In conclusion, I think i approached the project Political Landscapes successfully and developed my concept of the changing environment thoroughly. I started my project with the intention of exploring issues of pollution and plastic specifically, taking inspiration from the photographer Mandy Barker and experimented in my first shoot by taking images with string infront of the lens looking at rules of manipulation. I then found the photobook ‘The Meadow’ by photographers Barbara Bosworth and Margot Anne Kelley which is what first interested me in photographing and exploring specific areas, as well as gathering objects and photographing them. I also discovered the photographer Chrystel Lebas and her photobook ‘Field Studies: Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ which is where I read about the changing environment. She compared her modern images to the photography of Edward James Salisbury in the early 20th century and walked in his footsteps, going to the same areas he did to explore how the environment had changed over 100 years. This is where I decided that the concept for my project would be looking at how the natural environment had changed over 90 years at the location La Motte. I found archival images from this area and thought i would build my photobook around them, comparing and contrasting them to my own images. I noticed Lebas’ influences from sublime ideologies by Edmund Burkina his book ‘Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful’,with her images being vast and other-worldly, which is an aspect I wanted to reflect in my own work. From then on, I did an additional five shoots where i went and took landscape images of La Motte and at the same time gathered natural objects that i found on the island and the beach i.e. rocks, seaweed, flowers. I did multiple shoots where I photographed these objects formally with plain background and edited them to reflect the work of early botanists where they used light sensitive paper to create photograms. I did this as i thought it would give my project and photobook a scientific appearance and reflect that of an investigation into a specific area. Towards my final shoots, I walked around La Motte and tried to find man made objects that I could photograph to perhaps represent how the natural landscape had changed.
The front and back cover of my photobook is the same continuous archival image taken at La Motte showing the eastern end of the grave with E T Nicolle, J Sinel and J Sinel junior within the photo. I choose this as my front and back cover as I think it intrigues the reader and I also specifically liked the composition. The earth of green island fills up 3/4 of the image with the man on the bottom level looking up towards the two men at the top. Also I think because it is in black and white it creates a more authentic and historical appearance for the book. I didn’t include the title of the book on the front cover, and just had it along the spine off the book so there was more mystery when opening the book. The first page contains the title of the book ‘La Motte’ and the sub title ‘Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ which is inspired by Chrystel Lebas’s book title ‘Field Studies: Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ as her photo book is something I take a lot of inspiration from in my project, so including the same sub title immediately connects my work to hers. The second page contains an full page photo of one of the images from my photogram section in my book. I thought that I would include this as my first image as I think that it interests the reader about my project without giving too much away. On the other page I included the text: “La Motte is a tidal island, and listed archaeological site, also known as Green Island, located in the Vingtaine de Samarès in the parish of St Clement on the south-east coast of Jersey, Channel Islands.” I did this so the reader had some background information about the area they will be looking at and by informing them about the history makes the project more understandable. On the forth and fifth page i included an archivel image across the two pages of of the naturalist and archaeologist Joseph Sinel at the excavation. I used this as a double page as i liked the diagonal shape of the earth, making an interesting composition, as well as the position Sinel is sitting in. I then contrasted this image with the sixth and seventh page showing one of my own images. I used the same layout, but mirrored, creating variety in the sequence of the book. I chose this image to contrast with the archival one as i liked the bright blue sky and detailed rocks in the foreground in comparison to the black and white image of the earth. Also because of the similar composition of the diagonal line and shape in the center of the image. This creates a more modern interpretation of the archival one. For the next two double pages I contrasted one of my images to an archival one using a full page and a smaller photo as the layout on the first double page, and the mirrored on the second. This creates the repetition of mirroring the layout to the previous one, producing a more interesting sequence of images. I included more text in these two double pages about the excavation and what was found there as that is what is happening in the archival images displayed and by explaining more about it makes the book easier to understand. The 12th and 13th page is the fist double page image inside my photo book. I chose this image as the liked how it has different sections all showing different aspects of the beach ie. blue sky, rocks, sand, creating an interesting composition for a double page spread. In the 14th and 16th double pages I chose to display the images 3/4 of the way onto the oppsite page as if these image were displayed as full pages I think hat important detail would be cut off due to how the book would be printed. By diplaying the images like this it shows more of the details in the images, with less being cut off. Especially on the 16th double page where the main subject of the image in the incinerator which is centered, meaning that this would be cut off in printing. Across these two double pages I mirrored the layout again to keep variety in the sequence.
For the rest of the landscape images in my photo book, 8 double pages display one of my modern images contrasted alongside an archival one. When chosing these combinations I tried to find similarities between the two images so that they would complement each other but also contrast each other. For example the 21st page displays one of my images of the earth of green island at a close up angle which i contrasted with a similar archival image of the earth from the early 20th century on the opposite page. In my image i tried to emphasise the warm colours, as well as the light and shadows. This then contrasts to the black and white of the archival image, complementing each other. Another example is the 25th page where I used the archival image of a skull and contrast it to one of my modern image, the main subject being a rock. I think this this combination of images works well as the shape of the bright rock in my image resembles the shape of a skull and is a similar colour. This creates a link between the two images which I think makes a good layout, linking the past to the present. When editing I brightened the rock so it was more noticeable, which i think also makes the link more noticeable. I also like the contrast in the background of the two images. The archival image has a lack background as it’s a formally taken photo, this then contrast to the background of my image which is brown rocks, adding more detail to the image. I also used various full double page images where I specifically edited them so they have emphasised blue tones to increase the vastness to reflect sublime. I used the graduated filter in light room to make the skies more dramatic and to contrast more the bottom halves of the images.The one layout which was completely different to any other landscape imagery was on the 41st page where i only displayed one image across the double page spread, one of the page being blank. I chose this layout for this image as I think that it’s a powerful image and by putting emphasise on it will make the reader pay more attention to it. I specifically like this image for many reasons, the main one being the cross in the center of the image that I think links to the previous archival imagery of the excavations where they found bodies. I also like the composition in this image as it is split into three sections , with the cross in the centre of them. The bottom part is darker part of the image, the dark brown tones contrasting to the light blue ones in the sea. The tones in the bottom part of the image link to that on the horizon which creates a more aesthetically pleasing image. This is also because the blue tones in the sea complement the colour of the sky.
Towards the end of my photo book I included a series of images completely different to the landscape images in the first part of my book. I was inspired by the work of Chrystel Lebas in her photo book ‘Field Studies’ where she included a section towards the end called ‘Plant Portraits or Weeds & Aliens Species’ taking inspiration from the way Edward Salisbury documented species by uprooting them and photographing them by using photogenic paper- she produce her own interpretations of his work. I tried to create the appearance of a photo gram by inverted the images and adjusting the hues to create variations of the same image. I then displayed these together in my photo book. I also think these edits reflect the photograms that early botanists made with light. One example is Anna Atkins’ photograms of algae in 1843 which is a botanist i took inspiration from in my 5th photoshoot. I then ended my photobook with a single full page image of the rope i found at La Motte as I think it represents how the landscape has changed from a fully natural one, to one that’s now has man made objects affecting the natural environment.
Overall, I think my photo book sums up my political landscapes project well, the images showing the final outcomes of my developed ideas. I think that the contrast between the archival images of La Motte and my own images is effective in representing how the natural environment is changing. Also the edited variations of the objects I gathered shows the final outcomes of the colour experimentation i developed throughout my project. Photographing natural landscape is an aspect to photography I wasn’t as used to as I normally focus on buildings and industrial structures and by moving away from this, I think i produced a range of images that are unlike any I’ve photographed before with a different appearance and atmosphere.
For my printed images I chose the ones that represented all aspects of my photo book. The landscape images I have chosen show when i went out at different times of the day and in different weathers. The biggest A3 image is from a shoot where I went out and photographed the landscape at dusk to produce work that had blue and cool tones within the scene to create a mysterious, other-worldly appearance. I chose this image as my only A3 image as i wanted to emphasise it as i think it gives an insight into the landscape images I produced in this projects. I then chose four A4 images to be printed where i have three of my own photos that have more detail within them and also an archival image. I included more detailed images to contrast with the A3 landscape images as i wanted to show how my photos vary in the angles they were taken and what is portrayed.
