Don McCullin is one of the most famous and successful photographers alive, and has been knighted for his efforts in documenting some of the most brutal conflicts the world has seen in his generation.
Vietnam,1969 On a hill in Da Nang a priest hears soldiers’ confessions
Born in 1935 in London, he was evacuated to a farm in Somerset during the Blitz. He was awarded a scholarship to attend Hammersmith School of Arts and Crafts, however, following his father’s death when he was only 15, McCullin left school for a job on the railways. He was then enlisted in the RAF in 1953 for his National Service.
Having been posted at the Suez Crisis, McCullin worked as a photographer’s assistant after failing the written theory test to become a RAF photographer (possibly on account of his mild dyslexia) and he was mostly in the darkroom during his service. It was during this time that he purchased his first camera (a Rolleicord) for £30 whilst working in Nairobi, pictured below.
His photographic career began in 1958, after his image of a local London Gang was published in The Observer.
Finsbury Park, London, 1958 The Guvnors
From 1966 to 1984, McCullin was employed by the Sunday Times Magazine to document the man-made and ecological disasters happening across the globe, and his coverage of human strife in a multitude of settings is famed for its raw and honest nature.
Biafra,1969
McCullin’s images of the Somerset landscape depict a dramatic, isolated perspective and use the defining nature of the film camera to the fullest extent. Their consistent employment of the ethereal cloudscapes and rolling hills of the countryside combine to create quintessentially Romantic images.
A farm entrance near my house in Somerset, 2008
The River Alham that runs through my village in Somerset, mid-1990s
Batcombe Vale 1992-93
Here I analysed one of his images taken in France in 1999 – relating to his role as a war photographer.
Fay Godwin was a British photographer known for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coast. She was born on the 17th of February, 1931 in Berlin, Germany and she died on the 27th of May 27, 2005 in Hastings, United Kingdom. She photographed many different landscapes that fit into our definition of romanticism, as her photos showed the true beauty of the wild nature around us.
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.
“My way into photography was through family snaps in the mid-1960s. I had no formal training, but after the snaps came portraits, reportage, and finally, through my love of walking, landscape photography, all in black and white. A Fellowship with the National Museum of Photography in Bradford led to urban landscape in colour, and very personal close-up work in colour has followed”
— Fay Godwin, ca. 2000
Photographer Fay Godwin
Analysis
Fay Godwin 1985 UK
This is one of Godwin’s photographs that she took, capturing an old, broken down fence situated in a deep forest that continues to grow around it and slowly start to engulf it in its greenery. This photo clearly presents the idea of the sublime, comparing a the ma made fence hidden in the depths of the wild forest around it, indicating the insignificance of human’s and their creations. There is a mixture of tone in this image, there being a gradual transition between light and dark tones throughout the image. The grass on the forest floor has a dark tone and the sunrays flowing in through the tree tops are made up from light tones. Furthermore, the sunrays shining through the trees create leading lines in the photograph, guiding our eyes through the image and causing us to take in all the details situated in the photograph. This image consists of a very apparent foreground, mid ground and background. The sunrays glowing through the image create a distracting foreground, while the fence creates a contrasting midground and the shadows of the trees deeper in the forest create a background. This creates depth in the image, portraying how Godwin saw the forest in its many different aspects and parts, causing the photo to appear deeper. There is a pattern created by the repetition of straight sunrays reaching the forest floor, creating an interesting look within the photograph. There is a strength of lightness created by the sun, which illuminated the dark forest and uncovering details that would normally be hidden by the shade cast by the trees. The texture of the photograph appears quite gritty, due to the camera the photo was taken on, this contrasting with the smooth and linear appearance of the rays. The composition of the sunrays flowing out of the top left corner of the photo, causes it to become the area of focus, being the brightest and most visible area of the image.
Wynn Bullock
Wynn Bullock was an American photographer whose work is included in over 90 major museum collections around the world. He received substantial critical acclaim during his lifetime, published numerous books and is mentioned in all the standard histories of modern photography. He was born on the 18th of April, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, USA and he died on the 16th of November, 1975 in Monterey, California, USA.
“Theoretical scientists who probe the secrets of the universe and philosophers who seek answers to existence, as well as painters such as Paul Klee who find the thoughts of men of science compatible with art, influence me far more than most photographers.”
— Wynn Bullock
Photographer Wynn Bullock
Analysis
Wynn Bullock
This is one of Bullock’s photographs that he captured, photographing a mountain range that reaches above the clouds. This includes the idea of the sublime by showing a untouched aspect of nature, reaching higher than any building a human could create. Bullock clearly focussed on tone, creating an image that highly contrasts between dark and light tones. Each dark mountain is separated by the light tones created by the misty clouds. There is also a contrast between texture, the mountains having a rocky, harsh texture and the clouds having a misty, smooth and wispy texture that flows between the rocky landscape. There is also a clear foreground and background in this image, creating depth in the photograph and showing the vast landscape that Bullock was face to face with. The interchanging between the rocks and the mist causes there to be a pattern in the photograph, causing the photo to be even more effective and unique.
