For me it’s better to take pictures in the morning because it’s pretty quiet
Why:
What I’m looking to do is to create some images but influence by Fay Godwin style .
Contact sheets :
Edited:
Final selection :
This my final selection , I choose those two images because I think that they have a pretty resembling style to Fay Godwin style and it’s preety much what I was looking for. I like the images in black and white because there’s a lot of shadows that appears and that we can’t really see on colour.
For this photoshoot the lighting and weather allowed me to capture the subtle tones that Luigi Ghirri famously represents in his own work, however my work has a much darker tonal palette. Ghirri also takes many of his photos at the beach, so I felt like using him as an artist reference ties in well with the topic of coastal landscapes.
I believe the images highlighted in green are best photos because they capture the simple contrast of colours, shapes and the use of leading lines that is common in the works of Ghirri. To edit these photos I could use Lightroom or Photoshop in order to increase brightness and decrease contrast to make the tones lighter and more similar to those of Luigi Ghirri.
The photos highlighted in red are my least successful images because the horizon isn’t captured at a straight angle and in general I don’t think they represent Ghirri’s work as accurately.
Photoshop Development
Original Image
Edited Image
Original Image
Edited Image
I used photoshop to edit these photographs in order to make them more similar to the work of Luigi Ghirri. I did this by increasing the brightness and adding blue-toned hues to give the image the pastel aesthetic that Ghirri achieves.
How I edited these photographs
Firstly, I used the colour balance adjustment to add the blue tones and make the grey sky slightly more vibrant.
I then added a blue-green hue to the image to further accentuate the blue tones. I increased the saturation to highlight the pastel colours and increased the lightness to make the colours lighter.
Finally, I added a cyan colour filter to make the blue tones even more prominent.
Luigi Ghirri, born in Scandiano, Italy in 1943, was an Italian artist and photographer who gained recognition as a pioneer of contemporary photography. Ghirri began his career in the 1970’s, when he was heavily inspired by conceptual art. He went on to create his first two pieces, ‘Atlante’, in 1973, and ‘Kodachrome’, in 1978. Luigi Ghirri’s work was featured in many exhibitions around the world, as well as being invited to the ‘Photokina’ in Cologne in 1982, where he was acclaimed as one of the twenty most significant photographers of the 20th century for his series ‘Topographie-Iconographie’. He later died in 1992, due to a heart attack when he was 49.
Examples of Luigi Ghirri’s work
“Marina di Ravenna” – Luigi Ghirri (1972)
“Verso La Foce Del Po” – Luigi Ghirri (1989)
“Riviera romagnola” – Luigi Ghirri (1989)
Analysis of Luigi Ghirri’s work
“Campagna emiliana” – Luigi Ghirri (1989)
This photograph titled ‘Campagna emiliana‘ depicts a derelict Italian rural landscape. At first glance, there is a very muted colour palette and a very simple composition. This is an iconic combination for Ghirri’s work, as he captures the juxtaposition of nature and artificiality in a simplistic way. Ghirri’s use of subtle tones create an almost deadpan view of the world, as his contemporary lens produces an anthropological reaction to his surroundings.
The natural, soft lighting in this photograph forbids any prominent shadows or highlights from standing out, there is no true sense of direction to this lighting because of this as the angle of shadows indicate this, whereas there is a lack of this in the photograph. The lighting is evenly distributed for the most part in this image, although there is a slight sense of darkness towards the top right third of the photo.
There is a clue use of lines within this photograph which can be seen as a form of repetition. Due to the cropping of the image, the lining of the beach is very uniformed, as well as the thicker lining of the road and the juxtaposing thin lines of the walls separating the road and the sand. The use of thin lines can also be seen metaphorically as a separation between the natural world and the artificial world, which is shown as a fine line to separate the two. This could be said to prove the almost indistinct segregation between man and nature, and how they begin to merge in the modern world. There alternating lines also create the multiple leading lines for the viewer, to direct their eyes straight forward towards the horizon in the middle third of the image.
