This was the first photoshoot I carried out so I was experimenting with a few different places and angles to find what I really want to focus on. I went down to Corbiere and took images in and around a bunker and also of the old quarry stone crusher, which is abandoned.

Contact sheet:

Out of the images I took I analysed every one and have chosen to edit these ones. I think, looking at them before the editing stage, some will be successful outcomes and a few can be used as filler images; such as the picture of the ‘KEEP OUT’ sign.

Final Images:

This is the final outcome of images from this photoshoot.

Editing Process:

Due to the overcast weather on the day I did this photoshoot, the lighting in all the images are very dull. The whole sky was white and cloudy and therefore just reflected off the ground in my images. This particular image was bound to be under exposed anyway as it was taken inside a dark bunker, however I like the composition of the graffitied walls, the rubble amongst the puddles of dirty water, oil floating within it making that swirly effect on the right hand side. The square of light at the end of the path/ tunnel creates a focal point.

I increased the exposure and turned down the ‘highlights’ and ‘whites’. This brought more brightness to the image, however the quality of the image isn’t all great so I plan on going back to see if anything will improve.

I think this image draws a viewer in as it is very colourful and saturated. As shown, I lowered the shadows in the image and tempered with the colours’ hue, saturation and luminance. I believe this image successfully portrays my chosen theme of ‘seek’

This is an example showing how changing little things in an image can make a significant difference. I like the perspective of this image, how the camera is in focus of the background and not the right hand side foreground. To amplify this I increased the texture and clarity, this created the focused parts of the image to be more clear and detailed.

Comparing my work to Matt Emmett’s work

When I studied Matt Emmett’s work, This particular photo of his caught my eye. I like the composition and how he used symmetry to create a focal point at the end of the tunnel. I took inspiration from this image and tried to recreate it in my own way. Inside the bunker was puddles of water and old broken rubble within it, it immediately reminded me of Emmett’s photo when I saw the setting. I experimented with different angles, and I tried to take the image so that the square of natural light at the end was centre of the image; however this was impossible due to the layout of the walls. The lighting and quality of my image is not the best anyway due to how little light was able to get into the bunker, but I like the composition and maybe could improve the image another time.

Overall evaluation

On a whole I think this photoshoot went okay, I used it more for experimenting as it was my first photoshoot and therefore I think only a few are worthy of being final images. The weather being overcast effected my photos a lot, it was the only form of lighting I had and therefore caused my images to be quite dull and underexposed. For my next photoshoots I am going to try to take theme on brighter days.

Our exam project themes are Observe, Seek, Challenge. I’ve chosen to study the theme of Seek and explore abandoned and derelict locations. My interpretation of the theme seek will be trying to find and pick out places that have been left to sit by themselves, places that aren’t put to use anymore. For example the bunkers around Jersey, the abandoned hospital, the derelict places along the railway walk. I’ve chosen to photograph these things as I think it’s interesting to seek these places but also fid out the background history of them; why have they been abandoned? How long have they been sat there? Who left them like this?

Above is a mood board of photos that would be ideal for my project. I am taking inspiration from images like this, however, it may be difficult to have as interesting outcomes as those images as Jersey doesn’t have a lot of places that are particularly ‘abandoned’. Although, there is quite a few derelict areas such as, from all the bunkers that aren’t in use anymore to houses that have either not been finished getting built or have no one living in them and are boarded up. These sorts of locations I plan on photographing and experimenting with different angles ect.

In terms of composition for my photos, I will be carefully framing my images from different heights and angles, however I won’t be arranging anything as I want to photograph places how they have been left; showing the conditions they have been abandoned in. As my photos will be all based outside, if not outside then inside a building, either way I won’t be using the photo studio for any of my images. Therefore, my photos will all be taken in natural lighting, no staged images.

I plan on leaving all my images in colour, rather then in black and white, however I will edit my images to correct parts of them. Ideally, I want to present my final images in a photobook.

