Deidi von Schaewen 'Walls' Research

I found Schaewen's book 'Walls' in the library and took an instant interest in it. The book links to my work in the way that she has photographed a piece of subject matter that people see everyday but never really take any notice however when you photograph it and present it as a narrative it becomes interesting. There is a quote in the book that reads ''A subject that they look at everyday, but never see'' this represents that fact that although these things are interesting they have become such common place in society that people never notice them. Schaewen documents how nature and weather over time has effected the walls changing the texture of the wall creating new textures and patterns, she if finding new patterns and textures in an already existing piece of subject matter, this is similar to what I am trying to do in finding interesting geometric shapes in architecture and objects. The book contains photographs taken in Berlin, Barcelona, New York, Berlin and many more, the book flows so well you cant even tell which countries the photographs were taken in. The walls have changed from on type of art form to another, they were initially used as a canvas for painted advertisements and over time the wall has been subjected to the elements so the wall has been transformed making new patterns and textures. Each wall contains a different texture and pattern so she is managing to find different versions of the same thing, this is something I've been trying to do especially this last week I have focused on mainly photographing different types of steps and staircases finding how a simple design can be interpreted and presented in different ways. 

The 4 photographs above show how the photograph work much better as a set that represent a narrative, individually the photographs don't really convey the message of the work. For the gallery showing I want to present around 6-8 photographs as that will express the narrative of my work far better than an individual photograph. 

I chose to show the photograph above (New York, 1970) as it contains interesting lines created by shadows, much of the wall is a consistent texture however the shadows dissect it like the lines of a Piet Mondrian painting. Yesterday I went out photographing walls trying to find interesting lines and contrasting textures however my subject matter is more modern architecture than brick structures. 

Schaewen's work has been influential as it has shown me that this type of work works better presented as a set as it successfully displays a narrative, it has also showed me that banal subject matter can become interesting when photographed and presented in narrative form.     

Post of the Day (30/03/14)

This morning I went into the city and focused on shooting interesting patterns and lines on walls, this was inspired by the photograph I took of the wall last week that has a similar composition to the paintings of Mark Rothko. I walked around The Avenue then to the Arndale Centre hoping the modern architecture would make for interesting geometric subject matter, I only found a few interesting compositions and didn't get as many photographs as I wanted. The three photographs I did get work well as a set but don't make for as interesting subject matter as the photographs I took yesterday. I'm going to talk to Alan this week as I need a bit of guidance in narrowing down my subject matter as at the moment I'm shooting quite a wide range of things. I also need to do some more research, today I found a book in the library by Deidi von Schaewen titled 'Walls' that contains over 100 photographs of different walls and the patterns and graffiti that adorn them, it shows how a simple piece of subject matter can work when photographed as a set as long as all the photographs are interesting. 

Tomorrow I plan on going into Uni and combining the exposures to finish the photograph I took yesterday. Then hopefully I can speak to Alan and he can give me some guidance on where to take my project from here as I'm not quite sure where to take my work next. I'm going to try and shoot everyday this week plus I'm going to London on Saturday so I'm also going to shoot in London.   

Wall Pattern Shoot (30/03/14)

Today I focused on shooting 2D structures and documenting their patterns and lines in an attempt to express the fact that interesting patterns can be found in everyday places.The inspiration for the photographs comes from the paintings of Mark Rothko and Piet Mondrian that focus on form and geometric structure.  I found it hard to find interesting subject matter even in a big city like Manchester that contains a lot of interesting architecture. I managed to find a few compositions that contained interesting patterns and lines made from a variety of materials. I walked around The Avenue and the Arndale Centre hoping that the modern architecture would provide some interesting subject matter. I found many of the structures to be too simple and similar containing brick work and steel pillars, I need to explore the city to find more interesting subject matter. This week and over the Easter break I need to shoot as much as I can to find consistent subject that works well as a set. 

Re-shoot of Yesterdays Photographs

Today I re-shot the photographs I took yesterday that got ruined. I visited the same locations and re-shot the compositions but also shot some new compositions, the main subject matter for the photographs was staircases as I shot in mainly parking structures which typically have geometric architecture. I went out early because I knew it was going to be sunny in the morning and I wanted my outside shots to be took in sunlight. For today I shot in digital colour whereas originally the photographs were black and white 35mm but I feel the photos will work well in colour as a lot of the photos contain contrasting colours.  The first place I went was the parking structure under the Convention Complex and re-shot a composition I took yesterday, I wont be able to upload the image to my bog until Monday as I have to use Photoshop to combine two exposures and I don't have Photoshop on this laptop. I re-shot the same stair set from a different angle and shot it portrait and from a different angle, I feel that the photographs I took today all have strong compositions and I used a tripod and took my time composing each photograph as I want the viewers eye to move around the image flowing with the architecture. I then moved onto a parking structure opposite Beetham tower, I shot the same composition I shot yesterday but shot it from a variety of angles where-as when I was shooting film I only took one exposure of the structure. 