I included a archival images into my final prints as my project was based around how the landscape had changed over the period of 100 years so I thought that including them would also give an insight into what my project was about and the history of the area. The A4 archival image shows the layers within Green Island when they were doing an excavation and also shows three men in it which i think contrasts well with my images. The A5 archival image is of a skull which was found at La Motte which i included as I think it goes well with the a$ images where it shows light rock, the shape resembling a skull as well. For the rest of my A5 image I included 3 of my formal images where i photographed objects I found at La Motte in a studio and edited them so that they mimic that of a photogram. I did this to interpret the work of Chrystel Labas and included them in my final prints as they were a different aspect to my project.
I experimented by arranging the image in photo shop to see which layout was the best to arrange the printed ones in and found I liked the last layout. This is because I think that the images are balanced on each side so that one section doesn’t have too many of the same sized photo. I also like it because the images are displayed spaced out and not in a grid format, but it still looks structured and deliberate as some of the images are lined up at there edges. I tried the place images around colours that complement the ones in the picture. For example, I placed The two yellow and red edit of flowers and rocks next to each other as they are from the same series and the warm colours yellow and red complement each other. I then placed the landscape image of the rock with the yellow surface above these two images as this also complements the yellow and red colours. This creates a section of my layout that contains warm colours, which can then be contrasted to other sections of my board.
I then placed the archival image of the skull diagonal to my image looking down at the white rock as I displayed these together in my photo book. This is because I think that the shape of the skull resembles that of the rock so displaying them together creates a link between the two. I then placed the other archival image to the left which is the only image on my board that contains people. I specially chose this image to use as I liked the compostion of where the figures are standing at different levels on the earth of green island. I also think that it links to my image t of a close up angle of the earth on green island on the top right of my board showing the plants and grass growing. I think that the other layouts i experimented with are still effective, but are not as aesthetically pleasing and balanced as the first.
I first started selecting the images I wanted in my photo book by in lightroom by colour rating them into different colours if i wanted to use them. I had an idea of the images I definitely wanted to use in my photobook so rated them green. I then selected other images which I liked and rated them yellow and purple so I could experiment when designing my photobook in lightroom to see which made the best sequence and portrayed a message. This means that I won’t use all the images I’ve rated, but just the ones that combine to make the best photo series.
I then put all the images into a book format and started rearranging them from there instead of before making the book, so I could visually see what the image look like displayed together and which one complement each other. I want the sequence of my book to nt be too overwhelming because within the landscape images there is a lot of detail. To try and stop this i plan to add in double page spreads of single images between more detailed pages to create a break for the reader. This will also make the double paged images stand out more so I will chose images that I want to be emphasised.
I started my photo book layout by arranging my photos of objects i found on the beach that i formally photographed. I started with theses I knew definitely that i wanted to include these image in my photobook so didn’t have to make decisions about which ones to keep. I decided i wanted a similar layout to Chrystel Lebas in er ‘Field Studies’ book so displayed the original images on the left of the double page spread, with the four edited versions on the right page. I think this layout is effective as it shows the contrast between the originals and the edited versions. One aspect i could improve with these double page spreads are the original images as i don’t like how their is a noticeable border around there the colour of the paper contrasts with the white of the photo book paper. To fix this I made the images full page so that there wasn’t noticeable white borders around the edges.
I also started arranging my landscape photography, starting off by trying to find good combinations of images to go on double page spreads. I decided that i would chose a number of set templates for my photobook so it doesn’t look too unordered so it creates an order that’s easy to look through that has a continuous theme. I decided which images looked good as a double page spread and which looked better as single images. For example, the image taken in my ‘Landscapes at dusk’ shoot looks best as a double page because of its composition as well as the cool tones, the double page adding to the vastness.
Also, because i found myself taking images where the main subject is centered , I couldn’t include these as double page spreads as in my book some of the image in the middle will be cut because of how the book was made, unless the subject was big enough to not get cut off like in the image above. So for these image i had to find combinations with other portrait images to stick to the templates in chose to use which was one landscape and one portrait image on a double page.
When experimenting with layouts i found i like this combination of the archival image and my modern image as together they connect at the same points, creating the appearance of one image across the double page spread. I think that the contrast between the rounded shape of the image in the right in comparison the the image on the left where theres more detailed in the earth creates an interesting image. Although the image were not taken at the same location at La Motte (the archival image is of the island whereas mine is a close up of the rock nearby), I think that it creates a juxtaposition of different textures, the archival image is where the earth has fallen apart from the excavation which juxtaposes with the more smooth texture of the rock with the seaweed attached.
I also like how the difference between the archival and modern is emphases by the archival being in black and white compared to the coloured modern one. This makes the brown tones and the pale blue sky in the modern image stand out more. Although, i decided that i didn’t want to use the layout of these tow images together in my photobook as the layout in my book has a full page image together with another image with a white border, which this layout doesn’t follow so may look out of place. To fix this i could create more double pages like this, but i don’y have enough archival images that connect at the same points to my modern images to make enough page. I will use these images in my photobook, but separately with with different images complementing them.
For this layout, I narrowed the images down to two layouts that worked best with my image on the right side. The layout on the left has my image displayed full page, with an archival image of a skull on the left page. I think this this combination of images works well as the shape of the bright rock in my image resembles the shape of a skull and is a similar colour. This creates a link between the two image which I think makes a good layout, linking the past to the present. When editing I brightened the rock so it was more noticeable, which i think also makes the link more noticeable. I also like the contrast in the background of the two images. The archival image has a lack background as it’s a formally taken photo, this then contrast to the background of my image which is brown rocks, adding more detail to the image. The dark parts and shadows in my image link to the black background of the archival one, which i think makes them complement each other. There is also a mystery surrounding the archival image about who’s skull is displayed in the image as the skull belonged to somebody over 90 years ago, the rock also belonged to the land along time ago.
The second layout is another landscape image i took from a different shoot. In this shoot the lighting was different so the appearance of this rock different as it has warmer tones where the brown is emphasised with more yellow tones. This contrasts worth the image on the right where the warm tones are less noticeable, the town more darker. Another reason i think these images complement each other is they both have noticeable dark lines highlighting the shape and texture of the rock, linking them. The lines in each image are detailed, but have similar shapes to each other and the combination the two makes the layout seem more modern through he warm colours and the shapes resembling that of abstract, especially in the left image where i took a close up angle. Using this image also emphasises the highlights in the right image as it’s brighter.
Comparing the two layouts I decided that I will chose the layout comparing the skull to my image as i think it represent the concept of my project more. he archival image contrasting to the modern image addresses how the natural landscape changes an evolves over time.
Text in Book
La Motte is a tidal island, and listed archaeological site, also known as Green Island, located in the Vingtaine de Samarès in the parish of St Clement on the south-east coast of Jersey, Channel Islands.
Archaeological excavations carried out between 1911 and 1914 showed that the islet had been occupied over a long period of time. Despite being quite small the site is unusual because it had several both ritual and domestic elements, as well as providing important environmental evidence relating to changes in sea level. The remains of a series of prehistoric rubbish heaps, dating between 1,500-300 BC, containing fragments of pottery, animal bones, stone tools and shells were found.
Some archaeological evidence has been found here. Remains of a cemetery on La Motte are believed to be from later settlers. There are Neolithic elements including a cairn and a number of middens, dating from 1500 BC to 300 BC, on La Motte.