I will be taking picking inspired by the work of Ansel Adams, for example of rocky, sandy locations. Some locations I had in mind was Beauport Bay and the Sand dunes inspired by Adams photographs ‘ALONG THE JOHN MUIR TRAIL’, ‘SAND DUNES, OCEANO’ and ‘YOSEMITE VALLEY, THUNDER STORM’. Furthermore I will take images in some parts of Jerseys woods perhaps the one by Greve De Lecq or one by FB fields. I plan of doing my photoshoot throughout the weekend of the 19, 20 November, however due to the forecasting of the weather this may disrupt some photoshoots. However I believe I could take some unique picture of waves in story and windy conditions at St. Ouens bay or L’Etaq. I will borrow a camera from school and use the setting of a low ISO and the Aperture of around f/11 depending on the lighting of the landscape. I will be taking darker images as an inspiration of Ansel Adams to create more of a dramatic image.
Jem Southam is a British landscape photographer, born in Bristol in 1950. He studied creative photography at the London college of printing then worked at a gallery in Bristol from 1976 to 1982. Southam conducts long-term studies that trace over seasons and sometimes several years. His first project was in black and white, ‘The floating harbour’: a Landscape History of Bristol City Docks.
Jem Southam, The Floating Harbour, 1982.
Jem Southam
Fay Godwin
Fay Godwin was born in Berlin, Germany in 1931 and died in Hastings England in 2005. She first produced portraits of dozens of well-known writers and significant literary figures in the 1970’s and 80’s. In the 1990’s she was offered a fellowship at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford. This pushed her work in the direction of colour and urban documentary. She began taking photos of close-up natural forms
“My way into photography was through family snaps in the mid-1960s. I had no formal training, but after the snaps came portraits, reportage, and finally, through my love of walking, landscape photography, all in black and white. A Fellowship with the National Museum of Photography in Bradford led to urban landscape in colour, and very personal close-up work in colour has followed”.— Fay Godwin, ca. 2000
Fay Godwin
Don McCullin
Don McCullin was born in London in 1935. He has mild dyslexia but displayed a talent for drawing at the secondary modern school he went to. He later won a scholarship to Hammersmith school of Arts and Crafts, but because of the death of his father he left school at 15 and had no qualifications. Later on, in 1953 he was called up for national service with the Royal Air Force. Most of the images that McCullin has taken are related to war as he was part of the Air Force and was involved in different wars. He also photographed the land in his home town of Somerset, photographing marsh land and flooded areas.
because I am going to be photographing landscapes I am not going to include people or their faces, however sometimes there might be some people within the landscape which are far away , these usually will be random strangers.
what may be photographed are cliffs, streams, rocks, trees and other natural forms within the landscape. what I will try to avoid are man-made objects or buildings as well as technology as these don’t fit in the whole romanticism aspect and are further away from nature.
where I plan to photograph are the inner as well up more open places, like the beach and coastal areas, and good places for that would be L’etacq , St. Ones beach, and the north coast areas like Bonne Nuit or Greve de Lecq. Places I will try to avoid are towns or heavy populated areas as these may be beautiful but are not of nature and sublime I want to photograph.
Since it is autumn the weather will be in constant change this is why even if I have a selected day, like on this weekend, I should not be dependant on weather as if I would want to capture images with a lot of sun and lightning in them, on the day it may be stormy and dark. This is why I should be prepared for any weather and may need to repeat or have another photoshoot in other places, preferably within a couple days later.
when taking pictures of the landscape that has a lot of open area, meaning there is a lot of sky visible and not so much landscape, or half and half, for example like the beach , where half is sand, a bit of water and then the rest is sky, I will try to photograph these when the clouds are in an interesting colour or shape, or will make sure I edit them to achieve this. with the camera I will aim for different photographs or the same landscape but from different angles. my biggest aim is to capture as much landscape possible within the frame and maybe some with different depth of field.
The main reason why I want to photograph those locations, and in a certain type of way is because I want to respond to romanticism and the sublime in landscape photography. Through the images I also want to capture Jersey’s beauty that makes the images have awe and terror, make a person that is looking at the image astonished and intrigued.
Rural= in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.
Rural landscape photography refers to “photography in the countryside” and covers the rural environment. While rural landscapes often contain architecture – much the same as urban landscapes – rural landscape photography is more about capturing the life and elements found in the countryside.
It is also the diverse portion of the nation’s land area that is not densely populated or intensively developed, and not set aside for preservation in a natural state.
Michael Kenner
Michael Kenna is a photographer who was born in Widnes, England, and is best known for his photographs of black-and-white landscapes
He is drawn to certain times of day and night, preferring to photograph in the mist, rain and snow clear blue sky and sunshine simply do not seem to inspire him. He only photographs his work in black and white, as he believes that, “Black and white is immediately more mysterious because we see in colour all the time.
To photograph like Michael Kenna, use long exposures with the camera on a tripod to get movement in clouds and water. Make sure you’re using a solid tripod, as even the slightest movement on the camera during a 30-second exposure can ruin an image.
Landscape photography shows the spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Landscape photography is done for a variety of reasons. Shooting landscapes forces you to get outside and find the beauty around you. Sometimes this means discovering places right in front of your eyes that you just never noticed were beautiful before. Other times this means exploring new places and getting out on a hike or nature walk.
