I am going to use the idea of typologies to present my photos from my last shoot inspired by Lewis Baltz. I have already studied his photography of urban landscapes linking to new topographic so i will use these photos and select and display them in the form of typologies.
San Quentin Point 1982 Lewis Baltz born 1945 Purchased with funds provided by the Photography Acquisitions Committee 2011 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P79978
I like the way these photos by Lewis Baltz have been displayed his photos in frames with wide white boarders, and hung them in a group on the wall.
using my photos from this shoot I selected the photos of walls and edited them into black and white. I then arranged them into a grid format which helped to show the pattern in the geometric shapes in each wall.
King Street forms part of Saint Helier’s main shopping area in Jersey. It is a pedestrianised street which runs from Charing Cross at its west end to Queen Street at its east end.
This map of King Street is believed to date from 1913. It shows clearly how relatively small the properties were on the south side of the street, compared with those on the north, which stretched back over what had previously been wet meadowland.
I first planned out where i was going to go to explore psycho geography on google maps and decided to walk along King Street. I printed out old photographs that were taken of buildings from the past, which also capture the environment of that time. I planned to compare the old images to present day and take a photo of the comparison.I researched what King Street looked like in the past and displayed a few to show the comparison between the two time periods.
I took a few photos of me comparing the present day to old photographs and found that these two worked to best as the buildings line up in both real life and the printed off image.
The images also looked better in black and white as it makes them seem more historic.
I especially like the one on the right as it shows how different the street was in the past with the car coming from the street which is no longer a road.
The one on the left is from King Street in the 1970s. In 1978 the apple crusher was installed at the junction of Rue de Derrière and Ruette Haguais, and La Croix de la Reine at the junction of King Street and Broad Street as part of the pedestrianisation landscaping, a traditional. The left image is from the 1940s showing A German staff car in King Street during the Occupation.
These images also show the change over time on King Street. The first image shows buildings and people in the past and the second image shows what the same buildings look like in the present day. The first image contains quite a few people walking on the pavement dressed in old fashioned clothes, second image contains less people walking in the street and has construction work in the middle of the road.
I also took pictures of the urban landscape when comparing the old images and photographed the surrounding environments. When doing this I tried to take the photos taking inspiration from the New Topographic photographers.
When taking this photo I tried to capture the movement of the cars and the symmetrical alignment of the buildings to produce an overall aesthetically pleasing image.
The lamp post in the middle divides the image in half, either side having similar layouts with the buildings and cars in similar place.
I thought the image was powerful enough by itself and didn’t think it needed too much editing so i only gave the photo a pinkish tint and decreased the exposure slightly to create a softer appearance.
I chose to take this photo at this angle to show urban activity continuing down the road with the rushing cars, people and construction along it. The blue sky contrasts with the pinkish buildings
Visual:
The angle at which this photo is taken makes the surrounding buildings look like they’re taller and towering over the camera, creating a tunnel like street.
The buildings have a shadow cast over them but the bright sky creates a contrast between the two, emphasising the pathway.
The layout of the image is nearly symmetrical as the photo was taken standing closer to the left side than the right. This makes the buildings on the left seem taller. I took the photo like this as it emphasises the pathway of the street.
The photo is taken from a street view like a person would see when looking down the street as the other image showing the history of Kings Street is from the same angle.
Conceptual:
The concept of this image was to compare history to present day thought the buildings on Kings Street.
And to capture the atmosphere on King Street now compared to then.
Technical:
The lighting in this image was natural and had a natural shadow over the buildings which i emphasised when editing.
I used a wide angle lens so i was able to show the whole street
I used a fast shutter speed to eliminate motion i the image and low exposure which was why the shadows were emphasised
Contextual:
I placed both images beside each other to show the comparison from the historic image and the present day image.
It shows how buildings and shops have developed and been re-designed over time
DeSieno us a lens-based artist interested in how the advancement of visual technology is changing continually and enhances our view of the world. DeSieno received his first MFA in Studio Art from the University of South Florida and is currently the Assistant Professor of Photography at Central Washington University.
His work has been displayed nationally and internationally at various places such as the Center for Fine Art Photography, Candela Gallery, Aperture Foundation etc. the work has also been used in a variety of publications such as National Geographic, Slate etc. Marcus DeSieno focuses on the idea of surveillance and macro lens photography as seen below:One image that I particularly liked and decided to analyse was ‘Archival Pigment Print From a Surveillance Camera Feed’ which won the Lens Culture Emerging Talent Award 2016.
