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The 1975 exhibition New Topographic signalled a radical shift away from traditional depictions of landscape. Photographers switched from photographing the traditional romanticism through rural and natural landscapes to taking pictures of man made, urban footprints. This restaging of the exhibition includes the work of all 10 photographers from the original show: Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott, Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel.
Many of these new photographers were inspired by the man-made and wanted to show its beauty in different weathers/times of the day but also a way to emphasize how much the impact of industrial development has made to the natural landscape, an exhibition in the International Museum of Photography in Rochester, New York showed this feeling of unease towards this issue.
examples –
the ideas behind romanticism became common after 1789, the year of the French Revolution that caused a significant social change in Europe. Romanticism, first defined as an aesthetic in literary criticism around 1800, gained popularity as an artistic movement in France and Britain in the early decades of the nineteenth century and thrived until the mid-century. Romanticism spread throughout Europe in the 19th century and developed as an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that embraced various arts such as literature, painting, music and history. Romanticism was also expressed in architecture through the imitation of older architectural styles.
According to the article titled “Romanticism and Its Relation to Landscape Photography & Painting”, romanticism was an art form that rejected classicalism and focused on nature, imagination and emotion. It crossed between music, painting, photography and many other art forms. Landscape photography was popular at this time, therefore, romantic landscapes were common. The landscapes focused on the beauty of nature and included a lot of running water and vast forests (Hirsch 42) .
what is rural landscape photography?
Rural landscape photography is in many ways similar to photographing urban landscapes. The difference is rural photography is about capturing the “life” in the countryside or in areas that are not built up. Rural can be seen as something old, natural and slowly changing, while urban is mostly modern, man made and fast changing. rural landscape photography is used to capture beauty in the natural landscape, without being changed by human existence. For example places like sand dunes, beaches, woods, fields and the countryside are rural and mostly unchanged. However these places will change slowly overtime due to other natural occurrences like extreme weather, heat and rain. rural photography is a popular form of photography due to settings that are bursting with life, natural features and an explosion of vibrant colour, whereas urban photography is often more dull and full of grey colours.
Fay Godwin first became interested in photography in the mid-1960s as a result of taking pictures of her young children. Alongside early portrait work, she developed a sophisticated landscape practice, often collaborating closely with writers to produce in depth surveys of particular rural topics or regions. Her photography has sometimes been linked to a tradition of romantic representations of the British landscape, in the manner of Bill Brandt or Edwin Smith. But, as a socialist and active environmentalist, Godwin makes the land in her photographs reveal traces of its history, through mankind’s occupation and and intervention.
in the 1990s she was offered a Fellowship at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (now the National Media Museum) in Bradford, which pushed her work in the direction of colour and urban documentary. She also began taking close-ups of natural forms. A major exhibition of that work was toured by Warwick Arts Centre from 1995 to 1997; Godwin self-published a small book of that work in 1999, called Glassworks & Secret Lives, which was distributed from a small local bookshop in her adopted hometown of Hastings in East Sussex.
Godwin was introduced to the London literary scene. 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. Her subjects, typically photographed in the sitters’ own homes, included Kingsley Amis.
The first edition of Remains of Elmet: A Pennine Sequence, her book collaboration with poet Ted Hughes, was published by Rainbow Press in 1979. The book was also published in popular form by Faber and Faber (with poor reproduction of the images), and then re-published by them in 1994 simply as Elmet with a third of the book being new additional poems and photographs.
Louis Daguerre France (18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851)
Louis Daguerre was a 19th century French photographer and artist who developed the Daguerreotype process which was similar to Niépce’s ‘Heliotype’ process. Daguerreotypes used silver plated copper as it’s medium, meaning that they where unique and could not be duplicated. Daguerre was also a successful artist and, with the help of Charles Marie Bouton, developed diorama theatre in 1821. He is referred to as one of the founding fathers of photography.
Henry Fox-Talbot
Henry Fox-Talbot, a 19th century English inventor, scientist and photographer, invented the calotype process. This was introduced in 1841. Calotypes used paper coated in silver iodine, which made the paper more sensitive to light, and could be reproduced, as the negative medium used to produce the images was never used up. Despite the reproducibility and ease of producing the Calotype, it never became as or more popular than the Daguerreotype because the images produced weren’t as clear as Daguerreotypes and because Talbot patented the process which restricted its use.
