Gerry Johansson

Gerry Johansson is a Swedish photographer who photographs simple areas with straight lines. He was born in 1945 in Sweden and spent his life travelling around the globe taking photos. He photographs in black and white and his photos link to historical and social issues. Over his lifetime, he has published 30 books and at age 71, is still taking photos to this day.

Gerry Johansson’s style is taking photos of natural landscapes that have been corrupted by man made structures. His images are black and white and include open landscapes with buildings or structures.

Why did I choose Gerry Johansson?

I chose to use Gerry Johansson as one of my anthropocene inspired photographers. I chose to use him because his photos have simple subjects but complicated tonal values. The images have a lot of drama between tonal contrast, humanity and nature and old vs new. I also like the idea of taking photos in black and white so that the tonal values are very dramatic and I will recreate this with my own photo shoot.

Photo Analysis

Contextual

The image above was taken in Froid, Montana in 2017 and shows a church in the middle of fields of small grass. There are also many wooden electrical pylons either side of the church. The pylons appear to be stretching for miles through the Montana Desert. The image is in black and white and even though it was taken in 2017, Johansson has used an old camera to give the image a grainy feel.

Technical

The light in the image is clearly natural from the sun, however the light is very intense. We can assume it was taken on a clear day when the sun was high in the sky probably around midday. The tonal range in the image is very vast and the contrast is high. The image has a low ISO as the image is not dark.

Visual

The image has a good tonal contrast between the light building, grass and sky and the dark wires and pylons. The sun is coming from the left of the image as we can see a shadow on the church. There are also lighter parts of the pylons to the left and darker shadowed parts to the right. The large pylons provide a sense of repetition in the image and there are 8 pylons in sight in the image. The human impact on the empty desert displays the opposing forces of humanity vs nature. The electrical pylons are leading the eye from the main focal point and into the desert referencing the expanse of space still affected by the impact of humans.

Conceptual

I believe Johansson took the photo above to show beauty within the chaos of human nature. I believe he is also showing the effect humans are having on the planet in a positive and negative way. I believe the electrical pylons are meant to lead the eye of the viewer further and further away into the desert showing how was human impact is on the planet.

Where am I going to take photos?

As I mentioned on the post about antropocene in general, I want to go to places such as cell towers and reservoirs. I will take black and white photos with a high tonal value, using lines and shadows to create drama in my images. The images will show how nature is being affected by humans and how structures are present in landscapes.

Andy Hughes

Andy Hughes is an British photographer who works with plastic and how it affects the environment. He was born in Cardiff in 1966 and has mainly exhibited his work in the UK and US. He has also had his work used in the BBC and National Geographic. His photographs directly link with the idea of plastic pollution and the negative impact humanity is creating. He uses his photographs to bring information about pollution to light of the public and has spoken on television about the problem.

Dominant Wave Theory

Andrew Hughes’s work explores the rubbish washed up on the beach where he surfs. Despite their bad presence, these mass-produced items become aesthetic forms within the overall . By photographing everyday products in such an environment, Hughes attempts to draw attention to the unseen ,small scale pollutants of modern industrial consumerist society.

Image Analysis

Contextual

The photo is of a red lighter half buried in the sand on a beach. The photo is an example of Dominant Wave Theory as it shows an small mass produced item that would not usually be classed as having an aesthetic value. It was taken on a beach in Los Angeles in California and shows a sunset behind the lighter.

Technical

The lighting in the image is very natural and very soft and distant as the light is coming from the sunset. There is a good contrast between the brightest and darkest tones of the shadowed sand and the light sky. There is a good combination of colours with the red of the lighter mixing with the yellow of the sun. We can assume that the image was taken at sunset. The images has quite a warm tone and the lighter is in focus with the sand and sunset behind slightly blurred.

Visual

The image has a good contrast between the dark sand and the light sky creating tension between the sky and the ground. There is also contrast between the red lighter and blue/ grey sky. The sun is in the center of the image and the sunlight is being refracted and distorted by the scratched and damaged lighter surface. The red lighter combined with the yellow sunset creates a golden colour through the lighter. Behind the lighter, there are many small sand hills that bring a sense of repetition and randomness that link to nature. The lighter is in the middle of the image and is positioned at an angle that links to the idea of the sea washing it up randomly.

Conceptual

The image above links to the idea of Hughes’ Dominant Wave Theory and brings to light the detrimental effects of plastic on the planet. The surface of the lighter is also slightly damages linking to the idea that by putting plastic into the sea it is in turn damaging us. The scratches and dented surface resembles humanity being damages by pollution.

Where am I going to take photos?

I will take photos of plastic that has been washed up on a beach. I will take the photos so that the colours are contrasting and the background is slightly blurred resembling Andy Hughes and his method of taking photos.

Comparison

Gerry Johansson takes photos in black and white and his photos have a high tonal contrast which bring drama to his images. He also uses very natural lighting when taking photos. His message in his photos is that anything can have aesthetic value even the most unlikely subject.

