Completed Photobook

This is my completed photobook:

This is a link to my photo book as a PDF:

https://blurb-pdf-processing-service-prod-preflight.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/default/blurb/P17760612/instant-pdf-P17760612.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2PCQKJ6LR2WGHNMS%2F20250329%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20250329T182019Z&X-Amz-Expires=518400&X-Amz-Signature=475ba54b621a37d751c024ea627cab99e53dfba77eaed3021bddf0e11d2861ef&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host

Evaluation

Overall, I am very impressed with my photo book. I think that it has turned out how I had visioned for it to in my head in terms of layout and design. If I were to be able to go back and improve this photo book I would probably try and get more images which have both old and new buildings in the same location to show them next to each other. This is because I don’t think the transition from old to new architecture is very clear. I also think that my images vary quite a bit from my artist references, however, each of the photos are to my visual style which I think makes the photo book more successful as there’s not such a huge contrast between the two sets of images.
Overall, I am very impressed with my photo book. I think that it has turned out how I had visioned for it to in my head in terms of layout and design. If I were to be able to go back and improve this photo book I would probably try and get more images which have both old and new buildings in the same location to show them next to each other. This is because I don’t think the transition from old to new architecture is very clear. I also think that my images vary quite a bit from my artist references, however, each of the photos are to my visual style which I think makes the photo book more successful as there’s not such a huge contrast between the two sets of images.

Process

I started off my photobook layout by adding all my best images in so that I could see them all in order to start sorting their positions.

After that, I had started to arrange images where I would like them and what I would like them near. These are the arrangements for my older building images. This arrangement does not include the layout of each individual page.

I have then added some images between which present both old and new styles of Architecture to create a link between the two.

I then paired images of modern buildings which I think go well together. During this process, I eliminated a lot of photographs.

After sorting through the images, I made a start with the layout of each individual page.

I then added the front and back covers. I showed step by step how I created the front cover on my further experimentation blog post. Furthermore, I chose this specific photo as the back cover as I think it sums up the book quite well due to the combination of new and old architectural styles.

These are the first two pages of images when you open the book. I started with these because I like how they have both been taken at the same angle and they are commercial buildings with a historical architectural style.

These are my next pages. I wanted to show more commercial buildings in the same are.

I then moved on to residential buildings, focusing in on the details for the next 4 pages.

For these two images, I wanted to show two different old architectural styles.

For these two pages, I presented the same building but from different perspectives and different parts of the building.

These two images are both of buildings split into two. The first one is two buildings which are connected and the second is two houses which have different shape doors.

I presented these images together as they are both zooming in on the details.

I wanted to then transition to modern buildings by presenting images of old and new buildings together.

These are my the first images of modern buildings. I showed them together as I think they are quite similar images.

These next images I have put together as they are both of balconies.

I presented these next two images together as I was able to connect them with the lines of the buildings.

These images are similar because they both are of shapes, the first is circular and the second is triangular.

I really like these pages as the images both contain curves.

For these pages, I presented these images together as they both have square windows and are similar to my artist reference.

For these images, I presented them together as they both have similar perspective.

These images I put together as I think they look similar and both were taken at similar angles.

For this next page, I presented these images together as they both have the same triangular points.

This is my last page. I made it a double page spread of this photo because it is a landscape image and it displays a reflection in the glass of one building of the one adjacent to it. I finished off with this image because I personally really like it and it displays modern buildings which is current, therefore, I went from some of Jersey’s older buildings at the beginning of the photo book to one of the newest/most recently built.

Photobook Specification

Narrative

Narrative: What is your story?
Describe in:

• 3 words – Everchanging Built Environment
• A sentence – The contrast between old and new architectural styles.
• A paragraph – My photo book will display the difference between old and new architectural styles, particularly the fine details in older buildings in comparison to the geometric shapes and harsh edges in newer buildings. I would like to display this polarity as I want to show how both styles, in their own way, have beauty. There is beauty which can be seen within the time and effort put in to the design and creation of old, striking buildings with lots of detail but there is also lots of beauty in the abstract style of modern buildings and the technicality of their design. Ultimately, the narrative of my photo book will be the journey through time from old to new architectural styles and how they both can be seen as remarkable.