Repetition is represented in the form of lines in this image, however these lines are contrasted between each other with different sizes and colours, therefore the use of repetition in this photograph is contradicting. On the other hand, there is no representation of echo or reflection in this photograph.
Geometric shapes heavily influence this image as well as a lot of other works by Luigi Ghirri. This is proven once again by the repetition of straight-edged lines. The photo, for the most part, is made up of long squares that carry the viewers eyes to the horizon in the middle third of the image.
There is a slight shallow depth of field in this image as the image begins to fade towards the middle third of the image. This is due to the distance of the image paired with a lower f-stop of around 1.4. The majority of the image contains empty, negative space. However the bottom third of the image consists of positive space.
There is multiple contrasting textures within this image. For example, the smooth, even road is contrasted against the rough sand, which is then contrasted with the sharp-cut grass.
The darkest areas of the image would be the grey-toned road and the dim section around the horizon. These are juxtaposed against the lighter areas like the light yellow sand and the gleaming sky. Overall, the image tends towards the lightness, due to the muted, pastel colours in the photograph.
The colours in the photo are very muted and subdued, due to the use of natural daylight, which I believe was taken around midday as there is no sign of a sunset or sunrise. The dominant colour in this image, I would say, is the blue sky. This is because the light blue contributes to over half of the image. I think if this image was taken in black and white, the juxtaposing textures and tones would be increasingly exaggerated .
The image has a rather simple composition due to the repetition of lines as well as the image following the rule of thirds, as the leading lines simultaneously stop in the middle third of the image, and the horizon separated the top third and the bottom third. I would say the image is balanced as the positive space in the bottom third is evenly contrasted with the negative space of the top third.
Industrial landscapes are man made landscapes which look very industrial, mainly construction sites, power plants, chimneys, and factories.
Industrial landscapes are rising in natural habitats and urban areas, changing the natural aspect of earth creating unique geometrical shapes.
The contrast between the sharp unique silhouette of a factory within our natural world. Photographers have made abstract shapes with industrial buildings. Monochrome photography is also popular for industrial photos to get the image to contrast more.
Examples Of Industrial Landscape Photography:
Urban Landscape
Urban landscape photography focuses on more culture and lifestyle.
Humans rarely appear in the photographs yet you can feel the presence of life and culture. Both cautionary and confessional, they also define challenges facing our global future.
Examples Of Urban Landscape Photography:
Photo Shoot Locations
When taking my photos I want to focus on the idea of dereliction, old and new, altered landscapes and car parks. With an overall look on change.
Romanticism was a movement that ’emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental’. Romantic works were a reaction to the Age of Enlightenment and the advancing Industrial Age, a time in which science and rationalization began to take firmer hold in the public consciousness. It was an international movement that swept Western Europe and Russia at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. It expanded to North America in the beginning of the 1830’s. Romantic literature challenged this new wave of ideas by glorifying stories rooted in emotion, nature, idealism, and the subjective experiences of common men and women. “Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in exact truth, but in a way of feeling.” – Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867). Romantic artists were apt to make statements about anything (or nothing), dependent on how an individual artist felt about any given topic on any given day. Francisco de Goya’s work explored madness and oppression, while Caspar David Friedrich found endless inspiration in moonlight and fog. In the movement’s early years, these artists predominantly focused on landscape paintings, the will of the Romantic artist had the final say on the subject matter.
Romanticism in Art
Francisco de Goya
John Constable
Théodore Chassériau
Caspar David Friedrich
Horace Vernet
Thomas Cole
When looking at Romanticism in photography it is clear that artists are aiming to capture the dramatic emotions and atmosphere they feel when taking in their surroundings. For example, photographers such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Fay Godwin capture awe inspiring images of tall mountains and winding paths to entrance the viewer into their romanticised setting. I aim to take influence from these photographer’s images and conduct a series of romanticised landscape photoshoots in specific areas around Jersey.
