The black lighting technique is when source of light in a photograph is behind the subject, usually creating a dark silhouette of the subject.
This effect can also be achieved when editing a photograph in a software such as Photoshop.
Some examples of black lighting:
These images are similar to the work of Keld Helmer-Petersen because of the strong contrast between the highlights and the shadows, only using black and white. This creates a silhouette effect.
Keld Helmer-Petersen, a Danish photographer born in 1920, was recognised for his abstract photography in the 1940’s and the 1950’s. Helmer-Petersen’s passion for modern architecture, industrial areas and structures inspired his experimental photography, as he challenged the possibilities of the photographic image. He was a self-taught photographer who learnt from other photographers, such as Albert Renger-Patzsch. through technical manuals and photobooks. In the early days of his career, he joined amateur photographer clubs, where he would develop his photography skills further. Helmer-Petersen produced his first photobook, ‘Fragments of a city’, in 1960, which contained images of the city of Chicago. Keld Helmer-Petersen began teaching photography at the Academy of Architecture in Copenhagen until retiring in 1990.
Light- The lighting in the image is hard to decipher as there is no highlights or shadows in the image. However I believe the image was taken in daylight, perhaps early afternoon in order to achieve the iconic shapes and lines.
Lines- There is a distinct pattern of lines in the image, as they cross over one another and create intricate designs. There is a contrast of both thick and thin lines in this image, which can be seen as a form of juxtaposition.
Repetition- There is a clear repetition of lines in this image, they direct your eyes along the screen, to the focal point of the large, black sillouette.
Shape- The shape of the image revolves around geometric shapes and lines, that are both thick and thin.
Space- It is hard to depict whether the image has a wide or narrow depth of field, as the image is simply a pattern of line and shapes in a silhouette, therefore this aspect of formal elements is irrelevant to the photo.
Texture- It is also hard to work out the texture of the image, but the repeated lines have a smooth surface, therefore I would say the overall texture of the image is rather smooth.
Tone/Value- There is no gradient of tone to the image, as it is simply pure black and white. However these contrast each other with the juxtaposition of light and dark.
Colour- There is no colour to the image, this is to signify the gloomy silhouettes of the geometric lines in the photograph.
Composition- The composition of the image is very organised, however there is no rule of thirds used in the image as the object was not set up by the photographer, the image rather focuses on the entire structure of lines instead of a singular focal point.
Original Images Used-
To achieve the same affect that Keld Helmer-Petersen used on his images, I used the threshold tool on photoshop to imitate the same silhouette-like appearance on the photographs.
I believe my work resembles the work of Helmer-Petersen well as it gives off the same silhouette aesthetic that he achieves with his work. It allows the shape and pattern of the object to be highlighted amongst the background behind it. However my work focuses more on natural aspects of shape, with the use of plants, whereas Helmer-Petersen often uses artificial structures for his work.
A contact sheet is a piece of photographic paper on to which several or all of the negatives on a film have been contact-printed. They were an inevitable part of the photographic process until digital photography rendered them obsolete.
Contact sheets are useful/essential as the purpose of it is to be able to quickly scan a number of images to find the keepers or the ones chosen to be enlarged.
For this photo shoot I took inspiration from Albert Renger-Patzch. I took images of industrial type buildings from different angles such as, straight on or from a worms eye view. I then changed the images to black and white so that they would fit his theme.
Renger – Patzsch was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity. The New Objectivity arose during the 1920’s to challenge expressionism. This photography’s main focus point was to change the perspective on the objective world. Making it more ‘abstract and romantic’. His work connects to the New Objectivity through his aim of making everyday objects look beautiful.
Both of these pieces are from Ranger-Patzch’s collection, The World Is Beautiful, however they express very different things. In the first photo, we see a simple object found in a house which is normally overlooked. The lighting in photo one is quite low, enhancing the detail of the buttons found in the minimal shadows over the objects. The random placement of the buttons adds the the concept as it is more alike how these objects are found.