these two images have similarity in the sense that they are both presented in black and white. In my opinion, black and white images are much more interesting than images in colour, because it allows you to focus on what is really being photographed, behind the colours which is what usually draws your eyes to something in the first place. Both of there images are portrait headshots, taken in front of a plain background to draw your attention to the subject. Similarly, both images have a neutral facial expression. These images both explore the way in which identity is presented, in my image on the left, identity is show as something that is crumbling due to a society trying to shape people to all be the same, however in Claude Cahun’s self portrait, it seems as if she is representing her personality as something that is forever changing. In my opinion, Cahun’s self portrait is inspired by the queen of hearts, due to the heavy makeup on her face. I think this is supposed to present her identity as someone who is strong and powerful, no matter the gender they identity as. There are a few differences between the images, for example in my image the design on her face is created digitally using photoshop software, this is because I wanted the cracked face effect to look as realistic as possible. In Cahun’s self portrait, she manually paints on a design on her face, I think she does this because she is forever changing the way she looks and wants the image to look as raw as possible, as well as this, when the image was taken, they did not have the resources to digitally edit these photos. Another difference between these images is that one of them is a self portrait, which shows how Claude wanted to portray her own identity, and the other is a portrait taken of a friend by myself, in which I wanted to highlight how someone else’s identity comes across to me.
For my first photoshoot I set it on a very sunny day, so that I could capture the sun reflecting out of the boys eyes, although only a few images were successful, I did manage to get 2 or 3 great images.
My second shoot was set in the studio, with 5 of my friends, here is where most of the good images came from. We tried many different lightings including Rembrandt, butterfly and silhouette and tried many different portrait ideas and positions.
Some of my images where unplanned images, that were taken in the spare of the moment as I saw an opportunity arrive. I have been collecting these images for a couple weeks.
Here I am beginning to sort through all 800 + of my photos and select the potential photos with ‘shift p’ and reject the photos that aren’t so good with ‘shift X’
Now that I have reduced my photos to around 12, I am colour coding them into portrait, object and landscape.
Now I am beginning to edit the lighting and crop my images to portray my view of lost Identity. I have changed the image to black and white to take away the personality through colours. By reducing the highlights and exposure and increasing the clarity, texture and contrast, the water dripping down the window is enhanced. This also creates the idea that tears are dripping down someone’s face.
I have changed this image to black and white, decreased the exposure, highlights and whites and increased the contrast shadows, texture and clarity to give the effect that his eyes are like glass.
image 1
I started off with this black and white image of Reinaldo and Hattie.
I then took it into photoshop and started inserting DNA into the image. I took out the white background and duplicated the layer until there were 4 DNA helix’s. I think positioned them equally across the screen and set them all to linear burn so that they looked like sketches over the drawing. After a bit of trial and error I then decided hat something didn’t look quite right with the image, so I changed one of the spirals into the divide setting, making it white. This spiral represents the ‘odd one out’ or the ‘unique’ person in society.
image 2
with this image, I started off by using the smudge and blur tool to swirl their facial features out as I didn’t want their faces to be recognisable.
secondly, I used the paint tool to draw irregular scribbles over their faces and then changed the setting to blend colour burn so that the scribbles still looked part of the image.
Image 3
Firstly I started off having a few ideas about what I wanted to convey from this image, It was a lot of trial and error before I came up with the final idea. Originally I wanted to put a fingerprint over her face, and make it look like, instead of having a face, she was merely a fingerprint. However I was not satisfied with the outcome and changed my idea completely. Then after some time making decisions with other images I came up with the idea to make her face look shattered and cracked.
To achieve the cracked face, I inserted an image of cracked paint and began to experiment with how I could make it look like it was actually part of her face. After many failures, I achieved this by: firstly changing the opacity to 50%, and cropping the image down so that it was just a little bigger than her face by using the polygonal lasso tool. I then used ‘control T’ and right clicked, dropped down and selected ‘warp’. The warp tool allowed me to curve the image to combine in to her face shape and structure. After this I used the eraser tool to remove the cracking from her eyes and around her face where it shouldn’t be. Finally, I put the opacity back to 100% and used the setting multiply to stick the image to her face.
All the images that I am presenting here are all of my chosen images, edited so that the lighting and composition. They are in black and white in response to Claude Cahoon and Mihaela Ivanova. Another reason for using black and white is that I wanted all colours erased out of my images to cancel out assumption, stereotyping and personality through choice of colours. I have produced a series of portraits, objects and landscapes all with a connection to my take on ‘lost identity’. I wanted to show that Identity is constantly being altered, controlled and changed by society to the point where people cant remember who they really were, or even have lost their unique identity completely. I have used many techniques in photoshop and delicate lighting editing to achieve this. In response to Mihaela Ivanova, I have produced a few slow, black and white images much like her style
In this image I have increased the contrast slightly, blurred out their faces and scribbled over them in photoshop. This photo signifies the ‘Perfect Family’ on paper, but behind the scenes this family could not be so normal or perfect. The faces are scribbled out to show that none of these people truly understand their identity and how behind the fake smiles they are simply just people who are lost.
