What is brutalist architecture photography?
Brutalist architecture started in the early 1950s, the term brutalism refers to its dynamic geometric like appearance seen as massive, monolithic and blocky. The style itself was popular until the mid 1970s and was first introduced by Le Corbusier an architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter who liked design in its simplest form. Interest arose around the concept when his street building in Chandigarh, India which was long, with horizontal concrete slabs forming composed six eight story blocks that are separated by expansion joints.
Originally the term ‘brutalist’ was used by Le Corbusier to describe his own work, but was later coined by British architects Alison and Peter Smithson, leading to the eventual use of the now common term when Reyner Banham used it in his book ‘New Brutalism’. Brutalism has been criticized for its uncommunicative and ugly style, but also has been attacked for ignoring historic architecture as well as lacking empathy for its surrounding environment. However, Banham says through his book that the qualities of the style are plain and comprehensible, with no mystery, romanticism or obscurities without a function and circulation. Really brutalism is summed up as an architectural style with no sense.
Here are some example of brutalist architecture below:
Once looking over the images I decided to analyse one of them to identify common features or styles that each possesses.
When looking at the style of architecture I found that all the buildings were based on a geometrical structured design, by doing this the outcome would look artificial and almost surreal to images and passers-by due to how these houses and offices would not match the environment surrounding them. Each building was made to look displaced and abstract, whilst many incorporated nature into the designs. Symmetry, pattern and randomness I found was the most common influence over the structures, due to how it gave the place an aesthetically pleasing look. As a result to this many viewed this style of architecture as a form of art.
After looking over this I found that I would be able to incorporate brutalist architecture into my photography through the use of harsh photographs taken in concrete jungles within urban areas. This form of exaggeration combined with possibly singular light sources could be used to emphasize the idea of abandonment within certain areas of choice, allowing me to present a more brutal representation of buildings that are perhaps abandoned or deserted.
Once completed I decided it was time to move onto my ideas for the shoot, this consisted of creating a mind-map to allow me to focus on specific ideas I think would be most effective when taking imagery. This would make the shoot more efficient to do as I would know exactly what to do. Here are my ideas: 
After I finished developing my ideas I decided it was time to focus on the shoot itself now, to do this I drove around Jersey visiting various car parks during the night to capture the images desired. Using a low exposure to produce the outcomes I found that it proved to emphasise the areas of choice like intended. These were my results:
After I had compiled the images into contact sheets I was able to whittle them down into a top ten images that I thought stood out from the rest of the pictures. This would make it easier to choose the final and most successful image out of the entire shoot. Here are my ten final choices:
I chose this image as one of my selection of five because I found it contained an effective use of contrast between light and dark, combined with a use of depth of field I thought it gave across an eerie impression of a deserted atmosphere. The red use around the number I found to really balance the image from how the only light sources illuminated those areas whilst emphasizing the depth and darkness of the car park. I found the symmetry used within the image proved effective from how it created a sense of aestheticism with a border made from the use of the slanting ceiling.
What I particularly liked about this image was the use of a dim yellow light illuminating a small radius around two doors, I found that this combined with the puddles reflecting and emphasizing the colours really gave the impression of an area deserted by human activity. This also produced a contrast between the doors and the rest of the image from how the darkness around it defines it even more the dimly lit imagery exit of the airport. The use of a singular light source present creates a creepy feel from how it creates silhouettes of objects around it allowing your mind to perceive what it wants of it.
What I loved about this piece was how the blur created by the low shutter speed creates an abstract and almost dreamy landscape of the car park leaving your mind to interpret what it would look like. The combination of yellow and green compliment each other combined with the dark floor allows for and aesthetically pleasing result, however I found that the un-blurred road balances the image as it adds normality to the rest which is essentially is unbalanced.
Within this photo I loved the use of a single light source illuminating the dirty walls with yellow lighting, I found that the impression imprinted by this allows a look of derelict and abandonment to the area from how the colours are dimmed with light sources emphasized. I found that the composition was particularly effective from how it was symmetrical throughout allowing for an aesthetically pleasing outcome with the light being the center of the image and the main focus point. The use of depth of field on the far end of the car park wall adds balance to the piece from how the detail is removed from it allowing the viewer to mainly focus on the walls and ceiling without much distraction.
Finally I chose this piece because of how the use of a depth of field and the yellow tinted lights compliment due to how the ceiling is slanted off to the right in the distance. On top of this there is a significant contrast between the floor and ceiling presenting it as a sort of unknown area where the side cannot be seen only the ceiling and exit, with the remaining parts a mystery to what is there. The composition is slanted like most of them, but the patterned ceiling adds interesting features to the piece rather than being head on, presenting it as a large corridor like structure.
Fototagetrier
Technical: Within the image the floors of the car park spaces are used as a border to highlight the actual focus of the image, the slightly dim ground floor. This is done through the use of contrast between the sides of the building and the floor itself which uses yellow tinted lights to emphasis certain aspects of the concrete around it, with the grays and blacks in the picture they stop the yellows from overpowering the entire image creating an aesthetically pleasing photograph as a result.
The plot consists of someone walking back home, to which as soon as she falls asleep experiences dreams in which she repeatedly tries to chase a mysterious figure with a mirrored face. Each time she fails but resumes trying to catch the figure, and each time sees multiple instances of herself which are parts of the dream previously seen. Once woken up by a man she realizes that the events which occurred in her dream actually happened, the man later returns to see a smashed mirror on the wet floor with the woman now dead. The film originally was made by Deren’s and Hammid’s desire to create an avant garde personal film that dealt with the effects of psychological problems such as the French surrealists films of the 1920s like Salvador Dali. All actors in the film were played by Deren and Hammid.