Technical: Marcus DeSieno’s piece consists of hacking into surveillance feeds to capture interesting imagery, the image itself seems to be taken on a gloomy day, capturing the silhouette of the mountain range in the distance whilst incorporating the Ansel Adams system throughout capturing a range of shades. The picture seems to have been deteriorated creating an old feeling to it whilst maintaining much of the crisp qualities of the original photo. A depth of field can be seen partially used through the use of the graininess and how the road snakes off into the distance removing detail from the image, but at the same time keeping out focus on the road.
Visual: The image consists of a huge range in tone, with a big difference in the contrast between black and white allowing for the photographer to make certain parts of it pop out and draw the viewer in. The snaking road positioned in the center of the image is the focal point of the picture as the light shades of it balances the rest the darkness, seen throughout the rest of the photograph.
Conceptual: His photography consists of the exploration of how surveillance is used in our everyday lives, with the idea that we are constantly watched. Marcus takes advantage of this and uses camera feeds that look upon landscapes to capture the beauty of nature using Archival Pigment Prints to capture the image.
The term psycho geography was made by the Marxist theorist Guy Debord in 1955. It was inspired by the French nineteenth century poet and writer names Charles Baudelaire’s concept of the flâneur, an urban wanderer. Through this new term it suggested a creative and playful way of exploring the urban environment in order to examine its architecture and space. He wanted to create a term that was new to the approach of architecture that was less functional and more exploratory. Some example of psycho-geography in photography consist of:
As seen above psycho-geography very much focuses around the aspect of architecture, through the recording and creation of visually pleasing imagery of what in most circumstances would look like ruins of debris. Most of the photos are very much based around the exploration of a urban inhabited area, to which what they tend to focus on makes the photos taken look almost desolate and uninhabitable for civilization.
The process of psycho-geography can be simple or complex depending on what you choose to focus on, but the main focus is how we are affected by being in certain places around us due to architecture, weather and who you’re with. Many are taken within a small area to focus on how much you know about the specific area you are in, this is known as practicing dérive, and is a fundamental principle in psycho-geography.
A leading photographic artist in the area consist of Marcus Desieno. Desieno creates almost de-humanised landscapes from hacking into surveillance camera networks, whilst at the same time avoiding privacy problems associated with urban and residential areas. Here are some example of his work:
This form of photography can also be focused around the idea of the constantly being watch as everywhere we go there are cameras, and so can explore this idea by incorporating maybe satellite imagery into the form of photography using creative angles to make the most of the landscape.
Concept: After researching the New Topographic, urban landscapes and the photographer Lewis Baltz I am going to take inspiration from the style of their work and apply it to my own photos.
Location: I am going to take photos at the industriel estate at La Collette, we will walk from Harve des Pas along the coast line and through the industrial estate and along the harbor taking pictures relating to our topic of New Topographic. The area has a wide range of urban scenes which i can take pictures of.
Lighting: I will use natural lighting to take these photos and I will take them in the afternoon to avoid over exposed images with light flares.
Camera settings: I will take the photos using the manual expose setting and experiment with long shutter speed and the waves.
Contact Sheets:
I also edited some other photos that I took in a different location. They were in the style of Nicholas Nixon’s landscapes so i edited them in black and white and enhanced the highlights to give them a higher contrast whilst still making them look faded.
I picked this area for the psycho-geography shoot as the area has gone through many changes throughout time and has been used for many different purposes through the course of history, so seeing the contrast between then and now will be interestin
Psycho-Geography West Park
Contact Sheet
Images from the shoot
Final Images from the shoot
I feel that this image is the best overall out come fro this shoot. I was having trouble lining up the image of jersey from the past with the same location in the modern day as the wind was very strong which kept blowing the picture out of place, but i think that i achieved lining up the two best in this image. I also think that this was the strongest image from the shoot, as because in this image the contrast between the old and the new jersey landscape the contrast between the two can be seen the greatest.
Psycho-geography is defined as the study of the specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals. The creator of the psycho-geography group, Guy Debord, said that the definition has “pleasing vagueness” meaning that the term can be applied to a wide range of situations.
Snow Hill Psycho-Geography
I will be looking at snow hill for my area of interest. Snow hill has some history behind it; in the 17th century it was the eastern limit of St. Helier and was called La Pompe De Haut because of the public pump found there. In the 19th century a theatre was on the site. Between 1873 and 1929 it was the terminus of the Jersey Eastern Railway which ran trains from St Helier to Gorey. The building of the Harbours in the middle of the 19th century used huge quantities of rock for infilling between the outer walls of the harbour and much of this rock was taken from the area now known as Snow Hill car park.
My Archival Image Response
We visited Snow Hill on the 18th January and took archival photographs of the area. There is lots of history behind the area as it has been for used for multiple things such as a railway station and a cable cart station so it was an interesting place to use for comparisons between the new and old. This showed us how much the area has changed and how the past often gets forgotten.