Andy Hughes takes photos in colour and his photos have tonal contrast between dark and light but also warm and cold colours. He also uses natural lighting when taking his images. His message is similar to Johansson and it is that even small, mass produced things can have an aesthetic value.

The new topography relates to an exhibition by William Jenkins of stripped back landscape photos relating to the urban expansion of the 70s

Stephan Shore is a urban photographer known for his vivid, bright and colourful photography. His book, Uncommon Places documents his journey around America and gives energy to the most mundane objects such as gas stations and signs. This almost technicolour style is what I want to emulate in my own work.

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KEYWORDS

Retro, Old Hollywood, American, Desert, Warm, Grime

FORM

This photo is of a large sign in Amarillo, Texas. It appears to have been left in disarray and is a reminder of the Golden Age with the retro 50s font and light pastel colours that are once again popular. It seems like the sign is for a shop or attraction, evident by the wording, ‘OPEN FRI SAT SUN’. The vintage qualities of this image are further emphasised through the warm yellows of the landscape which instantly age it, connoting photos and other objects yellowed with age.

CONTENT

The photo was taken in the aftermath of the Watergate crisis, just 2 months after the resignation of president Richard Nixon. The dated and worn sign could be used as a metaphor for aging political practises and opinions. just like how old Hollywood and the golden era for film was ending. It was also taken at the time of the Chipko movement, peacefully protesting for conservation of trees. It could be argued that the contrast between the grimy sign in a desert wasteland contrasted with the minimal amount of greenery is reflective of this.

PROCESS

The photo book this image is from was taken on a road trip around america showcasing a variety of landscapes. Because of this a small portable camera with limited photography equipment was probably used to take it. Due to the brightness of the sun it is easy to hazard a guess that the photo was taken with an aperture of around f/22 with an ISO around 100-200

Urban landscape photography is the practise of taking images in urban areas e.g industrial buildings. I was inspired by the work of Stephan shore who’s nostalgic photographs of signage around America in the 70s really resonated with me. On this shoot I walked around the school campus finding areas of industrial build-up and also coming across graffiti from the video game Mario which I felt reflected Shores work.

For my photo shoot, I walked around the grounds of highland college as well as oak-field sport center and took photos of urban images that caught my eye. I saw a lot of colorful signs around the area and, on walking to Highlands college I found a lot of Mario graffiti that I feel added more character to my images. Based on this, and my study on Stephan Shore, I decided to focus on these signs and drawings for my project.

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I used adobe Lightroom to create a more pastel toned colour palette which more closely resembled the work of Stephan Shore, the photographer my work is focusing on. This colour palette also created a feeling of reminiscence with its faded look.

I chose to display my photos in this grid format as it replicates the uniformity of industrial areas. I purposely centred the sign of the community centre as it is the central idea. The Mario graffiti is positioned surrounding the sign and complimenting each other with the directions moving.

On reflection I am pleased with this outcome but would make it sharper by doing more cropping to make the photos look more uniform

What is the “Anthropocene”

The Anthropocene is a proposed geological epoch dating from the start of significant human impact on Earth and its geology and ecosystems, including climate change.

Above, I made two mood boards. One for Anthropocene in general including industrial, landscape and abandoned images which interest me and might inspire my final outcome. Then I made a second mood board just for pollution photography. I did this because the negative impact humans are having on the planet is seen by the influx of rubbish that washes up on our beaches and kills marine wildlife.

My two photographers that I will follow and take influence from are Gerry Johansson and Andy Hughes. Johansson takes photos in black and white of urban impact on nature and Hughes takes photos of pollution on beaches and creates the idea of the pollution being natural.

Mandy Barker is a British photographer. She is mostly known for work with marine plastic debris. She has worked alongside scientists in hopes of bringing awareness to the mass amount of plastic that is floating around in our oceans. A lot of Mandy Barkers work has been manipulated and photo shopped to look as if these plastics are on going in the ocean. I will be focusing on her microscopic work below where she photographs small living marine organisms to be looking as such debris of plastics floating in the ocean.

-Analysis

This image above Mandy has used a microscope to photograph marine micro organisms that live throughout the ocean. This images are supposed to represent the plastic wastage in the oceans due to humans. As we can see this image in particular is similar to a plastic bag which floats through the depths of the water. Mandy jellyfish are mistaken for plastic bags in the oceans and i think this is where Mandy wanted to emphasis the effects of plastic. Enveloping black space evokes the deep oceans beneath. Presenting new ‘specimens’ created from recovered debris, serves as a metaphor to the use of plastic and the Anthropocene. Movements of the recovered plastic objects, recorded in camera over several seconds, represent the movement of individual plankton in the water. Current scientific research has found that plankton ingest micro plastic particles, mistaking them for food, and at the bottom of the food chain they are themselves a crucial source of food for many of the larger creatures. The potential impact on marine life and ultimately man itself is currently of vital concern. Mandy has made not only interesting images to look at when seeing plankton through a microscope, but a good story and image of what the effects of plastic is doing to the smallest of living creatures.