Design

I would like for my book to be Standard Portrait with a hard cover. I would like a Matte finish for the paper as I think that it is the best option for my black and white images. This is because I feel like it’ll make them look more ‘clean’ and make the ink ‘pop’. Furthermore, for the title I think that I will be straightforward and name it ‘ARCHITECTURE’ as it sums up what the whole book is about. In terms of design and layout, there will be a theme of black and white images throughout the book, with none in colour. These images will each be displayed/laid out to what best suits their proportions. By this, I am referring to if I had a portrait image I would not lay it out to be landscape as it would cut off parts of the image or distort it. I would like to create a link within my book between old and new architectural styles by using images which display both styles adjacent to each other or images of buildings which have been retrofitted/refurbished.

Inspiration for Design and Layout

Here are some photo books which I am inspired by in terms of their design and layout:

Introspective – Marco De Waal

I like how this photo book has a theme of black and white, alike what I am wanting to do, and I like how he lays out his images in different ways. For example, some of his page have one larger and one smaller frame but others may have two of the same sized frames or a double page spread. This is what I would like to do for my photo book as it makes it more interesting and efficacious. He has carefully made sure that there is balance between the pages in the book and that there are no two double spreads with the same layout one after the other.

Poco Tempo – Rikamosan

I like this photo book for the same reasons as the previous. I also like the use of colour to diminish the boldness/darkness of the images as they have harsh contrast. I also like how with some of the double page spreads you can’t tell whether it is one image or two separate images.

I found the above books on the BLURB website, the website in which I will be purchasing my own completed photo book.

Best Images

These are my best images which I will be using in my Photobook:

Experimentation 1

For this edit, I wanted to try and make it look like there was a modern building towering behind a historic one. Firstly, I started by cropping the image and copying it to then paste it on top of the other in Photoshop. I then used Ctrl T > Distort to move the image and change the perspective to make it more realistic.

Once I had the building in place, I used the eraser tool to erase the edges that were overlapping the other building. To make this a bit easier, I lowered the opacity of the layer so that I could see the layer below.

Finally, I flattened the layers and put the image in B&W and adjusted the brightness and contrast. This was my final result. It didn’t turn out quite as good as I expected as it makes me question whether it actually looks real.

Experimentation 2

For this edit, I wanted to use an image of part of a historical building and create a background behind it using a modern building. I started off by using the quick selection tool to select the building and paste it onto the other.

Here is the building on top of the other I played around for a bit, adjusting the positioning of the layer.

I then cropped the full image and made some further adjustments.

I then erased a little part of the older building which looked out of place.

This is my final result in B&W, after increasing the brightness and contrast. I think that this image looks better than the previous but still not very realistic.

These are the images which inspire me, however they’re not edited and they are in fact real which is why mine doesn’t look great compared. I also don’t have access to settings like the ones photographed in Jersey as there aren’t many high-rise, especially ones adjacent to old buildings as the high-rises are mostly on the Waterfront which is a new/modern area.

Experimentation 3

I tried to do the same thing again for other images. I started off my opening them both in photoshop.

I then used the object selection tool to paste the layer on top then adjusted it.

I cropped the image at top and moved the layer slightly down.

Finally, I put the image in B&W and increased the brightness and contrast for my final result. I think that this looks more realistic to the previous edit of mine as it looks like it could have been taken in a built up residential area.

Experimentation 4

For this edit, I wanted to make it more interesting and have a combination of 3 buildings. I started off by selected the older building and creating another layer with just the parts I wanted. I then pasted one of the buildings in and made sure that it was the layer below so it didn’t overlap the other building.

Then, I added in another layer to the side of the image which was of another building, this building being on top of the older one.