General Photos of the Area
We took some photographs of the area just to show what Snow Hill is like now compared to what it used to be. It is obviously a lot more plain and run-down now as seen in the photographs below.
Psycho-geography is a hybrid of photography and geography that emphasizes playfulness and “drifting” around urban environments. It has links to the Situationist International.
Psychogeography was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.”
Another definition is “a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for exploring cities… just about anything that takes pedestrians off their predictable paths and jolts them into a new awareness of the urban landscape
The originator of what became known as unitary urbanism, psychogeography, and the dérive was Ivan Chtcheglov, in his highly influential 1953 essay “Formulaire pour un urbanisme nouveau” (“Formulary for a New Urbanism”).
The idea of urban wandering relates to the older concept of the flâneur, theorized by Charles Baudelaire…and is similar to STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
PETAPIXEL definition of PsychoGeography CLICK HERE
What will you see on your journey…and how will you respond and adapt to it ???
Koyaanisqati : Drawing its title from the Hopi word meaning “life out of balance,” this renowned documentary reveals how humanity has grown apart from nature. Featuring extensive footage of natural landscapes and elemental forces, the film gives way to many scenes of modern civilization and technology.
Superflux : explore over-surveillance and the prospect of intrusion in our everyday lives…has the concept of psycho-geographies evolved into something dystopian-like and Orwellian (1984- “Big brother”)…governments, town planners and the authorities design how we live, where we live and essentially control popluations of towns and cities.
Marcus Desieno creates de-humanised landscape photography by hacking surveillance camera networks…but avoids privacy problems normally associated with urban and residential areas…
What you need to do…(3-5 blog posts)
Research thenDefine, describe and explain what Psycho-Geography is…
Choose an (urban) area of Jersey that you are interested in exploring
Find the area on google maps and zoom in so that you can make a screen shot to add to your blog post.
Add the “street view” too if you can
Find as much information and images online as you can about the street / area you are exploring and include these in your blog post
Add any archival information that you can too (see below)
Then go to the area and explore on foot…photographing everything you can, and all that appears of interest to you at that time. Photograph up, down and across…creating a film or time-lapse is good too as is drone footage / imagery…
Record the time, date and place of your journey in your blog post
Add any thoughts, feelings or emotions you can about the place your are exploring…and as you develop a connection and familiarity with the place/ people / buildings etc.
Refer to Mishka Henner and Edward Burtynsky (aerial photographs) and The Boyle Family in your blog post…and discuss how they interact with an area and create art / photography inspired directly by the location and its uses / functions.
Analyse and evaluate your process…show your selection, editing and presentation of final images.
What Are Archives?
In the course of daily life, individuals and organizations create and keep information about their personal and business activities. Archivists identify and preserve these documents of lasting value.
These records — and the places they are kept — are called “archives.”Archival records take many forms, including correspondence, diaries, financial and legal documents, photographs, and moving image and sound recordings. All state governments as well as many local governments, schools, businesses, libraries, and historical societies, maintain archives.
Your task
The images above are Archival Images from iconic areas of Jersey…and these areas have changed over time.
Find archival images that correspond to your own landscape photography and contrast and compare. Include any info you can find about the image itself / photographer / time period etc
OR…you may find that you are intrigued by a particular landscape image and want to respond to it and create a comparison / composite image. For this you must conduct a photo-shoot aiming to document the area from a similar viewpoint and edit your images accordingly
OR…you may want to explore the concept of JUXTAPOSING Old and new buildings / parts of Jersey…either by photographing them in situ, or creating a composite image using photoshop
Public archives in Jersey
Jersey Archives: Since 1993 Jersey Archive has collected over 300,000 archival records and it is the island’s national repository holding archival material from public institutions as well as private businesses and individuals. To visit click here
Jersey Archive can offer guidance, information and documents that relate to all aspects of the Island’s History. It also holds the collections of the Channel Islands Family History Society.
Societe Jersiaise: Photographic archive of 80,000 images dating from the mid-1840s to the present day. 35,000 historical images in the Photographic Archive are searchable online here.
Societe Jersiaise also have an extensive library with access to may publications and records relating to the island’s history, identity and geography. Click here
Archisle:The Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme, hosted by the Société Jersiaise aims to promote contemporary photography through an ongoing programme of exhibitions, education and commissions.
The Archisle project connects photographic archives, contemporary practice and experiences of island cultures and geographies through the development of a space for creative discourse between Jersey and international practitioners.
Research and explore how Lewis Bush engages with and photographs the city and its development / over-development.
Click here to check out an interview as he explains how he uses aerial / satellite imagery to home in on secret data stations used in the Cold War and produce abstract imagery influenced by the radio waves of secret information being mysteriously broad-casted.
