Noemie Goudal
Her work that I am interested within is all about “observatories” this is a series of black and white images in order to demonstrate harsh strong structures such as concrete juxtaposed within the opposition of their natural equal,so in this case a calm sea.She creates this within using a two dimensional backdrops constructed entirely from paper by herself.This is interesting because it is forming a creates photography element in order to create a mass 3D feel. she consistently uses nature in order to show a more urban area and create an atmosphere that is not accurate to her surrounding when taken.
Noémie Goudal has always has been drawn to nature and how she can use a combination of culture and combine them,she describes her methods as “invaded” by the man-made. Her strong attraction additionally to drama so also likes to combine all her learning into one. She has two stages throughout her work being her underline absurdity and the contrasting nature being relegated to a supporting feature.She has consistency said to have a deep attraction for all but the most hardened urbanite. And yet water has had to give way to plastic, a word which has become synonymous with ’cheap’ and ’false’,although her work shows a beauty of nature and also illusion aspects. This is the conceptual concepts behind a strong majority of he photos.
I chose her as an artist due to her clear ideas of the formal elements trying to enhance the beauty of a strutrue that is man made,although also as a metaphor to demonstrate the obscurity of what humans do to land.
Image analysis
I chose this image due to the industrial impact that the center structure has,and also the impact that the reflection has and the power that it holds over the slow clam sea.There is a clear division and symmetry of three aspects within this image,this it the division of the building,the water and the sky, this allows a segmented and well thought out overall composition of the piece. I will have to do a lot of experimentation in order to know how to successfully mirror a reflection within the water of the image as the object itself will obviously not be there. I think the tonal depth of colours all work very well together due to the way in which the centre is the main depth and then it gets light and then darker tones to the outside against signifying a strong cut of shape. I like how the structure is such a solid model and how the cut tones and forms allow a strong contrast within the surrounding nature. the sky also has a hint of romanticism but is very reserved due the removal of colour and form to the clouds themselves.Her narrative is so transhistorical and transcultural she uses such simplistic images in order to prints all of her ideas of how she sees society building all these aggressive large buildings and this is taking away from nature,It is meant to symbolise life itself
My inspiration
I do think that all her methods from tones to the way in which she contrast her buildings to nature is all successful and the way in which she too wants to show,I also think that the way in which she hangs her images and finally presents them is also successful and highly unique I too will put a lot of thought into presenting my overall last images because it is definitely one of the most important finishing features and I will experiment within this more after I have produced my images.
I decided however to plan the shoot before I went ahead and did it. This would allow me to have a general idea before hand of what I wanted, and needed to achieve to produce an effective overall image regarding the topic of New Topographics. These are my ideas:
Once this was complete I decided it was time to move on to the shoot itself, and so decided to use the areas regarding the idea sheet of town, Grouville and St Brelades. These were my outcomes:
Once the shoot was complete I narrowed the images down to only ten of my favourite pictures. By doing so it would make it easier for me to select the final image that I believe to be the most relevent and successful overall. These were my choices on the ten best images:
I chose this image because of how I loved the clear contrast between nature and the taking over of it by man, seen by the run down sign surrounded by overgrown grass. I found this to be aesthetically pleasing created by the use of a depth of field, by doing so it blurs our the foreground and the background allowing only really the sign to be noticed properly which is where the eye is drawn. I found the slanted composition to be especially interesting by how it gives the impression of an overgrown and ruined world.
I selected this image due to once again the use of the depth of field that blurs the backdrop, this along with the use of the composition allowed for maximum effect, giving the impression of a world that eventually succumbs to nature. I found that the way that the fence was composition allowed for a sense of distance to the photo, with the use of neutral space on the right being filled with industrial buildings bringing the viewer into perspective of the area it was taken in.
What I loved about this image was the clear contrast and clear colors used to create an aesthetically pleasing outcome. This is done through contrasting colours blue and white which highlight features of the building, allow for such things as the door and bolts top pop out and draw the viewer’s attention. The composition I found also was aesthetically pleasing due to how the entire image is symmetrical which in consequence created a much cleaner and pleasing look.
Within this image I found that there was obvious difference between nature and man-made structures. This is once again done through the use of a depth of field to which allows for the appearance of us peering through nature to find the man-made structures that surround everything, whilst showing how where ever nature is human activity is not far behind. I found that the gloomy colours within the image emphasised the destruction caused to the landscape by these structures and how nature and civilisation lives side by side. 