I then erased the edges of the previous layer I had added.

Finally, I flattened the image and put it in B&W then increased the brightness and contrast to get my completed result. I personally think that this is the best experimentation edit yet as it looks the most realistic.

For this image and the previous two, I wanted to represent the difference in styles between old and modern buildings and how modern/high-rise buildings dominate and tower over old ones.

Experimentation 5

For the cover of my photobook, I wanted to have the word ‘ARCHITECTURE’ with each individual letter being and image. This is how I did it:

Here is the first A. Below I will show how I did this with another letter.

Firstly, I opened the image I wanted to use and created a background copy.

Then, I pasted the image onto the document with text and lowered its opacity so that I could see the letter below.

After that, I used the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select the image in the shape of the letter then select its inverse to delete the outside.

This was the result.

I then added in all my images on top of the letters I would like them to be. I repeated the previous process for all of the letters with straight lines.

As for letters with a curve, I had a bit of a different process.

for the C, I used a square as a guide for the edges then the eliptical marquee tool to select the outline. I then selected the inverse and deleted the extrenal area. I then did the same for the middle of the C.

I then used the Polygonal Lasso Tool to get rid of the rest.

I repeated this for the other C.

I then started the R’s by getting rid of the middle. I did this by, firstly, cutting out a circle. Then, using the polygonal lasso tool to delete the rest.

I then moved on to the middle of the U. I, once again, used a combination of the eclipse with a square and the polygonal tool.

I then finished the R’s by using both the eclipse and polygonal tools again. I used shift and alt to add and remove parts of my selection until I was satisfied with it.

These are my finished letters:

I then created a Guide Layout for the letter placement.

This is the finished product:

Essay Question

Here were some potential essay questions which I came up with:

In what way are the work of … and Lewis Baltz influenced by the change in Architectural Styles?

How has the New Topographics exhibition influenced contemporary photography?

How have the changes in Architectural Styles been documented through Photography?

To what extent was Lewis Baltz and the aesthetics of New Topographics a reaction to Ansel Adams and Romanticism/ classic landscape photography?

How is photography influenced by the changing styles in architecture?

I ended up settling for this question:

How have Historical Periods of Time influenced Architectural Changes and therefore Photographic Styles?

Essay Plan

Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area of study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?

For this essay, I would like to explore the link between different periods of time/social events and their outcomes. An example of this would be romanticism. Romanticism was a reaction to the age of enlightenment and people began to explore the beauty of nature, emotion and life. I would like to then link the new topographic as it was a reaction to romanticism and showed the new reality of an industrial/modern world.

Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. 

For this paragraph, I would like to write about Romanticism and what it is/what it was a reaction to. I will link this to how it saw changes in architectural styles and in photography. I will also write a bit about Ansel Adams as he was a key photographer who was associated with this movement.

Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.

For this paragraph, I would like to move on to talking about the New Topographics Exhibition and how it was a reaction to Romanticism and classic landscape photography. I would also like to refer to how it proposed a new way of thinking about landscape, place and environment with a focus on urban/ modern architecture. Furthermore, I will also refer to a photographer who was part of the new topographic exhibition, potentially Lewis Baltz.

Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.

For this paragraph I would like to interpret/analyse the work of Bernd & Hilla Becher and their formation of the Typology as a new aesthetics style/ approach to photography. I am going to use interview texts as a source of information for this, specifically an interview with Jean-Francois Chevrier, James Lingwood and Thomas Struth. I will link this change in photographic styles to the fact that they were influenced by the increasingly industrial environment at the time.

Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced

I will conclude this essay by linking back the essay question and exploring the things I had previously spoken about and how they are relevant to the question.

Essay Draft

This is the first draft of my essay, before I made any final changes/adjustments.

Question: How have Historical Periods of Time influenced Architectural Changes and therefore Photographic Styles? 