This image is one of my favourites, I chose to take a simplistic portrait, without any photoshop. I increased the contrast and highlights, and decreased the exposure to make the neckless the key focus point. The reason I have done this is because the necklace belongs to his parents, with their initials engraved in it, which shows a strong part of his identity. I have chosen to take the image just below his face, only showing his neck and shoulder to keep his identity covered but show slight hints through the necklace. The idea behind wearing a family ring around his neck links into the theme of lost identity because it is almost like he is expected to be a certain way for his parents and may have to keep his true identity covered from them.
In this image I have lowered the expose and increased the contrast, texture and clarity to enhance the water dropping down the window. The idea behind this image, although slightly hidden, is that the window washer signifies the way `I view identity as washed out and hidden. The water dripping down the window is highlighted and symbolised tears behind someones facade. I enjoy the realism in this image, as it was not set up, it was an idea that sprung to mind as soon as I saw it, and I only had a small period of time to take the image.
In this image, I haven’t changed a lot to the lighting, I simply decreased the exposure and increased the contrast to really pull the couple away from the background. I have used photoshop to insert 4 DNA helix’s to signify that everyone comes from tiny, miniscule supercoiled code, that can’t be seen and that nobody ever really thinks about. You’re DNA is something that nobody can change, this links to lost identity because your identity feels confined to what you were given. For example if your DNA says you are female, then feeling like you are supposed to be a boy can make you feel trapped and confined.
in this image I have increased the contrast and whites, and decreased the exposure. In photoshop I edited cracked skin look onto her face. This image signifies the way that although she is smiling, she is fighting something behind the scenes and It is slowly breaking her identity down before she looses it. This relates to the idea that other people begin to control the way you view yourself, to the point where you actually forget the real you.
In this image I have decreased the exposure, highlights and whites and increased the contrast shadows, texture and clarity to give the effect that his eyes are like glass. I have also done this to enhance the texture of his skin, bringing out the subtle freckles on his face. I wanted to make his eyes look like glass reflecting light to signify that people can be fragile on the inside, however the identity that we all see may not show that. In photoshop I have edited hypnotising spirals into his eyes, although hard to notice and first glance, the more you look and the image the more you can see it. I have done this to show that everything that we see on a daily basis is altering our identity without us realising, from what people are wearing to what they are doing, saying and how their body language is.
I did not include this image as a final piece. The idea behind this was that his identity is being controlled by others, which you can see through the hands pulling his hair back and forth. I wanted to make the image multi exposure, so that it gives the effect of the confusion happening in his head. However, if this exam was extended or in the future I would change the lighting and camera settings slightly so that there was no grain to the image and the quality was better. I would also make one of the layers red to show anger in a lost identity.
Identity = the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
Your identity can be defined by many different factors of your life, for example the way you dress, your culture, where you live, who you live with etc.
place – the place in which you are photograph can say a lot about your wealth, your lifestyle and your personality. For example if you are photographed in a buzzing city you are most likely to live in these urban areas, it can show that you enjoy the bus of people around you, making you a people person. On the other hand if you are photographed in a place like a farm, or the countryside, it can imply that you enjoy the small things in life. For example someone who lives in these rural areas are more likely to be less materialistic, have less money and enjoy the simpler things in life.
Clothing – clothing can say a lot about a persons wealth and status, and much about their culture. For example if someone is wearing a Berka, it is clear to see that they are muslim, and if someone is wearing a kippa they are likely to be jewish. If someone clothing is extravagant and covered in expensive brands, they are likely to have a lot of money and care much about their image. You can also see which climate someone is living in by their clothing. If their clothing is thin and minimal it is clear to see that they are living in hot conditions, whereas if their clothes are thick ad layered they are more likely to be battling the cold.
facial expression – facial expression and position of the subject can say a lot about how they view themselves. For example somebody who is confident may smirk or grin infrot of a camera, wanting to look their very best. However someone who is less comfortable around the camera, may be more self conscious, and prefer to be photographed when they aren’t posing and least expect it.
This image shows a lot about this women’s identity. The environment that she is standing or working in seems to be pretty rural, and away from ay modern buildings or equipment. This can imply that the women doesn’t have a lot of money, and looks as if she is working hard to bring food and materials back to her family. Her clothing can suggest that the climate she is living in is on the warmer side, and also indicates that she is a victim of poverty due to clothing looking like a big sheet she has wrapped around herself. In this image, the women doesn’t look or seem too happy, personally I think this is because she is exhausted from working in the heat to try and provide for her family or friends.
Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob, was a French photographer, sculptor, and writer. She is best known for her self-portraits in which she assumes a variety of personas, including dandy, weight lifter, aviator, and doll. In 1937 Cahun and half sister, and lover, originally known Suzanne Malherbe but by her pseudonym, Marcel Moore, settled in jersey. Theirs was a creative partnership, as well as romantic. Cahun is the more renowned of the pair. She used her work to challenge notions of identity and gender with androgynous self-portraits that bring to life an array of characters. In one, she’s a bodybuilder holding barbells and hearts drawn on their cheeks; in another, she’s a lady of the manor swathed in velvet. Her work is a playful clash of the masculine and feminine, but also a critique of the societal norms she spent her life refusing to adhere to.
Three years after their arrival, on June 30, 1940, the Germans invaded, many of jerseys population fled but Cahoon and more decided to stay. Together, the pair created a two-person resistance campaign, with the main focus being what they called their “traps”. Cahun would draft notes addressed to the German troops, which Moore would translate into German, signing them ‘Der Soldat Ohne Namen’ (‘The Soldier Without a Name’). They would catch the bus into St Helier, disguised as old ladies to deliver the messages, placing them on parked cars and inside cigarette packets. They kept as quiet as they could about their resistance – not even their housekeeper suspected them. After four years of subversive activity, the pair were arrested by the Germans in 1944. Initially, the Nazi authorities couldn’t believe that the women carried it out by themselves, they believed that there must be a man involved. While waiting to be questioned, Cahun and Moore attempted suicide. They both took pills – barbiturates – which put them into a coma. Once they were well enough, they were sentenced to death for undermining the German forces. However before they could be sent to European camps, jersey was liberated. Cahun and moore did not see this as a blessing.
claude chooses to present her non-binary identity through self portraits such as :
in this photo, Claude is presenting there self the way in which they want to be seen by others, not as a female or a male. The idea of seeing two of her, one in front and one in the mirror, shows Claude’s two identities and how she can switch between the two depending on the day. having the image in black and white shows the idea of non-gendered as the colours she is wearing can not persuade her identity. The use of natural light shows that her natural, normal self is what she portrays in her photos, whether that being her dressed as a boy, a girl, or neither.
The photo is set in her house, which has a close, personal link to her and Moore.
Mihaela graduated the new Bulgarian university, bachelors program visual arts, photography module in 2011. Mihaela prefers what she calls ‘the slow’ classic black and white photography. She is fascinated of working with analogue medium format cameras and the challenge of the traditional black and white developing. she says ‘my affinity to old times and classic and a good friend advice made me forget my digital camera.
Mihaela’s work fascinates me, her use of black and white takes away the focus on colours and saturation, but more on patterns, textures, facial expressions and smaller details enhanced by black and white. she explores identity much like how I have explored identity in the sense that she sees it as something we don’t know, and how it is altered by others in society.
Her images are typically about identity, and the challenge that modern social patterns take upon said identities, as you can see the photographs are very simplistic, resembling of her style. She wants to get a message across, not just provide a photograph for a viewer to look at and move on, she provides the viewer with something to go away and think about, in this set of images the theme and message could be that the modern social setting makes people believe that they should be looking like the models within magazines and that’s what the rip of the face from what looks like a magazine represents, the perfect person.
This image shows a sense of lost identity through gender stereotype, the person holding up the photo is a women and the person in the photo is a man. This could show that maybe this women wants to be portrayed more like a strong and brave man, or maybe she feels like she is expected to be more like a strong and brave man. The use of black and white, washing out identity through colour, shows that the women in the photograph is at a loss as to who she really is.
my idea is based on the idea that identity is controlled by society, and we are sectioned into numbers and codes, much like DNA coding, barcodes and fingerprints. The way in which our identity is constructed is influenced by those around us, for example if you hang around with people who are violent and live an unhealthy lifestyle, you are more likely to become someone like them. I am going to cerate a series of images that surround the idea of being controlled and categorized by society.
All of my images will be in black and white, with a few accent colours to portray the idea that identity is washed out by society, colours are a massive part of someone’s identity and show a lot about how confident and outgoing a person is, however what I am trying to do is show that freedom of expression is altered by the people we are surrounded by every day, to the point where ones own identity becomes a mystery to them.
plan –
portrait 1= eyes with a hypnotised reflection to show how what you see can influence how you act
portrait 2= a portrait of someone covering their ears and two people trying to pull their arms away from their ears to hear.
portrait 3= a portrait of someone hands being held up with strings much like a puppet
portrait 4= a portrait of someone putting lipstick on the subjects mouth to try and shape their identity
portrait 5= an arm with a barcode on it
portrait 6= a portrait with fingerprint instead of a head.