For my shoot I wanted to continue using my artists inspiration of the new topographic’s and of rich urban landscapes but a clear view or traditionalism and nature aspect contrasting within the background of the image.For my photo shoot I will try and visit Scrapyards, building sites, cranes, restoration yards, derelict ruins,additionally to this I will also look for any area that has pipework or a clear decoration of man made activity.
For my second artist who has more of a humane feel to the area and the way in which nature and buildings has a strong relevance to peoples lives I will photograph shops and long distance views of roads and such,this could also be seen within theaters and large populated areas.For the title and main inspiration for my shoot I have chosen the themes of juxtaposing urban and isolated compared to sky and habitats. This means that my images will have a strong sense of new upcoming society and how it can be isolated from other areas and a clear vision of separation of lack of nature within that area.
How I will edit my images
Once again I used HDR in order to get a crisp image with lots of light and vibrancy of color and or tone.I also want to use some of my own development ideas such as slow shutter speed to capture an urban effect during nighttime,this can be done from being high up above traffic and brightly lighted town and also within the areas and also develop the focused nature aspects,these would look like:
I chose this image as an example due to its high over towering view so allowing a clear focus on light but also how nature is wrapped around all human light and presents clear lines and paths within the image itself.
Secondly I thought this was an accurate perception of my idea due to the large presents of nature within the center of the urban landscape,it shows a subtle formation of the two elements.
panoramic development
Additionally I also want to capture panoramic shoots,i will achieve this by developing my images into one after taking a course of many over an area with small movements in between. I would want to displays this in a straight forward lines and then secondly with separations of lines and cuts to show repetition of a scene and lastly a divided area in which i can present the image in many different levels such as:
I will still be focusing on my theme of urban isolation contrasting with nature and sky,this allows me to use all my techniques and capture all these themes in different mannerisms. Overall I still want to use the same elements and angles that the new topographic achieved but in a more modernized and inventive mannerism.
Edits:
I decided to divided my edits into color and black and white dependent on what is the most appropriate and effective.I really swatted to nature the contrast between he deep architectural lines and with colour on the background.
first shoot:day time shoot
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
I think this piece is really effective as its composition is centred and then further enhanced by the light background of the image. it also has a structure due to the ladder , but has a delicacy to the line lines reflected within the water and the rhyme and form that bring to the piece itself.
all of this images above I clearly wanted to focus on stature and how it can be enchanted by a natural background,it creates an effect of nature formed within a harsh man made structure.
further editing:
with this image I wanted to form a romanticised background and then form this with the architectural structure from this shoot.i do think though it is not as effective as the small detailed liens when edited do not achieve the same realism and are not as effective.
here I wants to from an interesting architectural piece using a repletion and building using lines to from a large building going through he centre,i think this makes an interesting composition yet still forms a line and stature overall.
wihtin this edited I wanted to try and from both interesting clouds to show the strong presence of nature and then also from and lit in the industrial aspects of human development that I wanted to capture.
night shoot:slow shutter speed light capture
I wanted to experiment within night shoot in this method as it is more abstract and would be effective in an overlay within other images too.it also allowed more to capture the night city scape whilst also forming a slow light pattern.This method also means I am able to from the shape and not dependent on wirer the light is already.
panoramic development:
I did not take many sets of image such as this is I knew I did not want to develop within this method, although for my final I think the overall prevention would look successful hung in size order alongside each other.
Overall analysis
overall I think I have developed within many methods and shoots and now I am able to see and decided what will be the most successful and effective within the future of my work.
This map of King Street is believed to date from 1913. It shows clearly how relatively small the properties were on the south side of the street, compared with those on the north, which stretched back over what had previously been wet meadowland.
I researched what King Street looked like in the past and displayed a few to show the comparison between the two time periods.
I also took pictures of the urban landscape when comparing the old images and photographed the surrounding environments. When doing this I tried to take the photos taking inspiration from the New Topographic photographers.
One image that I particularly liked and decided to analyse was ‘Archival Pigment Print From a Surveillance Camera Feed’ which won the Lens Culture Emerging Talent Award 2016.
Technical: Marcus DeSieno’s piece consists of hacking into surveillance feeds to capture interesting imagery, the image itself seems to be taken on a gloomy day, capturing the silhouette of the mountain range in the distance whilst incorporating the Ansel Adams system throughout capturing a range of shades. The picture seems to have been deteriorated creating an old feeling to it whilst maintaining much of the crisp qualities of the original photo. A depth of field can be seen partially used through the use of the graininess and how the road snakes off into the distance removing detail from the image, but at the same time keeping out focus on the road.
Lighting: I will use natural lighting to take these photos and I will take them in the afternoon to avoid over exposed images with light flares.
now_hill_old7.jpg)
