exhibitions held between the times of the two World Wars. Because of this his received great recognition which brought Brett international attention and inclusion in various photographic exhibitions in the following years. Although his art will always be linked with his father’s it is unfair to say that his photography is imitative of Edward’s beyond the early years as he produced an enormous body of work over the seven decades. Some examples of his work can be seen below:

After looking over some of his images I decided that I would go onto look at one specific image that I thought would best reflect my intentions for my future shoot based around abstract patterns. The image I have chosen is called ‘Mud Cracks’ and was taken 1966 highlighting the patterns found in everyday things such as mud. Here I will go onto look at things like visual, technical and contextual aspects which would allow me to further my knowledge regarding techniques used and the style of photography created.

Visual:

Visually the piece is quite simplistic in the sense that the photo is of a piece of mud, however its when upon further inspection that there are cracks which form patterns across the mud, something the every-day eye would miss unless focused upon. For me the piece is extremely aesthetic due to how the tones used across the composition are varying grays with the only real shades coming from the cracks which allow separation in the image which prevents the outcome of pure mud becoming too overpowering. To stop the mud becoming too much Weston has made sure to include smaller cracks within the cracks of mud to add variation to the photo whilst stopping a continual generic surface from occurring across the entire image.

Technical:

When looking across the image it is clear to say that a slightly lower exposure has been used so that the darkness in between the cracks is highlighted above the rest of the image which due to sunlight is a lot lighter and therefore becomes the focal point. It looks like a higher shutter speed has been used to capture crisp detail of the mud as you can clearly see the lumps and grooves present on each slab of mud whilst there being no evidence of motion blur whatsoever. Weston has made sure to include a clear fifty fifty ration between mud and cracks which stop one or the other from becoming too overpowering and stopped the effectiveness of the other.

Contextual:

The aim of the piece is meant to create the subject and present it in an unrecognizable fashion, devoid of sentimentality. There is meant to be a sense of a lack of human presence and narrative making it unclear of what the photographer is trying to express. The composition is not amazing and the angle is wrong, however this is the aim of the photographer who could argue that the aim of modern photography is so that the image is only partially aesthetic. These concentrated images share the high-contrast and graphic qualities of Weston’s panoramas while emphasizing his affinity for “significant details” and the unprecedented attention to form, texture, shadow, and light that he explored throughout his nearly-seventy-year career.