I think including text about La Motte gives the reader insight into the images their looking at as they might not know where ‘La Motte’ is as it’s more commonly known as Green Island. I also think that it reflect the work of Chrystel Lebas in her photobook ‘Field Studies’ as she also includes text about the places she visits. In her book she also includes 3 essays from others about the environment to back up her images. I decided not to include long passages in my photobook I didn’t want to take the attention of the readers away from the images, so included a few short passages to help inform them about the project, but not completely distract them away from the main concept.
For this photo shoot i went back to La Motte to gather more objects that I thought represented what was there now to compare with archival images. I narrowed these images down and displayed them in a contact sheet above. Whilst i was there I also took additional landscape photos as the weather was different to what my other landscape images had been take in. From the photos I took, I displayed the final landscape images and studio images separately in two parts below.
Part 1- Landscapes
I particularly like these two images from this shoot as they have a different atmosphere to the other images in my project. The bright blue sky that’s behind the rocks and horizon, contrasts with the tones in the foreground in both images. When editing these images I will emphasise the contrast between the two colours. In the first image I was drawn to the unusual shape that the rock made along the top and the detailed sharp edges within it. I wanted to emphases the chaotic nature of the pattern, so contrasted it with the plain blue sky on the top half of the image, splitting the image in two. In the second image I wanted to emphases the developments that have been built along the horizon to contrast with the archival images from over 90 years ago when they were there. This is why I centered the image so that the incinerator was were the eyes are drawn to. I found I also created the same composition in this image as the first image, where the patterned bottom half of the image is contrasted to the blue sky.
I found that when I am taking photos I takes ones where the main subject is in the center of the image, creating a symmetrical composition. In my photo book I plan to space out the images where I centered an aspect of the photo, so that they create more impact by themselves.
Other images from the shoot:
In these portrait images I tried to emphasise the shadows the that were made by the rocks. I particularly like the third image where i take a close up image of the pattern on a rock, highlighting the light and dark. I think that this image contrasts well with the other landscape images as it shows a close up angles contrasts with a wide one. In all the images, I wanted to focus on one section or a rock or the earth and emphasise it, which is why the objects all continue out of the sides of the photos.
Editing:
When editing these landscape images in photoshop I found that they were most effective when they were black and white. I experimented by editing a couple of them this way and compared them to the originals.
As well as turning the images black and white, I also adjusted the contrast and the white and black to find what made the image look the most aesthetically pleasing.
I think these two images in particular are the most effective in black and white as the detailed patterns that were originally there stand out even more. The different tones in the sky are more noticeable and are emphasised by the contrast to the rocks. Whilst editing I also used the grauduated filter to make the sky have more of a range of tones so that the final image was more vast and dramatic.
Although I like my black and white edits where I’ve emphasised the light and dark, I think that my final images for this project should be in colour as the archival images I have chosen to include in my photo book are in black and white. If my images were also in black and white the reader might get confused as to which ones are the modern ones that I took.
Part 2- Objects Experimentation
For the images photographed in a studio I edited them on photoshop. I first inverted the image to create the appearance of a photogram, simialr to Chrystel Lebas and Edward James Salisbury. I like this editing style as in my previous experiments from different shoots I found that the final images reflect the work of the early botanists where they used light sensitive paper which gives my images a scientific appearance. Instead of using natural objects i.e plants and seaweed, in this shoot I photographed man made objects to represent the changed environment in my work. Comparing these photos to that of early botanists show how what is found has changed over the period of 100 years and reflects the ideas of anthropocene. Secondly, I adjusted the levcels in my image so that the background was darker to contrast against the objects. I then adjusted the hue of the images so that that I could create different variations of the same image to see which one was the most effective. I displayed these variations below in a grid format. I also adjusted the levels in each image to brighten the obejcts and make the background darker.
From these variations of the same images, I think that the most effective image edited in the bottom row as I like the use of negative space within the circle shape the rope is making. I also like how the background in these images is completely black, taking the attention and focusing on the objects. The other edited images do this but have grey tones within this so distract the audience form the main subjects. Although I do like how the top rown images have a different appearance to the other. The bottom row shows exactly whats the object is, the appearance being more scientific, whereas in the top row it is harder to distinguish what the object is, perhaps making the overall image more interesting. This is through the lighter shapes surrounding the rope, which is the shadows inverted that were created when I photographed the images. I created shadows purposefully when photographing these objects as I wanted to see the effect it created when I inverted the images. Compared to the bottom row images, I think that they have a more delicate appearance as the shapes created are more rounded and go in multiple directions. In conclusion, I think that all the images are effective as they show different aspects of the same objects at different sections of it. In my photo book I will include a few variations of these images to interpret the work of Chrystel Lebas in her photo book ‘Field Studies’ where she include photograms.
For another object experimentation I decided to use all of the objects I had collected over the shoots I have previously done ans combine them with the objects I found in this shoot. I think that this is a good way of showing the changed environment and I thought that it could be a good image to end my photo book with. When arranging the objects, I first put the rope in a circle shape as this is the biggest object and the one that stands out the most. I then started placing the other objects around the shape of the rope, going in the same directions. I think that the combination of the natural obejcts e.g rocks, plants, flowers, seaweed in comparison to the main subjects the rope, creates an interesting image as it separates them as there is a divide in the center of the image, created by the rope.
I then went on to experiment with this image by editing the colour and tones within it. I tried to use warm and cold colours to see which was the most effective. Out of these edits I think that the black and white image is the most effective. This is because the shapes and shadows are emphasised as well as the negative space. Although in this image it is harder to see what objects are being photographed as they are all arranged so close together. In the orange/yellow toned image it is easier to tell what the objects are as the edit brightens the objects and the colours within them. In conclusion, I’ve decided that I won’t use this image in my photo book as I think it is too different from my other formally taken images and won’t create an easy sequence to look at. Also I like how in my other images I have displayed the objects by themselves to create a scientific appearance, like what botanists do when they are analysising species. In this image you cannot tell what each o f the objects are clearly and doesn’t follow the scientific approach I have been following throughout my project.
1. Write a book specification and describe in detail what your book will be about in terms of narrative, concept and design. Produce a mood-board of design ideas and consider the following:
Narrative:What is your story?
Describe in:
3 words
Re-visiting changed environment
A sentence
Looking at archival imagery, I re-visited La Motte to document the effect of time on the environment.
A paragraphs
90 years after the archaeological excavations at La Motte of 18 cists dated from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, I re-visited this area comparing the archival imagery with what is there today. I focused on documenting the environment e.g rocks, plants and landscape, as well as gathering objects i found there and photographing them formally. The underlying theme to my photobook is the effect of mankind on the environment over a period of time, taking inspriation from ‘Field Studies’ by Crystel Lebas.
Design: Consider the following
How you want your book to look and feel
Paper and ink
Format, size and orientation
Binding and cover
Title options:
La Motte: Walking through Landscapes and Archives
La Motte: The Changing Environment
The Changing Island
The Island: Walking through Landscapes and Archives
Structure and architecture
Design and layout
Editing and sequencing
Images and text
I want my photo book to have a scientific appearance to it, linking to the formal imagery at the end of the book of objects I gathered taking inspiration from early botanists . I also want to try and emphasise the comparisons between the archival imagery and my photography by having my images in colour which contrasts with the black and white archival images. Similar to Crystel Lebas I want my photobook to have writing in it giving information and history about the area. Some of the landscape imagery will be across two pages, similar to Lebas panoramic photography. The photo book will be portrait and smaller than A4. Inside the photobook I will stick in additional images after it has been printed to emphasise the appearance of a scientific notebook, giving a more authentic, handmade look. The first half of my book will focus on my landscape photography documenting the area. On some of these pages I will juxtapose them with archival imagery from 1911-1914 to show the history of the area and to show how the environment has changed over 90 years due to climate change. Towards the end of the photobook I will display the edits of the objects alongside the original image formally. This is a contrast to the first part of the book, the last part focusing on a more scientific exploration. In ‘Field Studies’ Le bas calls the second half of her photobook ‘Weeds & Aliens Studies’ taking inpiration from Salsibury’s book. I also want to include some of the natural objects and archival imagery at the start of my book as the reader opens it so they have an idea of what the photobook is about and can understand the underlying story more.