Intro

Photography is a way of preserving the world around you. It allows you to capture a moment of time and freeze it. This is significant as the world we live in is ever-changing. The world changes due to different movements and events. For example, the Climate Movement has caused people to be more considerate of the environment and, as a result, produce sustainable and energy efficient buildings. People also use Photography as a way of promoting that change is needed. Similarly, the Romanticism movement, an artistic and intellectual movement during the Industrial Revolution, influenced Architects and Artists to use nature as an inspiration for their designs. As we can see, there is a tie between social activities and world development. In photography, The New Topographics Exhibition was a reaction to the Romanticism movement and idealised landscape photography. Lewis Baltz, a photographer who was associated with this exhibition, explored the beauty within the realistic, industrial environment at this time. 

Paragraph 1

Romanticism, first used as a term for aesthetic, became an artistic and intellectual movement in Europe in the late 18th Century. This movement was a reaction against the age of Enlightenment. This was when emotion had been sucked from art and literature and people focused mainly on science and logic. Romanticism was introduced during the Industrial Revolution, a time in which places such as Europe and the US experienced change in economy to one dominated by industry and machinery. The upbringing of Romanticism was heavily influenced by the political and economic atmosphere at the time and people used it as an escape from the new reality. During the Age of Romanticism, people explored the beauty of nature, emotion and life, creating an idealised reality within art and literature. This period also experienced a change in architecture, returning to medieval styles. Architects would use nature as an inspiration for their intricate designs, whilst also prioritising emotion and individualism. Furthermore, Romanticism is still present to this day. It can be found in art, music, films, literature, photography and more. An example of this would be Ansel Adams. 

Ansel Adams was a modern-day photographer who was said to have embraced Romanticism. He was known for capturing the beauty of the natural landscape in America. Ansel Adams was part of the Sierra club which was an organisation that worked to protect the environment from industrialisation. He would use his photographic portfolios of the areas as a way to try and convince the members of congress to turn the areas into national parks. After many failed attempts, Adams had success in creating the King’s Canyon National Park in 1940, after publishing a photo book which caught the attention of many people, including President Roosevelt.

Paragraph 2

‘The New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape’ was a photographic exhibition which consisted of the work of 10 different photographers. These photographers included Lewis Baltz, Robert Adams and Bernd and Hilla Becher. The exhibition was hosted at the George Eastman Museum by William Jenkins in 1975. It consisted of 168 prints, mostly in black and white. These prints were of things such as streets, industrial sites, warehouses and suburban houses. This exhibition was a reaction against romanticism and the idealised landscape, particularly the work of Ansel Adams. Its purpose was to challenge these traditional landscapes of the untouched by documenting reality and the growing impacts of industrialisation. After the II World War, America experienced a large increase in their economy, resulting in mass production of buildings and industrial developments. These buildings were constructed for their function, rather than their appearance, leading to the introduction of modern architectural styles and less detailed/aesthetically pleasing buildings. Although the photographers involved in The New Topographics simply displayed their everyday surroundings, the exhibition experienced a range of opinions. Many people felt responsibility towards the future of America’s landscape. This is suggested by the quote “I don’t like to think there are ugly streets in America, but when it’s shown to you – without beautification – maybe it tells you how much more we need here”. People were left feeling off-put with the representation of the American Landscape this exhibition displayed, making it one of the most groundbreaking exhibitions of the 20^th Century as it completely rewrote the rules of Landscape Photography. This exhibition displayed settings which were often hidden from the camera, settings where the impacts of man-kind are evident. It proved that landscape photography can be more than just photographing the beautiful natural scenery and that it can also be capturing the ‘unattractive’ built environment. 

Lewis Baltz, a crucial photographer of The New Topographics Exhibition, focused his work on searching for the beauty in bleakness. In an interview with Mr Witkovsky, Baltz stated that there’s an implied human presence in his work. There are traces of people but an absence of their physical presence. This is due to the fact that the subject of his photographs is the man-made environment. Baltz would capture stark images of the suburban landscape, revealing the impacts of urbanisation and mass construction. His photographs, displayed in black and white,

Paragraph 3

Bernd and Hilla Becher were another two photographers who were part of The New Topographics exhibition. They are best known for their method named the ‘typology’. In Carl Andre’s notes on Bernd and Hilla Becher, he stated that a ‘typology’ is simply ‘grouping similar views of different structures built to serve the same purpose’. This is evident in the image below.

