Design and Layout
Format– Portrait, A5, paperback book. Sequencing, Layout + Design – comparisons between shape and objects (create a more fluid transition between photo “scenes”), off center images, close ups, Images of nature taking over the bunkers, overgrowth, human development over/ around the bunkers. Close ups of the walls and textures of the bunkers inside. Narrative – streamlined/fluid, beginning with interior of the Batterie Moltke bunker. Then – focused on close ups + details of the the walls, transitioning from interior (mainly un-affected by nature) to exterior, ‘monoliths’ and weaponry overgrown and exposed to the elements, later moving onto the overgrowth itself on exterior walls and then introducing a few heavily edited images and a few landscapes of the affecting growth. little to no text, no personal bias or views towards the bunker site, recording the site as it is. Possibly be untitled, possibly a minimalist title, e.g: Bunkers? Visual context: infrared edited images, Lynda Laird’s use of edited grass and shrubs to be a brighter colour leads to overgrowth standing out more than the bunkers and becoming the focus of the image.
Research and Influences
Lynda Laird – Infrared
Laird’s infrared photography of the bunkers in Normandy have influenced me to edit some of my images for my zine to have an infrared effect. I like the effect that Laird’s images have on the surrounding plants as the bright red colour shifts the focus from the bunker and onto the vegetation that is growing around and inside it. I believe this is effective as the images focus more on nature taking over the bunkers.
Paul Virilio
Virilio’s bunker archaeology photographs are interesting to me as they document the bunkers as monuments which are part of nature. I believe the use of a black and white photograph to document the bunker is effective as it helps blend it into nature due to having similar shades of black and white. From Virilio’s photography, however, I would like to include images where the bunkers are viewed as monuments.