I believe the images highlighted in green are my most successful images in terms of Ansel Adams style of photography. I feel like these images have a better sense of romanticism because of the colours, tones or the interesting shape of the clouds. Putting these images in black and white through photoshop would further develop the same style that Adams is widely known for.
In general, these photos would be better quality if they were taken with a camera rather than a phone, however I did not have access to a camera for this photoshoot.
Photoshop development
Original Image
Edited Image
Original Image
Edited Image
Original Image
Edited Image
To edit these images, I used photoshop to give the photographs the same monochromatic theme that is iconically known within Ansel Adams work. I also adjusted the brightness and contrast curves to create more intense shadows and highlights, similar to the ones in the work of Adams.
Comparison between mine and Ansel Adams work
My Work
Ansel Adams work
I believe my work and the work of Ansel Adams have both similarities and differences. In terms of similarities, the use of the black and white filter allows for the tones in both images to be accentuated and there is a sense of the sublime in both images. On the other hand the images are different because Adams photograph is taken on a much larger scale, he also practiced the use of using the tonal values of an image to it’s full capacity, whereas I had to alter the contrast and brightness levels in order to achieve the level of contrast that Adams is known for.
Romanticism in art became a poplar movement at the start of the 1800’s. Romantic art often saw links between the artists view of the ‘ sublime’, or expression of personal feeling and interest in the natural world. Romanticism emerged as a hopeful source on nature after the French Revolution in 1789, and shows the artist’s often exaggerated view on nature in order to create beauty out of the nature that was destroyed in war. Romanticism was shaped largely by artists trained in Jacques Louis David’s studio, including Baron Antoine Jean Gros, Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.
Examples of Romanticism in art
“Country Road in Winter at Moonlight” – Carl Blechen (1836)
“The Cornfield” – John Constable (1826)
“Cotopaxi” – Frederic Edwin Church (1862)
Romanticism in photography
“Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park,” – Ansel Adams (1937)
Romanticism has converted into a form of photography with the same aim as romantic art, to create an idealistic view of the world. Romantic photography depicts an exaggerated view on nature by which the features are dramatically and positively represented. This is done by editing a landscape image to create extreme contrasts between colour, tone and lighting. Ansel Adams is a perfect representation of romantic photography as his images display an almost magical view on the world’s natural state.
Examples of romanticism in photography
“Vancouver 2” – Lou Reed (circa 2006)
“A farm entrance near my house in Somerset” – Don McCullin (2008)
“Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, California” – Ansel Adams (1944)
Ansel Adams
“Half Dome, Merced River, Winter, Yosemite National Park, California” – Ansel Adams (1938)
Ansel Adams, born in 1902 and died in 1984, was an American photographer and environmentalist who was passionate about capturing nature in it most beautiful and powerful form. Adams was given his first camera at age 12 on a family holiday to Yosemite National Park, and therefore discovered his love for both photography and nature through this. Adams help found group “f/64” which focused on embracing ‘pure’ photography and capturing a photo with it’s complete tonal capacity. Ansel Adam’s is an ideal representation of a romantic photographer as he dramatizes the natural world into an idealistic view.
Analysis of Ansel Adam’s work
Northern California Coast Redwoods” – Ansel Adams (1960)
This photograph taken by Ansel Adams in 1960, depicts the Northern California Coast Redwoods. This image ideally displays romanticism in photography with the use of extreme contrasting tones and juxtaposing levels of dark and light.
The harsh, natural lighting in this photograph both illuminates and darkens sectors of the image in an exaggerated manner. The lightest sections of the image can be seen in the trees in the foreground of the image, these are seen as an almost pure white against the contrasting darkness within the background of the image, as well as in the leaves and bushes of the photograph. As the shadows in the scene don’t fall in a particular direction, it is difficult to tell the time of day or the direction of which the lighting appears.
