New Objectivity - 25/11/14

This morning was a bit of a surprise as instead of Matthew leading the lesson we had David Oates, the layout of the lesson was a bit different so this blog post will have a slightly different layout to the rest. The session was about "New Objectivity" when you hear this word you should think of the Bescher's work, very deadpan lighting (ie no contrast/ shadows) and incredibly impersonal pieces of work.

Andreas Gursky

• Elevated viewpoint
• The viewer is not involved in the landscape
• The Rhein (most expensive photograph auctioned)
• Simple/ minimalistic
• Fabricated on Photoshop
• Commentary on capitalism

Michael Wolf

• Originally an editorial photographer for Stern Magazine
• Hong Kong tower blocks - never ending
• Tokyo compression taken in underground train network 

Joachim Brohm

• Slightly reminiscent of Walker Evans and William Eggleston
• Shoots banal scenes
• Less formal than Gursky  

William Eggleston

• Master of colour photography
• Famous for taking only one frame
• Known as the "photographer of the South"

John Davies

• Shoots around the North of England
• Industrial and working class images
• Interested in the idea of old architect meeting modern

I think all of these photographers create interesting and inspiring bodies of work, they manage to make the mundane look artistic. Andreas Gursky's work shows straight, structured architecture within nature as well as man made and is able to make a remarkable comparison between the two.

Through the Lens

We were given feedback last week about our objects out of contexts shoots, and someone mentioned that I could use images of my location looking through the lens of the glasses. I've scanned the glasses in order to make a clearer edit of the images and will blur out what's not in the frame.

I like these images a lot but they feel very flat and uninspired to me, I'm not a fan of editing work this much. I liked and appreciate the idea but in practice I feel it made interesting pictures boring and fake. I won't be trying something like this again in the project but I'm glad I did give it a go.

Journey to Location - 19/11/14

The next series of images were taken by my Olympus film camera, I'm really pleased with how these came out as I haven't worked with film for a while. I love the vintage mood film creates within a photograph without trying to sound too pretentious. Of course some images were nowhere near the quality I wanted them to be, but this course has given me a lot more understanding regarding aperture, ISO and shutter speed.

I really like the images I have made in regards to the journey to the location, maybe I could look at other aspects of the journey, like the train ride to it rather than just from the station by foot. I feel I have made interesting and aesthetically pleasing photographs, and am actually fairly proud of the work. I'm not used to using a film camera so this was great practice for me!

Object out of Context

As part of our project Matthew asked us to take an object out from our location and photograph it within a different context, preferably one with a blank background. You may remember these glasses from the location:

To take them out of context I've made an impromptu studio within my room, here are the final images from this shoot:

Contemporary Practice - 11/11/14

Richard Misrach
To start the session off we watched an interview with Misrach (video title: Corbis Interviews Richard Misrach at 2013). There was a lot to take in from this interview and it was difficult to write down everything so here are the main points, I've also included the video for you to watch.

• In 1998 he kept a journal of what he was seeing of the toxic environment in Nevada (Cancer Alley), and in 2009/2010 a museum wanted him to revisit the commission.
• He made a book in three days - no text in it at all. The text within the images are read as poetry.

Corbis Interviews Richard Misrach at 2013 LOOK3

Untitled (New Orleans and the Gulf Coast), 2005

Untitled (February 15, 2012 6:28PM), 2012)

This is one of the images from his series of work "The Beach" which was inspired by the events of 9/11.

The lone figure in the sea mirrors those jumping from the towers, escaping the flames inside. He produced 

this work after seeing cliff divers jump into the sea. 

Joel Sternfeld "On This Site" 

Landscape in Memoriam

I feel like these images are incredibly relevant to my work as they show gritty areas that perhaps need a little bit of love and care. The top image doesn't show this but the area that I chose does have nice houses/ a community centre so I felt like Sternfeld was also relevant for showing the other side. The last image really amuses me as the billboard in the background reads "It's the Nature of Our Business" with an idyllic landscape when the reality shows a baron, industrial site; on the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

Jeff Wall
We also watched a video where Jeff Wall is interviewed, I couldn't really hear a lot of what he was saying:

• Landscapes are truthful
• Utilised the lightbox for aesthetic, saw them often in airports
• Viewers witness a performance
• There was always a grotesque quality from the beginning of his work
• He always wanted to be a painter, is this why he often replicates paintings??

"A Sudden Gust of Wind" 1993, inspired by Hokusai's painting (below)

Travellers Caught in a Sudden Breeze in Ejiri

Jem Southam