One quote i want to use in my photobook is ‘We can in fact only define a weed, mutatis mutandis, in terms of the well-known definition of dirt as matter out of place. What we call a weed is in fact merely a plant growing where we do not want it.’ Edward James Salisbury (1935). This is because I think it links to my imagery of objects i gathered in the area (specifically the plants) as they have been taken out of their natural environment.
How do the photographers Chrystel Lebas and Mandy Barker explore issues of the changing environment?
Introduction
Anthropocene: the Earth’s most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced, based on overwhelming global evidence that earth system processes are now altered by humans. In my essay I intend to explore how the photographers Chrystel Lebas and Mandy Barker express their views on the natural environment changing due to human activity in the anthropocene. Looking at the environment is a relevant topic for todays society, but I think the topic of how how natural landscapes have developed needs to be represented creatively more often. The photographers Lebas and Barker both portray their opinions about the environment changing from external factors such as climate change and pollution . Climate change is yet another environmental problem that has surfaced in the last couple of decades. I first became interested in the work of Mandy Barker when i began researching photographers who represented these issues in their photography. I was personally interested in this subject as Barker’s work particularly fascinated me through the intriguing patterns created from her microscopic samples in her series ‘Beyond drifting: Imperfectly known animals’, addressing issues with plastic debris levels in seas and the detrimental effects this has. She takes inspiration from John Vaughan Thompson’s early scientific discoveries of plankton and subtly uses his original writing, descriptions, and figures recorded in his research memoirs from 1830, entitled ‘Imperfectly Known Animals’. I also chose to explore the work of Lebas’ as she portrays her views on environmental change uniquely, revisiting the areas that Edward James Salisbury had to see the effects that time had on the landscape and the species living there. I aim to to compare the reasonings behind both of their works, their inspirations, how their images look visually , and how they present their works to help their underlying message. Researching these two artists has helped me develop my own work by inspiring me to take images in the style of early scientists and botanists. Similar to how they both looked at archival imagery, I also looked at archival imagery from the area La Motte, Jersey to see how the environment has changed over a century. Their exploration into anthropocene has lead me to research this topic and let it influence me in way way i take photographs.
Historical/ theoretical context
The 19th century was the golden age of landscape painting in Europe and America. Three aesthetic concepts emerged during the Romantic era divided the natural world into categories: the Pastoral, the Picturesque, and the Sublime. The first two represent Nature as a comforting source of physical and spiritual existence. The last, as articulated by Edmund Burke in his Philosophical Enquiry into the ‘Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)’, refers to the thrill and danger of confronting untamed Nature and its overwhelming forces. Burke believed that “whatever is fitted to produce such a tension must be productive of a passion familiar to terror, and consequently must be a source of the sublime ” (Edmund Burke, 1757, Philosophical Enquiry into the ‘Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: pg. 149) where our ability to perceive or comprehend what is presented to us is temporarily overwhelmed. However he also believed there was an inherent pleasure in this emotion. This Romantic conception of the sublime proved influential for several generations of artists. Burke associates qualities of “balance,” “smoothness,”and “color” with the beautiful, while he speaks of the sublime in terms such as “vastness” and “terror” (Burke, 1757).
The theory of the picturesque was developed by writers William Gilpin (Observations on the River Wye 1770) and Uvedale Price, who in 1794 published ‘An Essay on the Picturesque as Compared’ with the Sublime and Beautiful. Picturesque arose as a mediator between these opposed ideals of beauty and the sublime, showing the possibilities that existed in between these two rationally idealised states. The Pastoral and Picturesque reference mankind’s ability to control the natural world, the Sublime is a humbling reminder that humanity is not all-powerful.
Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831 John Constable 1776-1837
In British art, Romanticism was embraced in new responses to nature in the art of John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. In 1814 the English landscape painter John Constable put this in his own words when he said the beauty of nature generates a train of associations that leads “to the contemplation of higher, spiritual values”(Anne Lyles, Sublime Nature: John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from theMeadows, Tate) and his idea is illustrated in Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831. Constable’s dark, passionate clouds, are in contrast to the sunlight of the foreground, where you see the church scene as gothic, and negative. These aspects of the painting widens towards sublimity: God, nature and man. Burke favoured this aesthetic idea over Beauty because, he said, ‘astonishment, obscurity and vastness cause a more powerful physical reaction in us than Beauty’s orderly calm’ (Tony Schwab, 2016, The Persistence of the Sublime: pg.5) Constable’s painting is balanced between these two aesthetic ideas.
In Victorian England, J.M.W. Turner focused on the energy in Nature itself when he went outside to paint in all kinds of weather. He painted expressions of vastness, terror, and obscurity, portraying nature itself as Sublime.
His painting ‘The Shipwreck’ is one of the artist’s largest and most intensely dramatic pictures, unmatched at the time of its creation in its depiction of the destructive power of the sea. (David Blayney Brown, Sea Pictures: Turner’s Marine Sublime and a Sketchbook of c.1803–10, Tate)
Artist, writer and critic Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe has expressed a current view of the beautiful-sublime relation in his book, Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime, 1999. What is most revolutionary about Gilbert-Rolfe’s perspective is his notion that the sublime cannot exist in nature today. He claims that the sublime can only inhabit, or be expressed by, technology – as technology is limitless and yet to be apprehended. Picturesque Travel author William Gilpin first defined the landscape term as expressing “that particular kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture” (Watson, 1970, 19).
First artist/photographer in relation to your essay question.
Chrystel Lebas
The French photographer Chrystel Leas spent the first 10 years of her life in Sérignan-du-Comtat, a village in the Vaucluse in south-eastern France. To the north the village is bordered by scrubland and pine forest, first with her mother and then on trips with her school, she begun to study the life of the forest. At the end of the 1990s, she began to photograph the natural landscape. She preferred to work at night, or at twilight (what the French call l’heure bleu ) when the world becomes more mysterious. “I was fascinated by night itself, by the absence of light and the impossibility of photographing,” Lebas told Nanda van den Berg, the director of the Huis Marseille in Amsterdam. (Liz Jobey on Chrystel Lebas, 2016, Financial Times)
In 2011 the Natural History Museum London commissioned Chrystel Lebas to make new work inspired by an early 20th century collection of glass negatives depicting the British landscape by photographer Edward James Salisbury. She particularly focused on Scottish and Norfolk landscapes, re-visiting the places that Salisbury did in the 1920s and 1930s to document environmental change that had occurred over nearly ninety years later. “Walking, searching, GPS in hand, I attempted to find the exact locations where Salisbury stood when he took his photographs at the beginning of the 20th century” (Chrystel Lebas, 2011, Re-visiting) . She focused on three subject areas: habitat, locality and specimens and “through photography and film Lebas traces the continual encounters between the forces of the wind and the sea with humans, animals, and plants.” (Bergit Arends on Chrystel Lebas, 2017, Published by Fw:Books, Amsterdam). On her walks, Lebas was often accompanied by a contemporary botanical expert searching out the plants he had isolated and documented on light sensitive paper. “I was interested in challenging how I used the cameras, but also challenging the landscape.”(Liz Jobey, 2016, The Financial Times Weekend Magazine) For this latest project, however, the challenge was set by the landscape and its past.
“My remit was very different from Salisbury’s. He was a scientist disguised as a photographer. Was I becoming a photographer disguised as a scientist?”(Chrystel Lebas, Publications, www.chrystellebas.com/publications)
Rothiemurchus in Scotland
This photograph was taken in Rothiemurchus, Scotland, linking to concepts of sublime photography and focusing on nature as being the main subject.. The Rothiemurchus estate is one of the largest surviving areas of ancient woodlands in Europe where the average age of the Scots pines exceeds 100 years with some more than 300 years old. Le bas’ panoramic landscape photograph expands what is seen by the audience of the scene. The underlying story of this photograph to me is the detrimental effects that mankind have had on the environment over the past years. This photograph was taken in 2012 which I think is Lebas’ way of expressing to people how mankind is effecting the environment today and is still very much a relevant issue. The way this photo was documented makes it seem to me as though she has stumbled across this on her walk which adds to the shocking nature of it. The surrounding trees are perfectly in tack but the tree in the centre of the image is completely snapped in half on it’s side. This makes the audience question why it’s like this and creates mystery behind the scene.