The white, thick lining of the trees act as leading lines for the viewer, as they direct the eyes to follow from the bottom of the image to the top. These lines create multiple focal points as they stand out amongst the darkness and create an upwards direction to the image.
The use of repetition can be seen within the trees of the photograph as these thick, leading lines are repeated throughout the image. However these repeated lines are contrasting as they vary in thickness and tone. The trees can also be seen as a form of echo as they almost duplicate each other.
There is a variety of both geometric and and organic shapes within this photograph. For example, geometric shapes can be seen in the straight-edged trees, which are juxtaposed against the more natural shapes seen in the leaves and bushes.
The depth of field is difficult to describe as the background consists of mainly negative, empty space. However I can guess that the depth of field is small as the foreground is in distinctively in focus, and the background is rather vague.
There is contrasting textures within the image. This can be seen in the leaves, which have a rougher and more jagged texture when compared to the trees which have a much smoother surface, therefor these are juxtaposed against each other.
There is an extreme contrast between light and dark tones within this image as Adams focuses on the extended use of tonal values in order to achieve a powerful juxtaposition between highlights and shadows. Ansel Adam’s goal in his work is to capture what is seen in the moment by the human eye, therefore this image is an accurate representation of the natural world. The darkest areas of the image can be seen in the shadows of the ominous forest within the background of the image. The lightest section of the image can be found in both in the off-white tree trunks and in sections of the leaves that cling onto the trees. Overall the image tends towards darkness, as the majority of the photograph contains darker tones, and these tones are more intense.
There is a lack of colour in this photograph due to the use of black and white film. The lack of colour allows for the tones in the image to be accentuated, creating a rather intense juxtaposition. If the image were taken in colour, the depth of field would probably be easier to work out as the background wouldn’t be in complete darkness. The contrast of colour would also be highlighted rather than the contrast in tones.
The composition of this image focuses on the use of lines rather than the use of thirds. There is no true focal point as the bright trees contain the viewers focus. I believe the photograph is balanced overall, as the contrasting tones are evenly distributed. The image produces an upwards direction for the viewer, directing their eyes from the bottom of the image to the top of the image.
This images was taken by Mrs Dorothy E A Evans in an attempt to capture a beautiful, sunny day. It is a view of Queen’s Valley before flooding to make a reservoir there are trees in the middle distance and fern in the foreground. Evidently, the field is flooded but there are some parts that remain such as the trees and a few plants / fern.
I decided to make my image black and white to add to the theme of Juxtaposition; light vs darkness, past vs present and ancient vs modern.
There is evidence of leading lines in the photograph as the audience will look at the fields and trees and follow the lines to find the horizon. Also, the image is rich in colour which just adds to the idea that the artists wanted to resemble Queen’s valley beauty and majesty.
The lighting appears to be natural as it was a photo taken outside in nature. There are bright colours and harsh dark tones by the trees adding to the theme of juxtaposition and considering that eventually that exact field was flooded to be turned into a reservoir, the dark tones could suggest a “dark” will happen in that place in the future but will not ruin the valley’s natural beauty. In comparison to my photograph revealing the same place taken in 2021, we can see the use of the dark tones to display what was explained above.
In my opinion, this juxtaposition is successful as it powerfully shows the difference between an old image of Queen’s valley and my own image of that same place showing the difference and how places have changed through time.
Contact sheets
Editing
I have edited this juxtapositions in the following manner:
I have imported both images into Photoshop, then aligned the photo taken by Dorothy to the centre of mine and created a white border around it to act as a frame. I have also blurred the white border several times so that it looks like it is within the image. I did the same with Dorothy’s image so that it looks of a higher quality as it was a bit pixelated.
Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was an American photographer who captured dramatic black and white landscape images as a committed environmentalist. His love of nature, which led to him capturing some of the most influential landscape images in history, was sparked by his native area in California, Adams grew up in a house amid the dunes of the Golden Gate before the famous bridge linking the two headlands was built. The area around San Francisco was still wild then, and he would go on long hikes which helped him escape troubling aspects of his childhood, such as his unhappy schooling and his parents’ financial worries. Adams had so much appreciation for the natural world that he decided he wanted to capture it’s intense atmosphere through photography, it was important to him to show the drama and emotion he felt while exploring these beautiful areas.
The primary technique Adams used to photograph his greatest works was visualisation, the impact this concept had really changed the way photographers captured scenes and decided on their final images. The visualisation process included seeing the photograph’s final product in your mind, deciding the lighting, framing, tones, focus and all other aspects before actually taking the photo. Adams, when describing visualisation, said ‘We must explore what lies before our eyes for its significance, substance, shape, texture, and the relationship of tonal values. We must teach our eyes to become more perceptive.’ By using this technique, Adams has captured some of the greatest landscape images in history, clearly portraying a depth of emotions and connotations behind each photograph. An example where Adams used visualisation as his breakthrough was in 1927, when he wanted to capture the ‘majesty’ of the Half Dome rock formation at Yosemite National Park, but only had one plate left. Visualisation was used when Adams started picturing the image he wanted, ‘a brooding form, with deep shadows and a distant sharp white peak against a dark sky’, however he realised that a yellow filter would not capture the drama of the image as he saw it. Instead, he used a red filter with a long exposure to photograph the image he had imagined in his mind, he said he had achieved ‘my first conscious visualisation’, which allowed him to capture ‘not the way the subject appeared in reality but how it felt to me’. Furthermore, Ansel Adams (along with Fred Archer) formed ‘The Zone System’ where they were able to perfectly control the contrast in their black and white photos, Adams’ base rule was: “Expose for the shadows; develop for the highlights.” The Zone System consists of 0-10 tonal shades (0 being pure black, 10 being pure white) which Adams used to determine the final development of his images. This technique has allowed photographers to have control over the darkest and lightest points of their image, manipulating the meaning and effect portrayed through highlights and shadow.
Ansel Adams’ Photography
Image Analysis
Ansel Adams | Yosemite Valley | Yosemite National Park | 1934
In this photograph Ansel Adams has captured the dramatic atmosphere of Yosemite National Park, with several dynamic features that really show the beauty of nature. The first element that really stands out is his use of the rule of thirds in the composition of this image. In the foreground we can see a dense forest forming 1/3 of the photograph, the middle of the image shows the colossal mountains and the last 3rd of the image depicts the clouded sky. Each section of the photograph holds a different tone, gradually getting lighter as the viewer’s eyeline moves up the photo. Adams has created an easily noticeable sequence through this technique, allowing the observer’s focus to travel through each section, appreciating every small detail of the beautiful nature Adams wanted to capture. Moreover, Adams has used his signature technique of ‘The Zone System’ to further the dramatic contrasts and establish a relationship between the darkest and lightest points of his image. For example, Adam’s has captured zone 0, the deepest tone, around the edges of his photograph which creates a vignette effect as the dark shadows gradient into the middle of the image. Additionally, we can see Adams has captured one of the brighter zones such as 9 or 10 in the centre of the image, highlighting the expanse of mountains going into the distance. This not only shows a wide depth of field, but also the use of this bright white tone connotes themes of biblical imagery, as if a God-like figure waits at the end of the mountains shining a white light to guide the way. It is clear that Adams used a higher f- number to capture this depth as the aperture would need to be larger in order for him to photograph every minuscule detail of the environment around him.