This is a Typology consisting of 24 blast furnaces. These images were taken between 1969 and 1995. The blast furnaces are from locations all over the world and each have distinct features, however, they all were made for the same utilitarian function.

Previous to meeting Hilla, Bernd would produce paintings and lithographs of industrial structures. He would make these paintings from photographs, however, he soon discovered that he preferred taking the photographs than he did painting them. His interest in photography advanced and he found himself collecting old photographs of industrial structures so that he could later capture them himself. He would take these images using a step ladder to avoid optical distortion. After meeting Hilla, she too became fascinated by photography and Bernd’s ideas. She soon left her job in advertising to help him. The couple would travel together and make families of objects that they discovered in their path so that they could later create a typology. From 1961 to 1965, they worked mostly in the German Ruhr district which is known as the largest Urban area in Germany and the third largest in Europe. The pair had immense interest in the fact that the industrial world would one day disappear. This is why they photographed it as they wanted to fix it. They wanted to make sure that their typologies were able to describe the structures visually so that people can read the photographs and not need to visit them as they would be unable to, due to them no longer existing. They would consider their projects as finished once the structures had been destroyed. Additionally, in an interview with Jean-Francois Chevrier, James Lingwood and Thomas Struth, Hilla expressed that industrial structures are ‘nomadic forms of architecture’ and that they ‘come and go like nature’. Here, she is emphasising that these structures are only temporary and will be built or replaced depending on the need for them, alike nature’s lifecycle. I find this reference to nature very interesting as there is a huge contrast between the industrial and natural world in the sense that the natural world is completely organic and untouched and the industrial world is a man-made environment which is proven to be destructive to the natural environment. In this same interview, Bernd later made another reference to nature. He claimed that ‘all these objects that are linked to industrialization are disappearing. As in the world of nature, they consume each other.’ By this, Bernd is referring to the fact that industrial objects are constantly superseded by newer, better models, alike the food chain in nature. He also stated that, the fact there is no aesthetic thinking behind the architecture for industrial structures, it proves that people are only concerned with the idea of making money fast and efficiently. These structures are not built to last or to leave an impact as they will soon be replaced. Furthermore, the couple believed that photography should be used to describe and document things which is what they did in their work as they used their typologies to document industrial architecture and emphasize its nature, function and aesthetics. 

Overall, Bernd and Hilla’s fascination in the industrial environment resulted in the upcoming of a new photographic technique, the Typology.

Conclusion

Link all together

Literary Sources/Bibliography

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm

https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution

https://www.britannica.com/art/Romanticism

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/n/new-topographics

https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/phaidon-art-in-time-new-topographics-54444

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/feb/08/new-topographics-photographs-american-landscapes

https://smarthistory.org/new-topographics

Carle Andre – A Note on Bernhard and Hilla Becher (1972)

Bernd and Hilla Becher – Conversation with Jean-Francios Chevrier, James Lingwood and Thomas Struth (1989)

https://socks-studio.com/2015/10/16/absence-of-style-lewis-baltz-and-the-new-topographics/

https://emilyallenphotographyblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-new-topographics.html

https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/lewis-baltz?all/all/all/all/0

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/lewis-baltz

I have decided to make a Typology Study of Railings as I had 9 edited images of them.

Typology 1

I made this Typology by, firstly opening up a template a made in photoshop. I made this Grid Template during the Portraiture project. I then added each of my images in to Photoshop on top of the grid.

I then played around with the images, deciding on where to put them and this is my final result:

This is my final typology. There is a range of different types of railings which can be categorised together as they all have the same function. I personally think that, if I had more photos of railings to choose from, I could have made this typology better, however, I had exactly 9. This is because I don’t think some of the images are as strong as other and, due to the formatting of my grid, some have been cropped badly.