I feel the photographs I took today are all very successful so it has taken the sting out of the fact I lost the 35mm versions. I'm slowly narrowing down my subject matter but still need to take more photographs to find out exactly what I want my gallery pieces to consist of. Tomorrow I plan on photographing flatter 2D structures which I have been meaning to do for a while in an attempt to show how interesting abstract patterns can be found on the simplest of structures and walls. 

This (above) photograph was taken in the parking structure under the Convention Complex. I was drawn to this stair set as it had a very geometric shape like the structures of a Cubist painting. It's white aesthetic and contrasting black hand rails refine the shape. I remember something Alan told me about composing photographs, you have to keep the viewers eye in the frame so this I what I was composing for. I wanted the vertical lines to be parallel with the frame so they fit well in the frame and don't lead the viewers eye out of it. When composing the photographs there we a lot of things I had to keep out like various signs and lights that would have been laid over the frame. I think the photograph works well in conveying that interesting lines can appear in the most mundane structures. 

This is my favorite photograph from the shoot and one of my favorite photographs I've taken for this project so far. I constructed the photograph so your eye would move naturally up the stairs and made sure I included the staircase from the bottom to the top. I think the dark tones of the hand rails contrasts with the bricks brilliantly enhancing the shape and perspective of the structure. The image had natural contrast due to the hard shadows projected by the sunlight which enhance the geometric theme of the photograph. The photograph contains a variety of textures from the rough brick work to the dark hand rails which in themselves contain dark static tones and bright reflections of sunlight. I'm not glad my film was ruined but I feel that this photograph almost makes up for it. 

This is a composition I photographed yesterday and in roughly the same conditions. The main thing that interested me with this staircase was the variety of textures and tones. Although the entire thing is made of steel the grey tones of the staircase contrasts well with the chrome rail and the yellow lines. The sun was in a great position in projecting shadows however the sun was a little dimmed by the clouds when I took the exposure. I feel the subject matter might be a little overwhelming with the amount of lines and rails heading in all directions so I might have to simplify my subject matter.

Post of the Day (28/03/14)

First thing I'll say in this post is that I've lost the photographs I took in Blackpool and the photographs I took today. I was using the c41 machine and had my role of film hooked up on the wall before I put it through the machine, I then went back outside to see how much time I had before the mechanism moved. When I got the film out of the machine it was over exposed so I had left the door slightly open when I went out of the room which ruined the film. I'm disappointed my film was ruined but I'm glad that I didn't ruin anyone else's because the would have been even worse. It's not that bad as I didn't take that many photos in Blackpool as the surroundings didn't really fit into what I want my work to look like plus the photographs I took in Manchester today I can re-shoot this weekend in digital. At least now I know to make sure both doors are completely closed when you enter and leave the room, although I've made a mistake I've definitely learned from it.

Today I walked around quite a few underground parking structures such as the one under the Manchester Convention Complex and a parking structure opposite Beetham Tower. I found the architecture to be very interest especially staircases so I photographed quite a few staircases. I'm still quite confused as to what I want the subject matter of my work to be so over the Easter break I want to refine my range of subject matter and focus on exactly what I want it to be. I wanted to focus on two dimensional patterns on walls however I got distracted with interesting stair structures  so when I've re-shot today's photographs I will focus much more on two dimensional patterns.

I'm going to re-shoot today's photographs in digital so I can photograph them and upload them to my blog quickly and take more photographs as I plan on taking quite a lot of photographs this weekend as I haven't took that many photographs this week and I need to make up for that.       

