Keld Helmer-Petersen

Keld Helmer-Petersen was one of the most influential Danish photographers in the 20th Century. He was an international pioneer for colour photography, however he also published several books of high contrast black and white images. Helmer-Petersen had a strong interest in industrial buildings and modern architecture, much of his work is centered around man-made structures. This is similar to the work of Albert Reneger-Patzsch, who inspired Helmer-Petersen greatly. His work also focuses on minimalism, using harsh tones of black and white and no mid tones.

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What I really enjoy about Helmer-Petersen’s work is the dramatic contrast in his images. I believe it creates a sense of mystery as the high juxtaposition between black and white presents the industrial structures as silhouettes, alluding to the idea that the man-made world is dark and enigmatic. Additionally, I really like the bold straight lines in his work which repeat in each image. I think they display stillness and solitude in his work, which mixed with the shallow depth of field, create clear focal points for the observer.

My Unedited Images

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I have chosen these 5 images to edit in the style of Keld Helmer-Petersen because I believe their blank backgrounds and architectural subjects reflect Helmer-Petersen’s minimalist Black Light images. Furthermore, I think these photos hold similar bold straight lines to his work and will work well when edited with high contrast. Although Helmer-Petersen’s images are focused on industrial buildings, I want to also experiment with a nature image to compare the difference between having a dark background to a light. I believe the image will still reflect his work as it will hold minimalistic qualities in its blank background and high contrast between the highlights and shadows.

Final Edited Images

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I edited my final images on Photoshop using the threshold tool to overly enhance the contrast and to change the photos to black and white. I really like how abstract my images have come out, I think the bold black lines draw the observer’s attention to the uniform structures which create an animation-like effect in the images. Moreover, I believe these edited photos reflect Helmer-Petersen’s work immensely as they replicate the silhouettes and juxtaposition seen in his images. In addition, I think the experimentation with the nature image, using a dark background and having a white focal point, provides a different approach to Helmer-Petersen’s work while still reflecting his harsh contrast and sharp black & white tones. Lastly, I really like the shallow depth of field in these images, it exaggerates the negative space surrounding the geometric structures in the foreground and the static atmosphere of the photographs.