The surrounding trees are all tall and straight, some going out of the frame on the left side of the image which adds to the contrast of the standing trees to the broken one. As well as this, most of the green tones in this image are on the surrounding trees, the broken one being a light brown tone which is different from the rest of the image, further emphasising the contrast of the two elements in the photo. This follows on from Lebas’ environmental series looking at how the environment has changed over 90 years in comparison to Salisbury’s photographs. This image in comparison to Salisbury’s is shocking which I think emphasises the effect of climate change. “My photograph shows more trees than Salisbury’s black and white plate. Mark Spencer explained that these could have been growing thoughout the 90 years surrounding the older tree seen in the center of the image. Thus showing me that in order to understand that habitat one must understand its history.” (Chrystel Lebas, The Photographers Gallery interview, Daniel C. Blight) So Lebas’ true meaning behind this image in particular was to show how landscape changes over time, portraying new trees that have grown over the 90 years, and the older on its side, portraying how trees are growing, dying and re-generating themselves.
The loss of plant and animal species due to human activities have been more rapid in the past 50 years than at any time in human history, increasing the risks of abrupt and irreversible changes to ecosystems. (www.anthropocene.info) When Lebas revisited the areas that Salisbury did she found that species that were there over 90 years ago weren’t there anymore, reflecting her views about species going extinct within her photography. Sean O’Hagan thinks that the book is “an investigation of a landscape that now has such a heavy human footprint as to no longer be “natural” in the way Salisbury would have understood the term. ” stated in his article in The Guardian (Sean O’Hagan, 2017, The Guardian: Field Studies by Chrystel Lebas review). I think this is true as the landscape she visited has changed so much that a whole plant species has gone extinct. This reflects the ideologies of anthropocene where atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic and other earth system processes are now altered by humans, which is a concept I think Lebas is trying to represent.
I also think many of her photographs greatly link to the ideologies by philosopher Edmund Burke in ‘Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)’ where he talks about the thrill and danger of confronting untamed Nature and its overwhelming forces. This image displays nature as untamed through the broken tree in the centre of the image and the towering trees filling most of the photograph, nature overwhelming the senses. “Lebas sees her works as referring to the Romantic tradition, citing Casper David Friedrich and notions of the sublime as key influences. With images of escape, wilderness and the grandeur of nature, her practice relates to some of the main tenets of Romanticism to photography and raises significant questions about how the contemporary (urban) viewer engages with nature.” (Deborah Schultz, Portfolio Catalogue, Chrystel Lebas: The Wait: pg. 35). I can see how Lebas’ work takes inspiration from the 19th-century Romantic landscape painter Casper David Friedrich through the tones she’s emphasises to portray vast nature as well as the bright backgrounds against the darker subject, creating a romanticised aesthetic.
Caspar David Friedrich Cairn in Snow 1807, Midday 1821-22
Sean O’hagan thinks that “Lebas’s images have a kind of heightened elementalism. She uses a panoramic camera and often shoots at dusk when the light quality in these still, quiet places can be almost otherworldly” (Sean O’Hagan, 2017, The Guardian: Field Studies by Chrystel Lebas review). I agree with this statement as I think her use of cool dark tones adds to to an elementric quality. Elementalism refers to ‘worship of the natural elements of earth, air, water, and fire.‘ and i think Lebas’ photography has an awareness of spirituality in living things. In this image the way she’s accentuates the patterns in the dark green trees against the bright sky makes them seem alive and spiritual in comparison to the broken tree. Also the way she shoots at dusk emphasises the mystical atmosphere and shadows that consumes the image adding to the elementalism.
I agree that Lebas “alerts people to the changes wrought by man and the climate on the landscape, than by drawing them in through these photographs to consider how fragile it has become.” (Liz Jobey, 2016, Natural Histories, Weekend magazine: pg. 27) to an extent. Although she does present nature being ‘fragile’ and vulnerable to changes of human activity, she also presents it as vast and powerful through her use of cool tones and boundless landscapes. Overall she presents her underlying message that the changes in natural landscapes are due to humans and climate change and portrays nature as immense and beautiful at the same time.
I tried to photograph the landscape at La Motte taking inspiration from Crystal Lebas’ natural landscapes. In this image I tried to emphasise the cool tones to heighten the elementalism, like in many of Lebas’ images relating to the ideologies of sublime. I think this particular image of mine definitely reflects that of the sublime, through the bold, structured shapes of the rocks with dark tones ranging rom brown to black. This combined with the sky which is a blue tone due to being taken at dusk, creates a mysterious and other-worldly appearance, similar to Lebas’ images. In this image I wanted to show how the environment was changing by how the rocks had been warn down in comparison to archival images from one-hundred years ago. This is similar to how Lebas wanted to express how the environment was changing though how trees are growing, dying and re-generating themselves.
Second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question.
Mandy Barker
In 2012, photographer Mandy Barker was awarded The Royal Photographic Society’s Environmental bursary, which enabled her to join scientists in a research expedition to examine the accumulation of marine plastic debris. She began her investigations in the Pacific Ocean but has subsequently widened her focus to different bodies of water around the world. Her series, “Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals” was presented at the Unseen Photo Fair in 2016. The images were based of scientific fact about an area she had documented for more than nine years where she hoped by producing images would lead to positive actions in tackling this increasing environmental problem, which is currently of global concern.
Barker started focusing on ocean plastic as a both a “message and a medium as she was brought up near the sea and regularly walked the same beaches and locations. This is where she noticed over the last 20 years that the natural objects I used to collect were being replaced by man made ones.” (Mandy Barker, 2016, Faculty Magazine interview). Once struck by seeing the same inkjet cartridge in the stomach of a bird that was used in her own printer, Mandy creates meticulous, contemplative works that connect us back to the choices we make and the things we leave behind.
Plankton form a diverse group of microscopic marine organisms living in the water column, not able to swim against the current; rather, they exist in a drifting state. In this series, unique specimens of this animal species are related to the pioneering discoveries made by John Vaughn Thompson in Cobh a military surgeon and amateur naturalist in the 1800s, about little-understood marine organisms, which he referred to as “imperfectly known animals”. This title relates to today as ” plankton today are ‘imperfect’ because they contain micro plastics” (Mandy Barker Interview, Photo Works) whereas Thompson collected and studied plankton when they were not ingesting plastic.
For example in this photographs she uses a long exposure, like in her other images, to show the movement of the plastic floating like plankton would which is then presented within a circular frame. I think using this shape frame makes the audience feel like they’re looking through the microscope themselves. She captures this on expired film with faulty cameras, making the film grain intentionally visible, which i think gives the image a more authentic look and adds to the historic science book appearance that she designed it to have. The shapes created by the plastic debris are abstract and aesthetically pleasing, the white shape contrasted against the black background. Barker does this to then shock the audience when they find out that what they are looking at is not something beautiful, but instead is being digested by marine life around the world. To me, this image in particular looks natural, like a plant or flower due to the shapes made by movement, this then shocked me when i found out that it was plastic. “The longer you look at these otherworldly images, there is something ineffably delicate, at times, vulnerable, that surfaces and goes beyond Barker’s photographs themselves. (Sabrina Mandanici, 2018, Collector Daily). I agree that her images are otherworldly as the pattern created is not something that a person would see in their everyday life, which is what makes the series so impactful at expressing her views about the changing environment.
