Thomas Ruff is a German photographer born in 1958 (5 years after Calle), he is an considerably conceptual individual of his craft. In his ‘Nacht’ series which he produced over 4 years from 1992 to 1996, Ruff blatantly explored the subject matter of surveillance, stating himself that these were his intentions of the project. In this series of photographs Ruff used his camera as tool of observation and documentation of night-time scenes of suburban and industrial areas in his home city of Dusseldorf.  He produced the images with the aesthetic qualities of a long-lens night-vision CCTV surveillance camera.

Here are some examples of the work which he produced for the ‘Nacht’ series…

The green tinted square format surveillance footage aesthetic is something which i wanted to reproduce as a response to the work of Ruff. Here is what I ended up producing in response…

I believe that this reflected the work of Thomas Ruff whilst being more specific to my own project style. Although I was satisfied with these I still wanted to add CCTV camera captions to the images in order to match the visual quality of my other images. Here is what I ended up with…

Image taken by J Henry Fair: Industrial scars

Taken by photographer J Henry Fair, the image aims to highlight the tragic effects that human actions have caused and their impact on our planet. Each image is made purposely beautiful due to the colours which give it an aesthetic quality, however there is a deeper meaning underlying every photo, represented through our ever-increasing demand for energy, which rapidly changes because of our ever-increasing consumerism. This image itself aims at exposing what is left over from the results of our societies demands, by revealing these devastating results Fair hopes to shed light onto people’s perspective of the planet, attempting to make us realize how responsible we are for the environmental future of this planet. Visually the image mixes vibrant and earth like colours together to produce an aesthetically pleasing results, by placing these contrasting colours against each other in an environment that you would not usually associate them together in really sheds light onto the almost permanent scars left behind from our demands and consumerism. By photographing the layers of the mine it portrays the depths that we go to achieve what we want and how deep these scars left behind from it have become, giving us an insight into the sheer size of our global crisis.

By portraying the scarred landscape in such a symmetrical way it almost distracts us from the actual problem at hand and how unnatural it is to see something like this present on our landscape. The use of earthy browns combined with violets and blues can be seen as symbolic to through the unnatural colours, represented by the red and blue chemicals it could be seen as the humans marks that have been placed using chemicals and other means to acquire the materials we desire, however the dark earth brown colours can be seen as the natural landscape which surrounds the areas wherever we leave scars, and how once disturbed cannot be replaced and replenished.

Visually the image is very aesthetic, as the dark mixture of colours such as deep reds, browns and blues compliment each other so that it no longer becomes an earthy texture but a stained and scarred landscape. The layering of the earth hills itself provides a clear perspective into the sheer size of the actual quarry, with each step providing depth into the overall photo, however this is broken up through the use of the road which runs horizontally down the hill, preventing the generic patterns from becoming too overpowering and dull. By doing this no only do it bring the image together but also adds contrast and definition to the piece from the implementation of shadows which surround it.

Technically this image itself has a fairly regular exposure where only dark shadows have been captured and probably a slightly higher shutter speed in order to capture the full quality of the landscape. The road within the image provides the main focal point for the viewer whose attention is instantly drawn towards it due to it being the break of the continual pattern, from there it allows the viewer to explore the rest of the landscape in contrast to the actual pathway itself which seems almost out-of-place. The roads which separate each section of the hill really provide an overall look of aestheticism in the picture as by capture the image any lower would have blocked them out thus resulting in a continual hill of colours.

For my essay I decided to relate two photographers in relation to truth of the camera regarding consumerism. Both Edward Burtynsky and Henry J Fair posed as ideal artists to incorporate due to their imagery being based around industrial scarring and landscape change in the consumerist world. Their styles using a mixture or straight and abstract photograph really appealed to me as I found I could relate more to it, thus using them as examples in my essay would provide further context regarding my chosen topic and how it could relate to my photo book once put together. Here are some quick analysis of each of them:

Edward Burtynsky:Burtynsky is a photographer who specialises in photographing industrial landscapes altering the area through mines and quarries. He provides a very one-sided perspective regarding the treatment of our natural environments, presenting them in an aesthetic but negative light in order to draw in the audience’s attention. Motifs are a clear indication of his work through colours, where the duller greys and browns represent the influence of man’s structures on the area and the vibrant greens and reds represent the beauty of nature as its being intervened by our industrialisation. The presentation of his images are key, as they usually resemble cuts and slashes on the surface of the landscape as a constant reminder of what we have destroyed, usually seen through deforestation and slash and burn techniques. The main focus of his work tends to be based around quarries where he presents the huge impact  on our environment through composing them in a menacing way, that almost makes them seem unrecognisable and alien like, portraying his perspective regarding how we have invaded and disrupted our Earth. The the purpose of much of Burtynsky’s work seem to be a plea at raising awareness for how we treat our planet, and does so through the implementation of vibrant and aesthetic imagery which even from a distance draws the viewer in, question what it could be and how it ended up like that. From these images a huge political theme arises, as by only presenting a single sided perspective around a topic it raises viewpoints that could disagree and debate, however by allowing this negativity it draws in attention to the concern and therefore presents itself to others who may not have been aware.

Henry J Fair: Much like Burtynsky, Fair focuses on the impact of industrialisation on the landscape. Presenting once again a predominantly negative light upon the issue of consumerism, Fair chooses to instead focus on the more chemical effect of industrial impact of the natural world. Photographing toxic waste and leaked chemicals in a beautiful and aesthetic way, capturing this devastating beauty clearly intends to inform the viewer of how we have chosen to lead our ever-growing needs in the world, disregarding the consequences of our choices. However Fair chooses to use a contrasting motif to that of Burtynsky, instead using the opposite of him, where vibrant colours represent the toxicity of the waste and its destructiveness, and the dull colours being the landscape in its natural state. Fair sees that the only way to make aware the impacts of industrialisation are through its exaggeration, making colours and scenes that aren’t really there a typical portrayal of his vision. This perspective he possesses create mainly one-sided view that disregards the efforts made to help these issues, instead choosing to over-exaggerate.