secret places/secret spaces - personal investigation

20
SECRET PLACES,SECRET SPACES by Iona Kelly

Upload: 080301

Post on 25-May-2015

113 views

Category:

Education


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

SECRET PLACES,SECRET SPACESby

Iona Kelly

Page 2: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

INTRODUCTIONWhen studying my AS course in photography last year, and reflecting on my favourite projects throughout that process, I realised that I loved taking photos of landscapes (and fine detail within those landscapes). The photographs I produced when focusing on those elements were the ones that I felt were the most interesting images and the photographs that I had the most fun whilst experimenting, editing and analysing. With those ideas and themes in mind, I started brainstorming themes that I could relate to the type of photography I enjoyed for my Personal Investigation. Some of the ideas I came up with included ‘Out of the Blue’ where I would focus on the blue elements of landscapes. Another idea was ‘rural’, focusing on the rustic, traditional areas around Jersey. Finally, after many other ideas, I came up with ‘Secret Places/Secret Spaces’. My plan throughout the course was to develop this idea of secrecy and take photographs of hidden areas and the objects and places no-one notices. I also wanted to highlight secret details that are obvious and mundane to everyone, but especially the smaller details that made them mysterious; transforming the obvious to something quite secretive. The photographers I have decided to primarily focus on for this investigation, I believe, all contain an element of secrecy within the frames of what they’re photographing and they portray my chosen theme effectively. The first of the photographers I’ve researched is Walker Evans. I found Evans’ work when researching on the MoMA website where I was drawn to many of his various collections. I focused on those that are close ups of barriers and empty urban landscapes as I felt that barriers related to something secret and mysterious and so did empty urban areas as they’re normally bustling with people. My second photographer is Rut Blees Luxemberg. I chose Luxemberg for the use of her lighting, as I was inspired by the way she photographed various areas in dark locations. Both photographers have massively inspired me for my Personal Investigation and I feel that each photographer, in their own way, relates to my chosen theme of ‘Secret Places/Secret Spaces’.

Page 3: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

WALKER EVANSWalker Evans, best known for his work documenting the Great Depression, was an American photographer. “Literate, authoritative, transcendent” was the goal for Evans’ photography and what he wanted his pictures to represent. He took up photography during the year 1928 around the time that he was living in New York and his most heavily influential photographers included Eugène Atget and August Sander. His most well known work of the Great Depression was photographed using a large format, 8x10-inch camera. After becoming an editor for Fortune magazine in 1965 he became a professor of photography at Yale University School of Art for graphic design. Between the years 1973 and 1974 he did another large series of photographs using a Polaroid SX-70 camera. As he became older and suffered poorer health he had to stop using the more complicated equipment when photographing. The majority of his work is exhibited permanently in The Metropolitan Museum, New York. !

Page 4: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

The first photograph I came across when researching Walker Evans was this photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge. What really attracted me to this photograph were all the overlapping lines creating no sense of a visible direction. There are so many lines within this photograph, all crossing over each other that the photograph can take you in any direction that you want it to. The metal railings of the bridge create a strong contrast to the road, making them really stand out; the fact that they create defined X’s within the photograph implies this sense of privacy and almost barricade to the road. The metal structure in the bottom right hand corner is a very similar shade to the road, making the metal railings stand out even more. These are parts of a bridge people rarely get to see making it appear even more secretive. !

Page 5: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

This is another photograph of Walker Evans’ that I particularly like. It was taken in 1928. I love the shadows within this image; they’re very prominent within the photograph creating a really effective contrast with the white wall and the negative spacing of the floor between the shadow. This contrast is illuminated even more through the use of the gate and the negative space behind the railings as well as the unlit left side corner. The photograph appears to follow the rule of thirds, making the gate the main focus of the image. What I liked most about this photograph was the sense of privacy created within the image; you have the gate almost hiding something and you want to know what this is, exaggerated by the fact that you can’t see what is behind it. The shadow creates another sense of privacy as the shadow appears almost as another gate and this overlaps onto the main gate. !!

Page 6: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

Evans also took this photograph in 1928. I love how the natural light coming from behind Evans has created this bright light upon the gate causing it to become the focus, not only because of the rule of thirds but also because it is illuminated more than other aspects of the image. Again we gain this sense of secrecy within the image as the gate is the prominent aspect of the image and it’s stopping anyone from going in. The negative spacing again, behind the gate, creates this feeling of mystery. I like how the photograph has a lot of building structure involved within the image making it even more obvious that the gate is supposed to be the main aspect; this is also made clearer due to the fact that the majority of the buildings are covered by a shadow. The image of the building appears two dimensional due to the way the light falls on it, changing our perception of the image as we know that, in reality, it is three dimensional.

Page 7: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

When taking photographs for this Personal Investigation I went to an urbanised area within town. There were lots of railings, which I photographed in various ways with direct influence from Evans.