I agree with Sabrina Mandanici, when she states that “in the simplest sense, Barker’s photographs are beautiful images of inanimate objects that, through the means of photography, become living organisms” (Sabrina Mandanici, 2018, Collector Daily). I believe that her work links into the ideologies of beauty and romanticism as she states in a podcast interview that it was her intention to create a ‘beautiful images combined with text, the hard hitting, shocking facts. alongside. Without the text it wouldn’t work because it would just be a beautiful image for arts sake.’ (Mandy Barker Interview, 2016, The Documentary Photographer Podcast, Roger Overall) This means that she wants to make the images aesthetically pleasing to draw the audience in, but them shock them with idea that it is not plankton they are looking at, but plastic debris. She makes the audience think that that what they are looking at is plankton by moving plastic in the same way plankton moves. “Contradiction between beauty and information will combine to make people question” (Mandy Barker, 2018, Port Magazine). This expresses her opinions of changing environments as she takes inspiration from Thompson earlier work investigation plankton in the late 1800s and compares this to her work in the 21st century where plankton species are eating plastic, showing how this species has changed over time due to the effects of anthropocene.
I tried to take inspiration from Mandy Barker in some of my own images in experimentation creating the appearance of a looking through a microscope. Similar to Barker’s I displayed the images with circular frames and cropped the images so that they were zoomed in. In Barker’s images she uses a long exposure when photographing objects to create the appearance of movement like plankton floating in the sea. For my work I formally photographed natural objects i found in the area La Motte and edited them by inverting them and adjusting the hues. Photographing the images formally allowed for me to create shadows underneath the objects, which when edited are blurred to create the appearance of movement. I think my images, similar to Barker’s, relate to ideologies of romanticism and beauty. Having natural objects as my subject makes the appearance look more delicate and fragile.
Conclusion/ Comparison
In conclusion both artists express their view on the changing environment effectively. Lebas does this by documenting landscapes and investigating the areas that Salisbury did over 90 years ago to see the changes in the environment,reporting that she found entire species of plant that were not there anymore and comparing her images to archival ones. On the other hand Barker uses beautiful abstract microscopic samples of marine plastic debris to shock the audience when they find out what they are looking at, highlighting the issue of plankton eating plastic which is then passed through the food chain in oceans. I also do this in my work by comparing my landscape images with archival photos from the area La Motte to see how the environment has changed in a century. Both photographers images’ reflect that of otherworldly, Lebas’ images having a heightened elementalism with emphasised dark tones, whereas Barker produces abstract images that have patterns that are not seen an a persons everyday life, highlighting the feel of movement. Both emphasise these aspects to draw the audience in to get their underlying message across. I also think my images reflect that of other worldly as I emphasised the dark blue tones in the landscape taken at dusk creating a mysterious appearance and a heightened elementalism. I think that Leas work reflects that of the sublime where she emphasised the vast landscapes she comes across with dark tones contrasted against bright ones. Similarly, I think my work links to concepts of sublime where i have emphasised dark shapes and cool tones. I tried to draw attention to the bold structures in the landscapes such as rocks and earth to highlight the vastness. On the other hand I think Barker’s work links more to the ideologies of picturesque and beauty through the delicate patterns and blurred photos so that the underlying message comes as more of a shock to the audience. Another aspect that both photographer have in common is that their series’ ‘Field Studies’ and Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly known animals’ both have a antique science book appearance, mimicking the past while reflecting on the current situation regarding organisms. Lebas’ work takes inspiration from that of Edward Salisbury a landscape photographer in the early 1900s where his visited different areas and documented the scenes and specimens he found. Similarly, Barker takes inspiration from John Thompson in her series, an amateur naturalist in the 1800s, who made pioneering discoveries about animal species, which he referred to as “imperfectly known animals”. I also think that my work links to this idea, as i have looked back at archival images, taken over 90 years ago and have compared that environment to what is there now. Both photographers refer back to past discoveries and images by photographers over 90 years and 200 years ago to show how the environment has changed over that period of time and to highlight the effects of anthropocene.
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
Quotes:
Edmund Burke, 1757, Philosophical Enquiry into the ‘Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: pg. 149 (https://books.google.je/books/about/A_Philosophical_Enquiry_Into_the_Origin.html?id=pdpDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=pleasure&f=false)
Anne Lyles, Sublime Nature: John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from theMeadows, Tate (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime/anne-lyles-sublime-nature-john-constables-salisbury-cathedral-from-the-meadows-r1129550)
Tony Schwab, 2016, The Persistence of the Sublime: pg.5 (https://www.academia.edu/35950994/The_Persistence_of_the_Sublime.docx)
David Blayney Brown, Sea Pictures: Turner’s Marine Sublime and a Sketchbook of c.1803–10 (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime/david-blayney-brown-sea-pictures-turners-marine-sublime-and-a-sketchbook-of-c1803-10-r1141418#fn_1_1)
Liz Jobey on Chrystel Lebas, 2016, Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/ce6821a4-b1cd-11e6-a37c-f4a01f1b0fa1)
Chrystel Lebas, The Photographers Gallery interview, Daniel C. Blight (https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/content/photography-regarding-nature)
Sean O’Hagan, 2017, The Guardian: Field Studies by Chrystel Lebas review (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/24/field-studies-chrystel-lebas-photographic-journey-britain-wild-places-plants)
I started experimenting with my images from photoshoot 5 in photoshop, taking inspiration again from the photograms in Chrystel Leas series ‘field studies’ with new material. I want to continue developing my interpretations of her work so i can include some in my final photobook. In this photoshoot i collected natural objects like plants and rocks and displayed them formally. In Photoshop I inverted the images so that the white background i photographed the objects on turned black. I then adjusted the hue of the images to create different variations of the same image. I also adjusted the levels in the image to produce the most aesthetically pleasing image with the most detail. After this process i edit the image in Lightroom and edit around the objects so that the background is the same colour, eliminating any lighting and marks that weren’t supposed to be there.
I particularly liked this image when i experimented with different colours as i think the multiple objects displayed makes the image more interesting to look at and creates more of an impactful image. I also chose to display these images together as i think they work best as multiple images together, rather than singles images by themselves, as it shows the contrast between the 4 images and the variations. It also shows how the colour of the main subject of the image can can the whole feeling of the image. For example, the red image makes me think the there is a negative concept and message behind the plants, whereas this effect is not created in the yellow edited image.
Displaying them together shows how there can be many variations of the same image, that portray different meaning through colour. In these images i think that the black background works well as it emphasises the repetition of the leaves and shapes going down in size and the different shape that each plant has. I also chose to photograph this image landscape, unlike my other images in this photoshoot as i wanted to display the different sizes of plant. I think this can then show plants at different stages of their life representing how the landscape is constantly changing and growing .
Anna Atkins’s cyanotype of the eagle fern (1843)
I like the effect created when I inverted this image and adjusted the levels without changing the hue in this image as I think it reflects the early photograms that botanists made with light. One example is Anna Atkins’ photograms of algae in 1843. I think it creates an image reflecting the ideologies of romanticism that isn’t shown as much in the images where i edited them have a black background. This is because the main subject is made to seem brighter because of the brighter blue background, creating a more delicate and fragile appearance the objects. I also like this effect as it makes the appearance of the image seem more scientific, like an X-ray analysing every aspect of what’s portrayed.
The flowers in the inverted image look as though they are slightly blurred. This is because the shadows i created when taking the photographs have turned whiter, blending with the actual objects, making it seem as it it’s slightly moving. This reflects Mandy Barkers images in her series ‘Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals’ where she moves the the plastic debris she’s photographing so it’s blurred and looks as though it floating in the sea.
I continued experimenting with this image to see if i liked them in colour edits. I found that i do like them, but for a different reason to the first edit. These images have a more powerful, impactful appearance in comparison to the first edit. This is is because of the contrast between the dark black background with the bright colours of the plants and rocks. I also like these images as i think they grab the audiences attention quicker, and the repetition of the same image horizontally shows how variations of the same image can look very different.
