WHAT IS LANDSCAPE URBANIZATION:

Over the years, numerous landscape studies have described the impacts of urbanization, such as fragmentation of habitats, loss of farmland and loss of historical connections and previously coherent cultural landscapes. Thus, the story of how landscapes fall victim to urbanization (and, more generally, to the march of societal progress) has been told and retold. While the object being lost varies, the overall story remains the same. The course of events seems to have been decided in advance: landscape sacrificed for the progress of cities. The process of urbanization is thereby depicted as a fight between city and countryside, a fight in which the countryside loses every time. Rural landscapes of the past are set in contrast to advancing suburbs, shattered habitats, shrinking farmland and placelessness. Documenting, analyzing and raising public awareness of losses of past landscape qualities is no doubt an important task for landscape research, but is it the only one?

Urbanisation: Reductionist approaches to urbanisation have come to focus on quantitative measurements of a limited number of parameters for such a long time that these limited and very specific insights into urbanisation seem to have affected (or even replaced) the very idea of a complex and multidimensional process. This issue provides richer illustrations of the process by widening the scope of the features studied.

Landscape: Rather than viewing landscape as a passive arena for urbanisation, this special issue discusses the complex role of landscape and engages in landscape theory to gain a greater understanding of the processes of urbanisation.

Histories: With histories, in the plural, this special issue opens the way for a more diverse understanding of urbanization, beyond the standard modern perception of urban progress/expansion and rural decline. While these three concepts form a common base, use of relational thinking in the papers included in this special issue offers ways of altering and revisiting existing ideas of landscape, histories and urbanization.

LANDSCAPE URBANIZATION IN PHOTOGRAPHY:

Stephen gill born in 1971 Bristol, UK began his love for photography at an extremely young age due to the influence from his father and his interest in insect which created Gill’s initial interest with collecting bits of pond life to inspect under his own microscope.

Gill now focuses on his inspirations from the surroundings of the inner city life in East London and heading towards looking at Sweden as well and looking into the idea of reflecting and portraying images that help describe and emphasis the times we are currently live in. His work is often made up of long-term photo studies exploring and responding to the subjects in great depth. Throughout his career Gill has experimented with a large array of trials for examples, he mainly worked with black and white imagery from 1984 then followed by a lot more colour interpreted in his work in mid 1990s.

It’s said that until around 2003 his work has been said to have an extremely descriptive and typographical approach towards the subjects.

After working mainly in black and white from 1984, his practice since the mid 1990s was mostly in colour.Eight of his photo studies made between 1997 and 2003 were assembled and published as chapters in a book called Field Studies in 2004, which also toured as an exhibition. As previously mentioned Gill enjoyed to experiment and in January 2003 he bought a Bakelite 1960s box camera produced by Coronet for only 50 pence from Hackney Wick Sunday market, which was near where he lived at the time. The camera had a plastic lens, and lacked focus and exposure control.
Over the next four years he had used the camera to photograph within the extremely varied environment of Hackney Wick, including waterways and allotments; and to make portraits of people at the Sunday market and who lived and worked in the area.

It was then announced that the area Gill had been focusing his photography on would be redo eloped for the 2012 summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Gill claims that this finished body of work was steered, informed and shaped by the place itself. And his approach to making the work was more reacting, responding and being carried by the subject rather than seeking out ideas that were already formed in the mind. This stage of photography he named as an idea as starting over or walking away from the old. It was important that his content was first as he believed it played an important role in rather than the technique.

An obsession with this part of London lasted over ten years and led to many different series including – Hackney Wick, Archaeology in Reverse, Warming Down, Buried, Off Ground, A Series of Disappointments, Talking to Ants and Best Before End.Best Before End looks at the phenomenon of energy drink consumption. This time rather than describing the subject, Gill used the drinks as an aid to make the finished images as the negatives partly processed in energy drinks of different kinds. It allowed the drinks to shift and alter the images with a small amount of manual intervention.