Romain Veillon & Matt Emmett

Matt Emmet and Romain Veillon are documentary based photographers. Both of which are specialized in a practice called ‘urbex’ (meaning urban exploration). They travel around the world exploring man-made structures which are abandoned or hidden from the general public. Their work is both eerie and apocalyptic, however there is a few differences between them.

Matt Emmett’s work

Romain Veillon’s work

The first thing I want to compare, and what I believe is a significant difference in their work is the theme. Matt Emmetts work appears very modern, not so much the settings he is photographing as they are all old and abandoned, but the quality of his work. His images are quite under exposed but not to the extent where they are too dark. The colours and tones in his work are very sharp. However, Romain Veillon’s work on the other hand is very light. There is a fairy-tale aura about his work. This photo in particular (below) there appears to be abandoned fair rides. The merry go round may remind the viewer of their childhood, which is now over, it has been left abandoned. This also foreshadows the fact those memories are over.

I think Matt Emmet’s photographs are of seeking the beauty of these abandoned places, showing how he can photograph and edit the images in smart, tactical ways. However, Romain Veillon’s photographs are revealing the story behind these abandoned places.

Matt Emmett includes a lot of symmetry in his work, such as spirals, squares, circles ect. He uses the light to his advantage, creating patterns and repetitive shapes. Below is an example of when he has done this:

Emmett very clearly takes precaution with his images, he carefully choses which angle to take the image from, the lighting and composition are big elements when it comes to his work. Emmett’s photographs become very appealing to a viewers eye as there are regular patterns and motifs, not only just photographing abandoned places within nature, he also uses shape and symmetry to make his images more interesting.

On the other hand, Romain Veillon’s work is less tactical and just shows the scenes as they are. Veillon’s photos show abandoned buildings but sometimes with other objects in the image, objects of which could tell the viewer something about the building or setting. He is photographing to show viewers exactly how it has been left and why.

Both artists use natural lighting in their work as they are based in outdoor environments. However, Emmett’s work is very tonal and eerie, there’s darker colours in his photos, whereas Veillon’s work is softer; the colours and tones within his work are lighter.

Romain Veillon is a French photographer specialized in the visit of urban decay places, a practice called ‘urbex’. As an urban explorer he manages to catch the out-of-date, sometime post-apocalyptic, feeling in the air of those locations, where nature reasserts itself. Romain Veillon learnt his skills as an autodidact. He has photographed abandoned areas around Paris at first. Romain Veillon has extended his passion during trips through the world. With his photos Romain Veillon establishes a dialogue between past, present and future. Some of those places pursued their decay, other ones were demolished, vandalized or restored. Photography become the witness of a time, the optical record of a building. In Romain Veillon’s snapshots the viewer can project a fantasized story.

Abandoned Buildings

I am interested specifically in Veillon’s work on abandoned buildings. Similar to Matt Emmet’s work, he seeks abandoned and unseen place’s taking sort of abstract images of them to show the world.

During his explorations of abandoned places across Europe, he has stumbled upon enchanting architectures that have been left to decay for decades. In his latest book Green Urbex: The World Without Us, Veillon explored what the world would look like if the human race disappeared and nature took its course without any human interference.

-Mr Veillon wrote that he wants each photograph to tell a story and make people think about what had previously occurred at places that are now derelict and about what the world would look like if mankind disappeared.

Image Analysis

The image above is of a church in France that had been abandoned. While the tiled floor featured stones that had broken and greenery that filled the area, the magnificent architecture and detailed patterns carved along the walls remained intact, along with the colourful stained glass windows that were highly featured on religious buildings. The composition of the image is very sharp. Every wall or corner, every detail is aliened and arranged neatly. The lighting is natural and brightens up the image, although the building has been abandoned, it still appears to be pretty and partly put together.

Initially drawn into the world of abandoned photography, Matt became hooked on the fascinating back stories behind the locations he visited. Capturing and bringing these stories into peoples homes via his social channels has evolved into a seven year long project called ‘Forgotten Heritage’. Since he began he has photographed many diverse locations like abandoned farmsteads in the arctic circle, vast industrial remnants in northern Europe to crumbling villas and hospitals in Italy. The project has won several international photography awards to date and has been widely published.