Typology 2

I then decided to also do a typology of images where I have taken the photo of the building by looking up at it. Here is the final result:

This is another typology which I decided to do. I attempted to form a grid of images that can be linked by the way in which they have been photographed from. The images in this typology have all been photographed from below, looking up at the building. I’m not sure that this typology works as I expected it to as it’s not obvious when you look at it what I was trying to do and the buildings are all of a different architectural style. Furthermore, these buildings all function differently and were made for different purposes. This makes it less of a typology and more just a grid displaying images.

For this photoshoot, I walked around the finance and office area on the waterfront. I aimed to capture images similar to my artist reference, Alex Upton. I also attempted to get images of old and new buildings together so that I can have them in the middle of my photobook to link the two styles.

This was my route:

Photo Selection

Contact Sheet

Image Selection

Edits

Edit 1

Edit 2

Edit 3

Edit 4

Edit 5

Edit 6

Edit 7

Edit 8

Edit 9

Edit 10

Edit 11

Edit 12

Edit 13

Edit 14

Edit 15

Edit 16

Edit 17

Edit 18

Edit 19

Edit 20

Edit 21

Edit 22

Edit 23

Edit 24

Edit 25

Edit 26

Edit 27

Edit 28

Photoshoot Plan

My plan for this photoshoot was to walk around the Havre des Pas area and capture the detail of the buildings as they have a unique and old style. I am particularly interested by these buildings as it fascinated me how much detail they each have. Furthermore, I also wanted to capture some images of railings as they are very distinctive and I find it interesting how many of them are inspired by nature. I am going to create a typology of these images.

This was my route:

Contact Sheet

Image Selection

Edits

Edit 1

Edit 2

Edit 3

Edit 4

Edit 5

Edit 6

Edit 7

Edit 8

Edit 9

Edit 10

Edit 11

Edit 12

Edit 13

Edit 14

Edit 15

Edit 16

Edit 17

Edit 18

Edit 19

Edit 20

Edit 21

Edit 22

Edit 23

Edit 24

Edit 25

Edit 26

Edit 27

Edit 28

Edit 29

Edit 30

Edit 31

Edit 32

Edit 33

Edit 34

Edit 35

Edit 36

Edit 37

Edit 38

Edit 39

Edit 40

Edit 41

Edit 42

Question: How have Historical Periods of Time influenced Architectural Changes and therefore Photographic Styles?

Introduction

Photography is a way of preserving the world around you. It allows you to capture a moment of time and freeze it. This is significant as the world we live in is ever-changing. The world changes due to different movements and events. For example, the Climate Movement has caused people to be more considerate of the environment and, as a result, produce sustainable and energy efficient buildings. Similarly, the Romanticism movement, an artistic and intellectual movement during the Industrial Revolution, influenced Architects and Artists to use nature as an inspiration for their designs. As we can see, there is a tie between social activities and world development. In photography, The New Topographics Exhibition was a reaction to the Romanticism movement and idealised landscape photography. Lewis Baltz, a photographer who was associated with this exhibition , explored the beauty within the realistic, industrial environment at this time.

For this photoshoot, I focused on modern buildings, specifically on the water front as they are high-rise. I attempted to photograph these buildings in a way that is abstract, capturing the shapes and textures of the buildings. This is the route I walked:

Image Selection

Contact Sheet

Image Selection

Selected Images

Editing

Edit 1

Edit 2

Edit 3

Edit 4

Edit 5

Edit 6

Edit 7

Edit 8

Edit 9

Edit 10

Edit 11

Edit 12

Edit 13

Edit 14

Edit 15

Edit 16

Edit 17

Edit 18

Edit 19

Edit 20

Edit 21

Edit 22

Edit 23

Edit 24

Edit 25

Edit 26

Edit 27

Edit 28

Edit 29