Post of the Day (26/03/14)

I went out this morning and brought some black and white film then hired the Nikon FM2 camera from the AV Store as I wanted to shoot film this week and shoot film tomorrow in Blackpool. I walked around the city today taking photographs but didn't take many as the weather was quite bad an I'm determined to shoot as many photographs as I can in sunlight and I want the photographs to have natural contrast and hard shadows. I just so happened to walk past the Castlefield Gallery so I went in and had a look around. The work in there was by the artist Iain Andrews and consisted of paintings and illustrations, their subject matter was centered around the stage and people performing but they were painted in a very free style that looked like abstract impressionism as you have to look very close to work out where the figures are. It almost looks like he painted a scene in the Renaissance style of Raphael or Michelangelo and then intuitively smudged the paint. His work was very interesting and different to anything I've seen. This week I want to focus on photographing flatter structures that focus on shape and a more two dimensional pattern (like the photograph I compared to Rothko's work last week). I want to have a set of images that flows nicely and has similar subject matter but individually the photographs will still be strong. 

 

(Above) One of Andrews paintings at the Castlefield Gallery.

Salford Quays Shoot

Today I re-visited Salford Quays as it is a place that contains a lot of modern architecture which contains interesting line and form. I didn't take that many photographs as the architecture wasn't exactly what I wanted and wasn't as interesting as I thought it was going to be but also it was raining all day and I was getting soaked. I got two interesting compositions from the shoot, one is a photograph of a a stone block, it looked interesting as it made out of a dark reflective stone and because of the rain it was made even more reflective, it was also laid on top of light gravel so there is a nice contrast between them. The second photograph is of part of the Imperial War Museum facade, it consists of a jagged steel structure very modern in it's appearance but maybe due to this it doesn't fit into the 'everyday' them as this type of architecture isn't that common. On the other hand the composition is very strong with architectural lines in every direction and it contains three distinct tones with a bright white area at the top, medium grey area in the middle and a dark black area at the bottom. By itself the photograph is strong however I think it is moving too far away from the 'everyday' theme. 

I think I will focus on more 'everyday' structures that contain an architectural structure that is more common in 'everyday' society.  

Albert Renger-Patzsch Research

I chose to study the work of early 20th century photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch as he someone who photographs everyday objects and buildings and heightens them so you focus on their form and shape which is what I am trying to achieve in my work. There are some interesting quotes from his book 'Photographer of Objectivity' which are interesting. The first reads ''maker of image who was capable of giving form and dignity to the banal and even the ugly''. This shows his photographs subject matter was the ordinary but his photographs made you view them in a different light a focus on their structural beauty. The second quote reads ''The monumentality of the structure is heightened by the strict symmetry of forms''. I don't think this means that his compositions are exactly symmetrical because hey aren't, I think it means that his way of composing the photograph helps express the form of the object and building successfully. 

The photograph above is titled Insulators and was taken in 1927, the photograph is interesting as Renger-Patzsch has composed the photograph so you don't know which way up the poles are facing so he takes the object out of it's ordinary context and creates an interesting pattern out of it, by not knowing it's natural position your view on the object completely changes. That is similar to what I am trying to do, I'm trying to photograph line and structure within everyday objects and buildings in an attempt to heighten their appearance and create a new pattern. I have not yet decided if my final photographs will be shot in colour or black and white but I'm very happy with the black and white photos I have so far and Renger-Patzsch's work looks very appealing in black and white as the absence of colour makes your focus on tone and form. 

From looking at Renger-Patzsch's work I have learned that changing the orientation of an object can change your view on it and create a new and interesting structure so as an experiment I think it will rotate the composition of the images just to see if that makes the images more interesting like Renger Patzsch has done in his Insulators photograph. 

   

Post of the Day (24/03/14)

Today me and a few friends visited Salford then walked onto Salford Quays. I didn't take many photographs as I didn't find many interesting compositions in the town center, Salford Quays had some interesting subject matter however we didn't spend that much time there so I didn't get long to take photos. On the other hand I plan on visiting Salford Quays tomorrow by myself so I can explore and take more photographs or if the weather fails me I will go Wednesday. I'm still trying to shoot interesting forms and patterns within everyday surroundings but this time I'm going to shoot digital then maybe next week photograph using medium format to see if that method is more successful so I can eventually choose what type of camera I will use to take my final photographs.   

Mark Rothko Influence

My recent set of photographs were influenced by the work of painters Rothko and Mondrian who paint blocks of shape and form which was an influence on my work. I was also interested in the geometric forms of cubism and tried to photograph geometric form within everyday surroundings. One composition I found was very similar to Rothko's paintings with its block shaped forms, I thought of Rothko's work when I composed the photograph with the square vent positioned in the center of the composition. I think the photograph would have worked better in colour however it still works in black and white.