Finally I chose this image as I loved the reflection of cranes created by the aftermath of rain fall. This was partially down to how I thought it highlighted a clear contrast between nature and society, with the looming structures left behind, whilst at the same time creating a deserted and desolate feel to the overall piece. I found that the composition of the piece complimented the photo as it filled most of the negative space made by bricks, with various beams fading out of the image.
What made me choose this photo as my final image was because how to me it summed up the clear contrast between human activity and nature. This was done by the composition of the grass creating the impression of it growing around the sign as if taking back the land seized by man, to which there is a clear difference in surrounding of the backdrop consisting of machinery and metallic structures that create contrast in not only surroundings but color. The use of depth of field creates a clear definition around the sign allowing for the eye to be drawn to it immediately with both the foreground and background complimenting it due to the drastic difference in colors and blur. To me this was the image that related the most to the topic of ‘New topographic’, which not only created a feel of the contrast between man and nature, but also of the deserted spaces that surround us in our everyday lives.
I found that Svalbonas used a calm colored backdrop to her creations to balance the entire piece and really make the design pop out. In response to this I looked through previous photo-shoots picking out images of buildings that I had taken recently. Once found I proceeded onto Photoshop to cut out and stick the parts of these buildings together creating a structure similar to that of Svalbonas, to which I would continue to add a colored matt backdrop that in my opinion balanced the image out. This was my process:
From here I cut out the buildings individually and proceeded to join them together experimenting with what fitted well.
To do this I used the lasso tool to accurately outline the object wanted so that I could then paste onto the design and move it around until satisfied with its placement.
Once the design had been finished I experimented with a series of colors that I thought were neutral and would not overpower the overall piece. To do this I used the shape tool to cover the backdrop with a large square where I could then change the colors of it.
To create these images I mainly incorporated photos that I had based around the International Finance Center for my psycho-geography shoot and a few images from various other shoots. Whilst doing so I found that by duplicating the image and coloring it black while at the same time reducing the opacity, created a shadow like effect to the piece, this allowed for a 3d like effect that I wanted to put across on the piece and at the same time giving it a more graphic feel. Once done I added a green and a pink backdrop to each piece as I found that these colors drew the gaze to the piece rather than be sore from all the negative space surrounding it.
I decided to attempt at making a panoramic image by stitching together individual images I had taken of a landscape within Photoshop. To do this I overlapped picture upon picture to create a forged landscape of the area taken as seen below:
Once finished I proceeded to use this method to create a few more panoramas of the landscape in the area where I live, these were the results:
This image of the bay consisted of twelve individual images that I had to crop and re-shape to allow for the smooth transition effect between each photo that creates the impression of a singular image. 
I took this image of the golf course across the road to me by cropping the overall piece due to how some of the images did not match the shape or size of the others taken. This removed any rough edges to the image allowing for the final result.
This final image I found to be the most successful due to how the transition between each image looked the most natural with only slight lighting differences.
From here I thought it would be appropriate to come up with a few ideas in order to help me along the shoot and guide me in what I should be doing. Here are my ideas:
Once all the pictures of the given area had been taken I decided that I should whittle the selection down to the top ten overall images. This would allow me to come to an easier conclusion on what I thought was the best image taken in the shoot. These were my selected images I thought had the best outcome from the shoot:
I selected this image because I loved the texture created by the shades of rust on a pole. I found that this allowed heavy but effective contrast between the overall piece as all the colors complemented each other making an almost molten scene.
In this image I found that I particularly liked the contrast between the silhouette of the statue and the dim-lit sky, with the composition of the pole and string balancing out the image as a whole creating a visually pleasing overall piece.
Once again I loved the use of the colors created by the rust to make an almost volcanic landscape with shades of red overlapping each other. I found the composition of the piece eye-capturing as the more rusted black areas looked like a mountain range captured from a bird’s eye view.
In this image I tried to capture the way certain streets were looked after within my given area. What I liked about this one was how it incorporated everyday objects as almost ruining and breaking up the pattern made by the pavement through the composition of the paper and cigarettes.
Finally I chose this picture because I loved the symmetry created by the textures of the floor surrounding the lights making an aesthetically pleasing image. This use of composition I found was most effective from how it drew the eye to the areas wanted through a clear contrast.
His images are digitally manipulated photographs of non-existent, fantastical buildings that appear to be real.
At first, he only made images in black and white, but then he realised that the real world is not b&w but coloured. So since then he has been making two version at the same time. He believes the black and white version is more surrealistic than colour one.