I think i prefer the first two images other than the forth and fifth images as i think the last two look to edited and artificial. Although that was the intention of editing the in bright colours, the last two might be too edited. The first two are yellow and red and work as a juxtaposition to one another, whereas the last two don’t work as well as a contrast as they are both tones of blue. Overall I think these images work well as a series showing different colour edits. If i were to use them in my photobook i would arrange them in a different order so that the two tones of blue weren’t next to each other in the series.
Finally, i created different edits of images displaying just plants in them, also including some small flowers i found on La Motte. I think these are my favourite two images that i edited as i think they created a more delicate appearance that wasn’t there when rocks were displayed in the image. This is because rocks are bold and structured in comparison to the plants I’ve displayed. I first started editing these images by inverting them and not changing the hue to see if this image work as well as the previous image. I found that i liked this edit, creating a similar appearance to the the previous ones, reflecting the work of botanist Anna Atkins that some would consider the first female photographer. I developed them further and found that i preferred these images when i adjusted them in colour.
These three images are my favourite variations of colour edits. The first two are the same image edited in yellow and blue. I like the first image as it simplistic yet detailed at the same time. The detailed patterns created by the stem and flowers on the plant make the image more interesting, but it is still simplistic through the dark black background. This focuses all the attention to the object in the image.
I arranged the plants this way, with one placed vertically with the other coming out of it side, as it creates the appearance that it’s just one plant and i also wanted the stems and flowers to be pointing in different directions to create a more interesting shape. Having the plants in different directions makes them more emphasised against the black background as you are able to see all parts of the plant, rather than them being on top of one another.
The second image is edited in blue tones. I made the plant brighter in this image in comparison to the others as i thought it worked well with the blue background. Also in this image i decided that instead of a black background i would experiment by having a more navy colour to complement the blue tones of the plant, which i think worked well. In this images the blurred lines are emphasised more which is an effect i like.
The third image is my favourite from the shoot. In addition to the plant, i also added small flowers that i found on La Motte on the left side of the image to give it another interesting aspect. I think this image worked well as a yellow edit, as the flowers i found were originally yellow, so the edit emphasises there natural colour making them stand out more. I also think that they complement the plant well as they are different tones of yellow, the plant being a more darker yellow with hints of brown. The same delicate effect is created taking inspiration from the ideologies of romanticism, similar to the first two images but i think this effect is emphasised with further with the flowers added. This is because of how the flowers all create different shapes against the black background, not one being the same. When photographing this image i tried to make it seem a though they were originally apart of the plant, but had fallen of due to the changing environment.
For this photoshoot I wanted to re-visit the idea of formally photographing plants and objects I find at Green Island, taking inspiration from Chrystel Lebas and Edward Salisbury and his botanical photography. I wanted to create a scientific style to contrast with the landscape photography that would be in my photobook.
I first chose the image i thought were the most aesthetically pleasing and has the best lighting in them. I then displayed below unedited. I want to show the contest between the unedited to the edited. in this shoot gathered the objects i collected recently and tried to put them in different arrangements to find the one that with the best composition and patterns. I tried photographing single objects and finally started combining different objects together to create a contrast in the images.
I chose this as one of my final images to eventually start to experiment with because of the arrangement of plants. I tried many different ways of displaying these and found i they look best when i arranged them in size order. I think this makes the image look more scientific, similar to how a botanist would look at plants to analyse them. I think having them in size order shows how they were all at different points of growing, representing how the environment is constantly changing and evolving.
I also like this image due to the repetition of the stems creating vertical lines. Each plant then has different shapes and directions which their leaves are going, making all of the plants part of repetition but all being different.
The way the plants are displayed reflect botanists work. For example, in this photoshoot i took inspiration from Anna Atkins (16 March 1799 – 9 June 1871) who was an English botanist and photographer. She is often considered the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images. Some sources claim that she was the first woman to create a photograph.
Anna Atkins learned directly from the scientist William Talbot about two of his inventions related to photography: the “photogenic drawing” technique (in which an object is placed on light-sensitized paper which is exposed to the sun to produce an image) and calotype. Atkins self-published her photograms in the first installment of Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions in October 1843.
“Looking at Atkins’s book today, what is most striking is not the outlines of the algae, however beautifully and delicately they crawl across the pages” (Joanna Moorhead, The Guardian)
I think the images i look interpret Atkin’s, but when i develop the images further and edit them i will make them look even similar to resemble photograms on light sensitive paper.
I also chose the two images below as my final images for this photoshoot as i think they also interpret the work of Anna Atkins well, especially when she looked plants in her photograms, as the stems and leaves are similar to my photographs. I also tried to arrange the plants in a similar way, vertical and spread out so you can see all parts of the plants, reflecting the work of botanists.
I like these two images as they work as single images and as a series. I think they work well displayed together as they are both simplistic images,and the contrast between the one plant and two is small, but changes the composition. The first image shows the plant displayed centered with equal space around the sides, this is so the whole plant is in the frame. I purposefully took the images so that shadows were created underneath the plants so that there are a range of different tones from light to dark in the image. I also wanted to see what the shadows would look like when i edited them with the appearance of a photogram as botanists don’t display there plants with shadows as it’s printed on light sensitive paper.
I used the white background against the plants so that the detailed sections of the plant can be seen and emphasised when i edit them. I chose these plants to photograph as i like how the parts of the plants had dried and gone a brown tone as it created sharp edges to the ends. Also the flowers on the ends had dried as well creating an interesting circle pattern to contrasts with the rest of the image with sharp lines. I also displayed the image with two plants in it as i thought it had an interesting composition where the plants weren’t centered like in my other images.
Conclusion
Overall, i think i successfully took my images in the style of early botanists but i still want to develop these images more by experimenting with different edits and colours. I will then display these together to show different variations of the same image.
I went back to La Motte at dusk and took 100 images. I then narrowed them to 36 images and displayed them below. I decided to go to La Motte at this time so my images have different lighting and tones in them. In Chrystel Lebas photos she often goes out to photograph at dusk (what the French call l’heure bleu ) when the world becomes more mysterious. “I was fascinated by night itself, by the absence of light and the impossibility of photographing” Lebas told Nanda van den Berg, the director of the Huis Marseille in Amsterdam. This inspired me to go out at this time the day to see how this would differ from the previous landscape image I’ve taken in this project.
I like this image I tried to emphasise the cool tones to heighten the elementalism relating to the ideologies of sublime. I think this particular image of mine definitely reflects that of the sublime, through the bold, structured shapes of the rocks with dark tones ranging rom brown to black. This combined with the sky which is a blue tone due to being taken at dusk, creates a mysterious and other-worldly appearance.
I wanted to show how the environment was changing by how the rocks had been warn down in comparison to archival images from one-hundred years ago. This is similar to how Lebas wanted to express how the environment was changing though how trees are growing, dying and re-generating themselves. I also like how the horizon is in the middle of the image creating a good composition, with detailed patterns and structures on the bottom half of the image which is juxtaposed with a simple sky with faint clouds. This is then connected with the rock in the centre of the image, being in both half of the image. The center rock is isolated from everything else in the image by sea and is shown by itself which contrasts to the other rocks in the image which are in groups together making the audiences eye going to the entered rock first. When editing this image i will see why it look like when i darken the clouds creating a more vast image.
I particularly like this image from my photoshoot as it has more context and meaning behind it than some of my other images. To me the cross in the center of the image could represent the peoples lives that have been lost on the beach, or the people that were buried in the island. This makes the image more mysterious and allows for the audience to interpret it however they want.
I also like the composition in this image as it is split into three sections , with the cross in the centre of them. The bottom part is th darker pat of the image, the dark brown tones contrasting to the light blue ones in the sea. The tones in the bottom part of the image link to that on the horizon which creates a more aesthetically pleasing image. This is also because the blue tones in the sea complement the colour of the sky. The cross in the centre of the image is the point that the audience first looks at as it dark brown colour is contrasted against the sea behind it. I think image also links to the first final image in this shoot as they both have a subject in the sender of the image which draws the audience in, which is then surrounded by detailed rocks and blue tones. I think these two image would work well in a photobook as they complement each and have simile aspects but aren’t too similar that your looking at the same image twice.