For my second shoot I wanted to create an action plan in order to stay organized;

1. Select an appropriate area to set out on a work to find good different patterns on the ground to photograph. I ended up choosing St Brelardes beach which has a wide opportunity for different textures, shadows and lines.
2. Next select camera lens that will work well and is appropriate for creating clear images from the distance of the lens to the floor. I ended up using a 18mm-135mm lens which made sure I could focus on all texture. For example when photographing the sand, this particular lens ensured clear texture emphasis the lines and foot prints with in the sand.
3. Finally go to the location at an appropriate time of day that will work efficiently with the types of images I want to select. In this case I went to St Brelardes just before sunset and walked around for about an hour in order to have different shadows and almost a warm textured feeling due to the suns warm rays reflecting on to the beach creating lots of shadowed in which I tried to use to my advantage

For this photoshoot I will be concentrated on capturing the similar ideas and remain influenced by the Boyle Family. In this particular instance I will be focusing on the concept of looking down at the ground and creating individual shapes to portray a different meaning and focus point.

For example

-This photoshoot will be done over a period of time, half term.

-I plan to take vernacular photos of the members of my family who’s photos I collected from their youth and picture of people my age like my sister and my friends. I plan to document the journey of youth. I want to show that the generation are completely different but are the same. They are different in what they wore and sometimes what they do but are the same.

-The lighting will be natural and artificial lights depending on whether I’m inside or outside.

-I think I will use my phone because it’s easier to take personal images of someone where they don’t have a big camera in their face.

-Where? When? Who? The days I’ve planned to take photos are when I go to my friend birthday meal and the cinema and when I see some of my old friends for a meet up and chat.

Vernacular photography is the creation of photographs that take everyday life and events as their subjects.
Examples of vernacular photographs include travel and vacation photos, family snapshots, photos of friends, class portraits, identification photographs, and photo-booth images. Almost like a celebration of the mundane.

After looking at Carinthia West and Kristen Lewis I see that the idea of Vernacular photography applies to them in the way that they take pictures of people just living their lives, famous or just a normal family.

I would like to look at the idea of the journey of people and society through generations.

I’ve collected images of my parents and even some of my grandparents of their youth.

Andrew Quilty’s photography career began in Sydney, 2000, on the day his application to a university photo elective was rejected. He quit, and set off around Australia with a surfboard and a Nikon F3 that his uncle (he was also a photographer) had passed down.Fate further intervened a week into the trip when his van was broken into. Everything but his well-hidden camera, and surfboard, which he was riding at the time, was stolen.30,000KM later, he enrolled in the Sydney Institute of TAFE’s Photography program, finishing at the top of his class in 2004.He was given an informal internship at Fairfax Media which evolved into full-time employment. There, Quilty found himself surrounded by some of Australia’s most outstanding photographers. They reshaped his worldview and set him on a course that continues to inspire his work today.He left Fairfax in 2010 and freelanced from Sydney before relocating to New York City in 2012. But it was during a trip to Afghanistan and the Middle East, in 2013, that he first discovered purpose and fulfillment in his photography. He has been based in Kabul, Afghanistan ever since.His work in Afghanistan has been published worldwide and garnered several awards.He has traveled to more than 20 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces and continues to document the country through pictures and, increasingly, the written word.

Analysis

This photo of his was taken in Afghanistan during one of it’s wars, in a camp. Quilty lived in Afghanistan for a period of time in which he documented what the people were going through, whilst risking his own life. This was taken in artificial lighting, inside of a tent and it appears that it’s white bulbs powering the light in this image. The tent has been made into a barbers and a gentleman is getting his cut. This photo emphasizes how this is real life, people have to work around the situation they are in whether they are rich or they live in the middle of a war zone. It is very vibrant, with the native flag, the blue roof and the green tapestry, nothing really matches but interior designs aren’t at the top of their priorities, they are making the most of what they have, trying to make it as homely as possible. This is a very impressive photo lighting wise because he has managed to not make it under-exposed despite the lack of light in the tent. There are many different textures in the photo, for instance the 3D plastic chairs, the 2D wall art/tapestry and the metal poles holding the tent together. There isn’t a structure or sense of repetition but this exaggerates the concept that the war they live around it unpredictable, there’s not consistency to it, one day everyone is safe then the next day there could be a bombing which destroys everything, it’s unpredictable. At first glance the leading eye is to the white lighting but then as you begin to move out, you can see the depth in the photo and how complex it really is, it isn’t just two men having a laugh it’s their life, it’s their reality, their livelihood, but because of the war it could all disappear in a matter of seconds.