This was one of my favourite photographs and the first photograph of Evans’ used in this essay directly influenced it. I love how there are many lines within this photograph, however, differently to Evans, they’re all going in the same direction. This doesn’t take away from the crowdedness that I liked so much about Evans own photograph as the lines are made up of various elements. The original lines are the gates, these are then reflected very vividly within the puddles and also create the wide shadows which appear almost like sun rays across the floor. The fact that the main subject of this photograph is the gate creates a secret place, as it was barricading off an area that the general public don’t have access to and I wanted to create this sense of ‘no entry’ illuminated more than once within my photograph, which I feel I have done. I decided to make the photograph monochrome like Evans as I felt that the contrast made the different elements of the photograph stronger and more defined. The glare from the direct sun within the photograph really add to the textures of the ground, which on their own have faded lines, as well as creating stronger definition of the shadows. I only decided to photograph the bottom of the gate as I didn’t want the distractions of what was behind the gate to interfere with the direction of the lines as they spread towards you and make the barricaded, secret effect more prominent.

Page 8: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

This image of mine was taken in a German WW2 bunker and, again, I was heavily inspired by Walker’s first photograph (taken in 1928) within this essay. The source of light is coming from behind me, creating this line of light directing you to the gate. I like the shadows created from the lack of light. The light creates another shadow of the gate on the flooring behind the gate itself, this emphasises the prominence of the gate. The rope that is also illuminated by the light source adds more texture to the image than the grainy texture of the floor. I was highly influenced by Evans’ image of the gate as I liked the use of shadows within his image and wanted to replicate the same sense of secrecy within mine. The tunnel of light focuses your attention on the main aspect of the image and I did this by making sure that the lighting was hitting i t d i r e c t l y . I e d i t e d t h e photograph to have a sepia tone to make it appear more ‘vintage’ and to emphasise the effect of the lighting.

After the island was bombed on 28th June 1940, Jersey was occupied by the Germans. They started to build bunkers around the island as protection from the Al l ies . T hese bunkers also became part of Hitler’s ‘Atlantic Wall’ which, was a line of defence works that ran from Norway to the Spanish frontier. Hitler ordered that these bunkers were b u i l t t o b e “ i m p r e g n a b l e fortresses” and the Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied. The bunkers are underground and the lighting is very dim making them even harder to photograph. These bunkers aren’t open to the public often and I felt that this added to their sense of secrecy.

Page 9: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

This image I took in the ancient Greek city, Ephesus, in Turkey. I was really inspired by Evans’ third image within this essay. I especially like the deep shadow cast over the majority of the gate, which is the opposite to Evans’ photograph. The shadow causes you look at the gate more than the rest of the image because it contrasts so much with the marble surrounding it. I think the little bit of light highlighting the bottom of the image works really well in initially drawing your attention to the photograph. Similarly to Evans’ image there is the darker shadow in the left corner, in his photograph he had lighter sides of the image. This helps to draw your attention even more to the gate as you match the shadows together. I used a wider depth of field and the rule of thirds to make the main focus on the gate increasingly obvious. I think this really helps to display the sense of secret places/secret spaces, as this was a part of Ephesus that was seldom noticed; everyone was more interested in the large structures around them than the details below them.

Page 10: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

RUT BLEES LUXEMBERGRut Blees Luxemberg is a female photographer who studied photography at London College of Printing and had further formal education at the University of Westminster. She is a German photographer and her technique is to take photographs at night, mostly throughout urban landscapes and this is what she’s best known for. She uses long exposures, which create an eerie glow to her photographs as well as to allow her to solely use the light from the streets for example, streetlights or office buildings. She picks obscured areas of a city, which are deliberately avoided after dark. She created a series of photographs of the London underground in 2007 and the majority of her photographs and prints focus around the night and darkness. !

Page 11: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

These two photographs by Luxemberg are part of her London Underground series. I love the colours within these photographs especially as the only light that is used is the ambient lighting that is provided in those areas at night. These photographs are both similar in the use of light and the tones that are created from this; yellow, orange and brown tones are really prominent within this image. They both also have a sense of direction. In the first photograph you can see what looks like footprints or some sort of marking on the steps, which leads your direction down the steps towards this bright glow. Also, the reflections of light on the side of the wall lead our eyes down. I like the use of wide depth of field as it causes us to focus on the larger step and the deep glow. The colours are very similar within the other image. What I like most is the sense of direction due to the railing; the railing guides your gaze down through the image. I also like the colour fade from light on the left becoming darker in the bottom right. The writing on the wall is intriguing as it stands out due to the contrast the lighting creates. The textures of the whole image almost make it appear like a painting rather than a photograph.

Page 12: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

Similar in tones, Luxemberg photographed these railings. I love the effect behind the image; it almost looks like smoke creating this eerie effect. The definition of the railing creates nice detailing on the image making it stand out and creating a contrast compared to the background. The shadows created by the use of light also emphasise this sense of depth. I really feel there is a element of secrecy portrayed in both these photographs. !