Furthermore, Adams has captured leading lines throughout this image, which act as outlines separating the jagged mountains from the sky. For example, in the mid-left of the photo the observer’s attention is brought to the dark, curved outline of the forest covered mountain which contrasts greatly with the brighter mountain wall behind it. Also, the range of shadows and highlights captured in each mountain’s peak really emphasises the emotion and astonishment Adams felt while taking in this natural environment, it exaggerates his feelings towards the beauty of nature. Another clear feature of this image that shows this dramatic contrast is Adams’ use of directing sunlight to highlight specific areas of his photo. In the mid-right of the image Adams has positioned his camera in a way to capture the bright natural light reflecting off of a waterfall- clearly creating a contrast between the dark shadows of the forest and the glowing water. In addition, there is a wide variety of textures created in this image that further Adams’ theme of the importance and elegance of the natural world. The harsh pointed lines of the mountain peaks form an irregular and spikey texture however the thick scope of trees below provides a more bristly feathered texture, as they all lie closely to each other forming a sort of blanket. This contrast and range in textures creates a powerful atmosphere as they exaggerate the breath-taking feeling, and contrasting emotions, Adams felt while admiring this surrounding.
Fay Godwin (1931 – 2005) was a British photographer known for her black and white landscapes of the British countryside and coast. She produced portraits of dozens of well-known writers, photographing almost every significant literary figure in 1970s and 1980s England, as well as numerous visiting foreign authors. After the publication of her first books he was a prolific publisher, working mainly in the landscape tradition to great acclaim and becoming the nation’s most well-known landscape photographer. Her early and mature work was informed by the sense of ecological crisis present in late 1970s and 1980s England.
IMAGE ANALYSIS
Godwin has used utilised the natural lighting available to her in this photograph, and has avoided using any form of artificial lighting as the image was captured in an outdoor environment. There is a range of tones in the image, varying from dark and almost black in the grass, and much brighter ones in the sky and clouds. Additionally, the photograph being captured in black and white adds to the contrast between them. However, the colours in this image are not entirely black and white as they fall somewhere in the middle, which still leaves the photograph feeling natural and untouched. Godwin has positioned herself in the middle of the pathway in the photograph, which has lead to leading lines being presented to the viewer, drawing their eyes to a singular focal point (where the pathway meets the hill in the background). This focal point is also in the centre and the middle ground of the photograph, which again draws the viewer’s eye to this particular point. We can see that there is repetition present in the photograph in the grass in the foreground as they are all positioned in the same way. The texture of the grass is also still clearly visible through the image, and the rough surface contrasts to the soft look of the clouds in the sky as well as the smooth look of the hill in the background.
CLASSWORK – EVALUATING A PHOTOGRAPH
This photograph is of a path leading to a reservoir in the countryside and is aptly named ‘Path and Reservoir’. It was captured in Yorkshire in 1977 by Fay Godwin. Godwin was known for being a part of The Ramblers, which is Great Britain’s leading walking charity that celebrates the pleasures of walking and aims to protect the places people love to walk. They believe everyone, everywhere should be able to experience the joy of walking and have access to green spaces to walk close to home. It is very possible that Godwin took photographs such as this as a way to show her love for the countryside and her evident disdain at the growing privatisation of the environment by big businesses. In the foreground of the image there is a wooden path which leads to the middle ground of the photograph and draws the viewer’s eye to the dividing line in the middle of the image. Perhaps it was her intention to use the edges of the pathway as leading lines towards the middle of the photograph, thus creating a focal point for the viewer. which is the edge of the hill that the path is on. She appears to have kept the photograph as natural as possible, probably as a way to give the viewer a realistic depiction of the countryside that she is seeing. She has also captured this image in black and white, which may have been an artistic choice; this was taken in 1977 when, although coloured cameras were available, many photographers still chose to shoot in black and white. However, the photograph is not completely black and white, as different hues of tones can be seen in the grass and the hills in the background. We can tell she has used natural lighting as the photograph is of the outdoor environment. Godwin most probably placed herself in an intentional position when she took the image. There are multiple curvy and natural lines in the image, shown by the dividing lines of the fields in the background and the clouds in the sky. This could emphasise Godwin’s intention to show the natural landscape in an organic and raw way, as it has not been made straight, rigid or repetitive by humans. I think that Godwin wanted the viewer of this photograph to feel inspired and in awe of the natural beauty of the countryside.