“The project was about those of us – and we are in our millions – who, through the Forecast, experience a reinforced sense of Britishness”.-Mark Power.

Mark Power is a British photographer, born in 1959. He is a member of Magnum Photos and Professor of Photography in The Faculty of Arts and Architecture at the University of Brighton. Power mainly uses a large format film camera, but has more recently explored into short film making. The Shipping Forecast is the project of his which is inspired by ‘The Shipping Forecast’, which is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecasts sent over the Navtex system use a similar format and the same sea areas. and are fed back to the public four times a day. The waters around the British Isles are divided into 31 sea areas, also known as weather areas. In 2017, Radio 4 celebrated the Forecast’s 150^th anniversary, and there’s everything to suggest it’s more popular than ever. The best place to to listen to the shipping forecast is said to be in a cosy bed with the wind rattling the windows and the rain lashing down outside.Each image is captioned with the 0600hr forecast on the day they were taken. In Mark’s project it’s the people that are the main focus and how dependent they are on the shipping forecast.

Magnum- Mark Powers Article:

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/society-arts-culture/mark-power-the-shipping-forecast/

Analysis:

This is one of my favourite photos of Power’s project. It exhibits a ‘calm after the storm’ sort feel, as the sea appears to have hardly any waves and it a reasonable distance away from land. The battered buoy creates the idea that the sea has previously been viscous, this damage may have occurred over time or from just one strike of a wave, this emphasizes the powerful and unpredictable nature of the sea. He has used natural lighting, which appears to be overcast on that day. A black and white filter has been used, this suggests how the shipping forecast is so important even though it’s just audio and no images, it still creates a clear picture of the weather, without visuals or colour. The black and white may also have been used to create a less exposed picture as the sun can still be bright on overcast days. The cold tone creates an eerie mood, sort of like a ghost town, exhibiting the remains of what little is left. The messy looking vegetation could indicate high wind levels or it could be markings from the previous waves. There is a clear rule of thirds, with the the background (the sky), middle ground (the plants) and foreground (the sand). This is representative of the structured timing of the shipping Forecast schedule and how people plan their lives around these specific timings and although the weather is unpredictable, the one thing you can to rely on is that the programme will always be on at those times. The photo seems simplistic but the closer you look the more complex it is, for instance the three elements, water, earth and wind are all mixing together in harmony, all still in each others company.

Shipping Forecast:

WARNING – THERE IS GRAPHIC IMAGERY

The life cycle is a viscous cycle unappreciated by most. The intense wait until our final days, that truthfully since birth has been inevitable. In my opinion, the life cycle aids our adaptation even though we are each just tiny specs within the universe we all make impacts one way or another, whether it be from passing on your knowledge to someone at work or just even making someone smile. Life and death is seen pointless to some: “born to die”- this is untrue we’re born because someone wanted to devote part of their life to us and to give us the best experiences possible.

For my photoshoot I decided to photograph roadkill willingly supplied by cats. I thought that this could represent how brutal life is and how anything could happen at any given moment.

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Edited

Abandoned walks

For mapping out a journey, some photographers use the simple technique of going on a walk and photographing everything as you see it. This is a type of documentary photography due to the individual wanting to capture a specific thing so that image remains outside of that second.
I also wanted to capture how people have disturbed this once loved environment and left it to overgrow and rot.

For my walk, I wanted to explore somewhere desolate and closed off from reality. I discovered a small piece of private land that I was permitted to explore. I was intrigued by this area due to there being a series of abandoned green houses and overgrown shrubs. This area was eerily quiet with plants and weeds scratching against the once standing greenhouses trying to get out. These slight noises gave an atmosphere of sadness to me because these green houses were once thriving with colour, now all that’s left is rotting and decay with the musky smell of damp.

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