Here is a mood board of Matt Emmett’s work. During his 3 year project he found himself trudging through debris, wading in water, spelunking in man-made caverns—all for the sake of creating images that celebrate the unique appeal of abandoned architecture.

The genre of Emmett’s work falls under documentary. He spent 3 years travelling around different countries recording the decaying, abandoned buildings as they have been left. His images inform people about the hidden corners of contemporary life that viewers weren’t aware of and haven’t come across.

This leads to why I chose to study Matt Emmett in relation to my project. Considering the themes ‘Observe, seek and challenge’ I think Emmett’s work comes underneath the theme of ‘Seek’ as he’s attempting to find these places to take photos of them and show to the world.

-For Emmett, traversing dangerous terrain is more than a matter of seeking thrills.

“These places that were once alive with sound and movement are now silent and still, but they are no less mesmerizing,” he says. “Immense and powerful beauty resides in forgotten places.”

Image analysis

I chose this image to analyse because I think it portrays the theme of ‘seek’ in many ways. The perspective in which the photo has been taken from implies Emmet is exploring the unknown, he is about to walk down the long tunnel path ahead seeking what is down there. This image is taken in natural lighting, the brightness of the image is coming from, what I’m guessing is, the sunlight seeping through the cracks of the broken ceiling. The image is saturated, yet decaying at the same time; green moss and plant life is growing over the rubble showing how nature is now taking over the area. This also proves this location has been abandoned as natural life is starting to grow and take over. This image is aesthetically pleasing to viewers, there is a dark vignette around the edges and the centre of the image (towards the end of the path) is very bright and amplified. Emmett has taken this photo carefully and has set up the composition of the image very precisely, edited or not, the midground of this image is also the brightest part of the image and this automatically creates a focal point in the image that’s going to catch a viewers eye. Raising questions such as, where is this? How did it end up like that? why has it been abandoned? Matt Emmett’s work has a mysterious feel to it as he seeks unknown locations . I am heavily inspired by Matt Emmett’s work, considering my chosen theme of the exam project, and I intend to create images of my own based around his work.

I chose this case study from the exam booklet, relating to my work.

I will be taking photos of different abandoned buildings/ bunkers/ old places and anything I think relates to my project of capturing derelict locations.

Here is a list of artists and their work that I am inspired by. I plan on taking photos similar to these:

Byron Sansivero

Michael Eastman

Robert Polidori

Observe, seek and challenge

Observe

-Notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant

Seek

-Attempt to find something, the desire to obtain or achieve (something).

Challenge

-A call to prove or justify something, to dispute the truth or validity of.

Exam paper pages 4&5

I read through this article and underlined quotes of information I thought was interesting and useful. This includes ideas for the theme of our project but also artists who I want to look into. The route of my idea started from the starting quote I picked out from this article. ‘The human desire to seek and explore the unknown has driven artists to look for fresh inspiration’. The words ‘explore the unknown’ instantly made me think of abandoned buildings, prehistoric places in Jersey, stone circles ect.

The theme of ‘seek’ has interested me the most as I feel there’s a lot of topics to explore under it, for example, religion, unknown places, childhood, caves, street art/ murals and so on. I think the main topics of my project will be abandoned buildings, showing how nature has taken over forgotten/rundown places and possibly secret locations that are less known, although this might be hard in Jersey as it’s a small island and most places have been explored. However, I am going to experiment with this and see what I come up with.

Mind map

I created a Mind map with a range of ideas on to pinpoint all the possible topics I could explore. This opened up my ideas more.

Mood board

I created a mood board for the general theme of ‘observe, seek, challenge’. It is made up of a number of images representing different themes such as identity, social public, places of worship, location/travel, abandoned buildings, discrimination, stereotypes, animals ect.