I tried to emphasise the blue tones in this image when photographing it at dusk and think I successfully did this. When editing this image i will try to further emphasises these blue tones and maybe even create more contrast between the tones in the sea compared to the sky.
Edits
When editing my final images for this shoot i decided that i wanted to emphasise the colours in the sky and darken the colours of the clouds to create image the reflected the ideologies of the sublime more. I use the Graduated filter when editing all my images and adjusted the exposure, contrast and temperature to create more stand out images.
To experiment with this image I darken the blue sky towards the bottom but kept some of the white clouds around the top of the image noticeable so there was more contrasting colours. I think that the edited blue sky against the white clouds emphasises them more than the original and makes the landscape seem more vast. I also darkened the rocks around the bottom of the image to make it seem later in the day than to when he image was actually taken to make the overall appearance more other-worldly and mysterious.
I also experienced my adjusted the colours and temperature in the photos to see if any of the other variation would make a better image. I changed the image so that there were more warm colours int he sky the cooler colours. Doig this created completely different atmosphere in each image compared to the original. These edits make the image look more other-worldly as the colours in the sky aren’t something you would see everyday, which perhaps makes the image more interesting to look at.
Overall, I think i prefer when the first edit where i emphassed the colour tones as it creates a more sublime image and reflects the work Crystal Lebas more, which is something that i wanted to do in this shoot.
In this image i edited in a similar way to my previous image to see how editing the same way would make the images different. I darkened sky in this image using the graduated filter so there was more of a separation between the sky and the sea. I think this makes the sections in the image more noticeable as their are all different colours. Also the darkened sky makes the landscape look more vast and dangerous like there’s a storm, looking more sublime than the original.
I also tried editing this image with a warmer tone for the sky adding more yellow into the landscape, which creates a different atmosphere in the image. It doesn’t look as natural as the original, taking away the natural blue colours and adding a more other-worldly appearance. I also tried brightening the sea in the right image to create more of a contrast between the dark sky but found that it looks too edited as the dark sky would reflect the sea in real life, which isn’t happening in this image.
As a final image I prefer the first image as I think the darkened sky and clouds fits well with the aesthetic and concept of the image as the cross in the centre is representing people who have passed away, addressing a sensitive and sad topic. To me it shows how even though there’s a storm in the picture and waves the sea, the cross still stands as it always has, perhaps saying something about the people who have died in the area.
I also chose this edit as one of my final images as I like the reflects that the rocks create on the sea and also how it’s showing a different atmosphere to my other dusk landscape. The sea is flat with little waves in it, which contrasts to the other images I took which have more of a dramatic appearance. To me, this image is more calm and peaceful through the flat sea and the soft colours in the sky going from light blue and showing a little of the sun thats just set. In my opinion this image reflects more picturesque ideologies, compared my other images that look more sublime as its not as dramatic and vast and emphasises the beauty in the landscape more. When editing this image i used the graduated filter and brightened the sky a little and emphases the softer colours like the pale blue and orange.
This photograph was taken in Rothiemurchus, Scotland, linking to concepts of sublime photography and focusing on nature as being the main subject.. The Rothiemurchus estate is one of the largest surviving areas of ancient woodlands in Europe where the average age of the Scots pines exceeds 100 years with some more than 300 years old. Le bas’ panoramic landscape photograph expands what is seen by the audience of the scene. The underlying story of this photograph to me is the detrimental effects that mankind have had on the environment over the past years. This photograph was taken in 2012 which I think is Lebas’ way of expressing to people how mankind is effecting the environment today and is still very much a relevant issue. The way this photo was documented makes it seem to me as though she has stumbled across this on her walk which adds the to shocking nature of it. The surrounding trees are perfectly in tack but the tree in the centre of the image is completely snapped in half on it’s side. This makes the audience question why it’s like this and creates mystery behind the scene.
The surrounding trees are all tall and straight, some going out of the frame on the left side of the image which adds to the contrast of the standing trees to the broken one. As well as this, most of the green tones in this image are on the surrounding trees, the broken one being a light brown tone which is different from the rest of the image, further emphasising the contrast of the two elements in the photo. This follows on from Lebas’ environmental series looking at how the environment has changed over 90 years in comparison to Salisbury’s photograph. This image in comparison to Salisbury’s is shocking which I think emphasises the effect of climate change. “My photograph shows more trees than Salisbury’s black and white plate. Mark Spencer explained that these could have been growing thoughout the 90 years surrounding the older tree seen in the center of the image. Thus showing me that in order to understand that habitat one must understand its history.” So Lebas’ true meaning behind this image in particular was to show how landscape changes over time, portraying new trees that have grown over the 90 years, and the older tree falling apart on its side, portraying how trees are growing, falling apart and re-generating themselves.
The loss of plant and animal species due to human activities have been more rapid in the past 50 years than at any time in human history, increasing the risks of abrupt and irreversible changes to ecosystems. (www.anthropocene.info) When Lebas revisited the areas that Salisbury did she found that species that were there over 90 years ago weren’t there anymore, reflecting her views about species going extinct within her photography. The book is “an investigation of a landscape that now has such a heavy human footprint as to no longer be “natural” in the way Salisbury would have understood the term. ” stated in his article in The Guardian. I think this is true as the landscape she visited has changed so much that a whole plant species has gone extinct. This reflects the ideologies of anthropocene where atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic and other earth system processes are now altered by humans, which is a concept I think Lebas is trying to represent.
I also think many of her photographs greatly link to the ideologies by philosopher Edmund Burke in ‘Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)’ where he talks about the thrill and danger of confronting untamed Nature and its overwhelming forces. This image displays nature as untamed through the broken tree in the centre of the image and the towering trees filling most of the photograph, nature overwhelming the senses. “Lebas sees her works as referring to the Romantic tradition, citing Casper David Friedrich and notions of the sublime as key influences. With images of escape, wilderness and the grandeur of nature, her practice relates some of the main tenets of Romanticism to photography and raises significant questions about how the contemporary (urban) viewer engages with nature.” (Deborah Schultz, Portfolio Catalogue – Contemporary Photography in Britain). I can see how Lebas’ work takes inspiration from the 19th-century Romantic landscape painter Casper David Friedrich through the tones she’s emphasises to portray vast nature as well as the bright backgrounds against the darker subject, creating a romanticised aesthetic.
Caspar David Friedrich Cairn in Snow 1807, Midday 1821-22
Sean O’hagan thinks that “Lebas’s images have a kind of heightened elementalism. She uses a panoramic camera and often shoots at dusk when the light quality in these still, quiet places can be almost otherworldly” (Sean O’Hagan, Photography reviewer, The Guardian). I agree with this statement as i think her use of cool dark tones adds to to an elementric quality. Elementalism refers to ‘worship of the natural elements of earth, air, water, and fire.’ and i think Lebas’ photography has an awareness of spirituality in living things. In this image the way she’s accentuates the patterns in the dark green trees against the bright sky makes them seem alive and spiritual in comparison to the broken tree. Also the way she shoots at dusk emphasises the mystical atmosphere and shadows that consumes the image adding to the elementalism.
I agree that Lebas “alerts people to the changes wrought by man and the climate on the landscape, than by drawing them in through these photographs to consider how fragile it has become.” (Liz Jobey, Photography reviewer, Natural Histories, Weekend magazine) to an extent. Although she does present nature being ‘fragile’ and vulnerable to changes of human activity, she also presents it as vast and powerful through her use of cool tones and boundless landscapes. Overall she presents her underlying message that the changes in natural landscapes are due to humans and climate change and portrays nature as immense and beautiful at the same time.