In photo 2, we can see another man made object, but more of a structure. The 2 main differences between the two photos that stand out to me the most is the symmetrical layout shown though the use of the camera angle compared to the random placing of the buttons, these show a wide variety in the movement that anything you see can be beautiful. Another is the natural light vs. artificial light and how Ranger – Patzch manipulated and used the lighting given to create shadows and depth.
A contact sheet is very useful to a photographer as this tool allows them to view the shoot on one sheet, making easier to differentiate the positives and negatives as they are put altogether.
for this project, i went around my house, finding objects that are dull to the eye in attempt to create a different and more creative perspective on the objects. similar to how Renger – Patzsch photographed glasses, forks and buttons.
This is my favorite photo as it shows that an object as simple as a peg can be portrayed as a beautiful and interesting. Once I put the photo into photo shop, i played around with the color tones within the black and white adjustment to give more texture to the pegs, emphasizing the faint grains to give them more life. The lighting used in this photo was natural, the weather at the time made the light less intense, allowing me to used the positioning of the pegs to create depth and shadows without being over exposed to the sun.
Keld Helmer-Petersen
Keld Helmer-Petersen was a Danish photographer who was inspired by Albert Renger-Patzsch. He became famous through his colour photographs but he also published several books of black and white images that explore dramatic contrasts of tone. Some of these photos were only black and white without any tones as they had been removed.
Helmer-Petersen published his first photobook, “122 Colour Photographs” in 1948. His work was then noticed for its inventive photos, which he turned landscapes and buildings into abstract patterns. He embraced coloured photos as black and white photos were only seen as being serious.
My interpretation
Firstly i picked out 5 images which I liked and then I changed the lighting by using threshold, after doing that one of the images didn’t respond well and it turned into a black smudge. I then cropped the images to cut out some of the smudged areas and focus on the silhouette. With the photo of the boat i decided to invert the image and focus on the boat being black instead of white as that’s what Helmer-Petersen focused on, there were also some white dots so I used the black pen to colour them out.
Keld Helmer-Petersen: Black Light
Keld Helmer-Petersen was a Danish photographer who was recognised in the 1940s and 1950s for his abstract colour photographs. In his book (Black light) he considered the space around us and the world we live in through abstract an contrasting images.
Images made up of prints, drawings, objects, bits and pieces. The third in a series of three books
I used Photoshop to create bold and contrasting images inspired by Helmer-Petersens’ work from Black Light. To accomplish this I used the threshold tool and changed the lighting and shadowing of the images below.
My response:
Keld Helmer-Petersen is one of the most influential Danish photographers in the 20th Century, inspired by Albert Renger-Patzsch. He was an international pioneer in colour photography and was a central figure in not only Danish but also European modernist photography. He continuously experimented and challenged the many possibilities of the photographic image. In 1956 Helmer-Petersen established himself as a professional architecture photographer, he achieved fame for his colour photographs but he also published several books of black and white images that explore dramatic contrasts of tone. All mid tones have been removed. He created and found these images, using both cameras and flat bed scanners to achieve the effects he was looking for. These books are beautifully designed and encourage us to consider the space around the image.
The threshold tool creates a silhouette and it flattens 3D objects and creates a strong, dramatic contrast between the black and white tones.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard
The image allows the viewer to sense either a calm or eerie mood. The bare twigs on the trees gives the viewer a sense of loneliness or depression as there is arguably no life on the trees. One could link bare trees to winter,which is cold, and can be a miserable time of year for some people.
On the other hand, one could also interpret this image as calming as there isn’t much going on with it and nothing is too busy.
In addition, only the front of the twigs are in focus which allows the viewer to see all the little details on the twigs and even see the little buds that are beginning to form on them.
The image is black and white which also gives the impression that the image is made to create a sense of loneliness and depression.
The twigs have a reasonably smooth texture which could be interpreted to show that life is normally simple however there will always be little bumps in the road. No one’s life is perfect.