Page 13: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

Again, both these images are similar in tone; they both include a more intense green tone rather than yellows and oranges. They also involve a sense of illumination within the image as in the first one the focus is on the light causing the rest of the image to darken. It’s interesting how she has photographed the source of light as the main aspect of the image instead of using it as lighting. This can be seen in the other image as the light is used to create the shadows. I love the use of the shadows as it reinforces this sense of security and secrecy. They create a depth of field making the image appear more three-dimensional. The green tones make it appear more eerie and dark as it darkens the image instead of illuminating the light tones, which is noticeable in the other photographs. The strong lines created by the shadow create different shapes in the image making the image more interesting.

Page 14: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

All the Luxemberg-influenced images I photographed in a German bunker as the lighting conditions were perfect for me to photograph my own interpretations of her work. They also provided this sense of emptiness and are definitely a secret space, as they’re not usually open to the public. !

!This image was taken from inside the bunker looking out at the entrance. I love the effect of the natural light source creating this intense glow at the top of the stairs. This glow really emphasises how dark and low down in the ground that the bunker was. I increased the saturation and contrast to create yellow tones similar to that of Luxemberg. You can see the water glowing off the steps due to the lighting hitting the steps from above. This image was taken further into the bunker.

Page 15: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

!I tried to re-create the sense of direction similarly to Luxemberg’s second photograph, mentioned above, so I took the image on a lower angle so that the pipe work was included in the image as it focuses your direction down the image to the back o f the photograph. I also included some of the writing that was on the wall as I felt that it reinforced that mysterious sense of what it could say or what it could be. The reflection of the lights on the damp patches of the floor, I think, help provided a sense of texture, as the general composition isn’t as textured as Luxemberg’s image. The curve of the bend displays a depth of field as well as the dark square shadow surrounding the tunnel. The light at the end of the tunnel leads you to the end making you becoming really enticed by the image and makes you wonder what is around the corner creating that effect of secrecy. !!

Page 16: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

!Within both these images, I tried to create similar green tones in the photographs. I edited them by increasing the green tones and fading the colours to make the general photograph appear darker and more secret. What I love about the first image is the creepiness that I’ve managed to create with the inability to identify various aspects such as what the air vent is, and what is behind it, and what has caused the drips of red upon the walls. I think the light creates a really omniscient effect over the event and highlights all the different textures created from the rust. The use of lighting overemphasising the dripping effect (of what would first be thought to be blood) creates a really eerie image. I increased the green tones to give the whole photograph a colder feel.

Page 17: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

For this image in particular I created the main source of green light by using an iPhone torch. I wanted to create something similar to Luxemberg’s photograph but instead of having shadows of lines across the whole image I emphasised the lines on the ceiling. I think it creates this eerie effect due to the prominent green tones and the general lack of lighting. The light on the ceiling is similar to the lights in Luxemberg’s photo and adds yellow tones creating a deeper sense of depth within my image. The only thing I don’t like as much is that the light on the ceiling is reflecting the wall behind make it illuminate more and taking away from the dark effect that I was trying to create. Yet, I still think it relates to my theme as you’re unsure what is the cause of the light and why is it so prominent within the photo. !

Page 18: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

!The last of my own photographs that were inspired by Luxemberg is this one of the steps. I love the effect of the shadows on the stairs creating more depth to the image and illuminating a sense of direction up the stairs. I like how the stairs lead to a gate that is blocked off. I also really like how the bottom of the photograph is darker than the rest of the image making the upper half of the image more of the focal point. The lines on the ceiling contrast with the direction of the steps creating another line of direction. I increased the saturation and the yellow tones within this image, as well as the contrast, to reinforce the fact that lighting is purely provided by the available lighting around me. However, I also faded the colours slightly so that the increase in saturation wasn’t too overpowering and all the details were still completely visible. !!

Page 19: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

CONCLUSIONOverall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this investigation into Secret Places/Secret Spaces. It has made me focus on large landscapes and locations and then made me focus on the finer detail within those areas, making me more aware of my surroundings. I think my photography has developed over this investigation and I have discovered an element of photography I am passionate about. I have also experimented largely with lighting and creating abstract and more detailed, complex photographs that, last year, I felt too nervous to explore and experiment with. Focusing so strongly on photographers has helped me to craft my own images after being inspired by their images and it has been really interesting trying to replicate a sense of their photography in my own work in an original and individual way.

Page 20: Secret Places/Secret Spaces - Personal Investigation

BIBLIOGRAPHY!!WEBSITES: • http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/apr/23/rut-blees-luxemburg-

best-shot-photography • http://www.ltmcollection.org/posters/artist/artist.html?IXartist=Rut+Blees

+Luxemburg http://www.getty.edu/art/ • MoMA • British Journal of photography !BOOKS: • Why it does not have to be in focus - Modern Photography explained – Jackie

Higgins • The Photography Book – Phaidon • Art and Photography - Phaidon (Edited by David Campany) • Understanding Exposure - Revised Edititon - Bryan Peterson (Amphoto books) !OTHER: • Genius of Photography – BBC Television Series • Michelle Sank workshop - Street Photography !