Commision Presentation

7/29/2019 Commision Presentation

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Landscape

and the CityDan Paul


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Introduction

The concept and idea behind my Landscape project is aboutthe natural environment and how man and industrialisation isgradually taking over making this beautiful, natural landscapedisappear with time.

This was too obvious. So, from one of my test shoots came theidea that stuck for me, which was spaces or gaps inwooded areas that have obviously been destroyed to makeway for man made structures.

For my City, I wanted to fill that space with architecture. Butneglected architecture that is often overlooked because itsan older building.

Concept & Ideas-City & Landscape-


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Research

For my research, I looked at various photographersthat very heavily influenced me in ways such as theway they photographed and the concept behindthe image.

-Landscape-


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John Davies-Landscape-

I looked at JohnDavies purely for hisset of photographsof landscapes in the

British Isles. He photographed

these with aconcept to show thepicturesquelandscape beingtaken over byindustrialisation.

He created these very

large scaled

landscapes which sowtraces of man, he has

photographed these

in a very picturesque

way.

Showing the flowing

landscape with the

horizon clear in thebackground. Like

Davies I wanted to

show the interruption

of nature but in a lessobvious way.


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Edward Burtynsky-Landscape-

I decided to look at Burtynskys work becauseI liked the way he would photograph.

His shots are always very straight, aligned andgeometric.

I particularly liked his series calledmanufactured landscapes where hephotographed massive landscapes but theywere always man-made andmanufactured.

The image on the left stood out for me

because it almost follows the same visualchoices with the space between the tires.


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Robert Adams-Landscape-

I looked at Robert Adams series called Turning Back. It was aseries of photographs of a rain forest that was being cut down inOregon.

He photographed it as the trees and land was being demolished.He would often change the composition ranging from close-up tovast landscapes either showing up-rooting or the landscape of trees

gradually disappearing.


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Eugene Atget-City-

I looked at Atget for my city project

from his series of photographs in Paris.

The way he photographed the miss-

shaped architecture creates a sense of

negligence and abandonment.


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Andreas Gursky-Landscape & City-

I looked at Gursky for both the city and landscape. I was very interested in the way he photographed. His work is very geometric and the lines present in his images are

always straight. Work is often divided equally.


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The Bechers-City-

I was very heavily influenced by the Bechers in the way theyphotographed.

Always kept the structure tight in the frame. All lines were always parallel and straight. Created a typology of structures.


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Initial Visual Ideas-Landscape-

This was my first test shoot after I knew what

I wanted but this is when I was exploringthe landscape overlooking theindustrialisation

I created this photo stitched image bytaking three images and placing thistogether. From this I wanted to show thevast scale of the factories.

From the one image on the right came myidea about the spaces in the trees.


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Contact Sheets-Landscape-

After knowing what Iwanted I went out and

shot at various locations

where they were pulling

down the trees.

I photographed various

gaps in the trees andfrom these contact sheets

I chose my final 3 images.


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Finals Images-Landscape-

After choosing my final images I went to the darkroom and printed.

I have decided to display them in this order as it almost shows a graduation of the amountthat is disappearing. When printing and shooting I took into account those of Andreas Gursky and the Bechers

and made sure all of my lines were straight and aligned. This was very important to me as Iwanted my images to stand out and be easy to read in a visual way

I shot all of these images on a very overcast day so that the space between the trees wasjust space and added to this emptiness.

When printing these images I wanted it to be quite contrasty so the blacks really stood out

and the space between the trees really contrasted with the blacks

-12 seconds Grade 3--16 seconds Grade3-

-16 seconds grade 2-


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Contact Sheets-City-

These are the contact sheets that I chose my final

images from for my City project. I chose these particular images because for me

they were visually stronger then the rest andcertain elements such as tone and alignmenthelped me choose.


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Finals Images-City-

These are my 3 final images for my City project.

I chose these 3 particular buildings because they are all neglected buildings that have beenoverlooked for many years and have often been shadowed by those of newer design.

These are all iconic buildings in my hometown of Sheerness and at one time all had significance. But now they stand there, boarded up and forgotten. My favorite image out of the 3 is the middle image. I very much like the straight lines and divide

between the ground and sky. I l ike that the building is slightly darker then the foreground andbackground because it shows that it Is just lying there, in the shadows forgotten.

When printing all of these images I used rulers to measure distance between certain elements so thatmy images were aligned perfectly


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Evaluation-Landscape & City-

I am very happy with what I have achieved visually for both projects.However certain things need tweaking as in my City finals, the lastprint does not match the rest which is a problem for me.

The sky is a bright blue colour when really I would want it a slightlyovercast blue to match the other two prints.

I think both sets of prints accompany my idea well showing the

space and the neglection of architecture. This is all represented bycertain elements in the images that for me portray these ideas.

For example in the city images there are shadows that are beingcasting over the buildings, this represents the fact that these buildingsare being forgotten and pushed into the dark corner.

The landscape has the space; between the trees and the overcast

sky which helps to show the emptiness that is present. If I was to put these images in a context then I would print them large

and the images would go in a specific order, especially for mylandscape where it shows gradual change in the size of the space.

I decided to shoot these gaps to show the human interferencewithout actually showing human presence. These spaces are there for

a reason and are not created by nature.


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Evaluation-Landscape & City-

For the city, I decided to shoot the obvious. By doing this I have created asmall typology of neglected buildings very close to one another. I wanted to

show the buildings looking very tall dominating most of the image but then

show the neglect within the architecture.

I have managed my studies quite well however I think for my city project, I

could have gone out and shot more tests and then have a wider variety of

shots to chose from. However I am still pleased with the outcome of my prints.

I think that when it comes to shooting I would reflect upon the location inwhich I am shooting. At times it was hard to focus as the locations I was

shooting at was often very wet and muddy. This often made me rush the shoot

not getting the perfect images that I wanted.

My main challenge for these projects were the city. I focused a lot of my time

on the landscape and then when it came to it realised I did not have a lot of

time left for the city then causing me to rush the shooting process.

I also think that my research could be a lot stronger analysing the images in

more depth.

Over all I am happy with how my images have come out but there a small

aspects that have let me down.


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Commission Pt.2

-Waste-Air Pollution


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Introduction

The concept and idea behind my waste projectwas very different to what you might think of waste.

I wanted to look at air pollution as waste and howwe go through out our daily lives often becoming

completely oblivious to the notion of air pollution. Ioriginally wanted to start out by photographing thesmoke it self however on my first shoot it was far tofoggy to see any smoke coming from the factorysight I was shooting. This then rolled onto become

my theme. The fog became this metaphor for theobscuring of the factories, showing how oblivious toit as we are. But then also showing it as a smogplays with this notion of can we see, cant we see it.

-Waste-


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Research-Waste-

For my research, I looked at various photographersthat very heavily influenced me in ways such as theway they photographed and the concept behindthe image.

I looked at various artists that used this notion of airpollution in the work and also aesthetic purposessuch as the fog and smog.

L G & G d


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Lu Guang & GerdLudwig

-Waste-

For my initial artist research I lookedinto these two photographers. Theyboth photographer very heavily

polluted areas of Russia and China.The often both photographed theindustrial side to it, showing humanactivity within the shots. As looked atthese as to start my research as thiswas my initial idea to photograph thesmoke and the industrialisation.


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Ori Gersht-Waste-

I then went onto look at Ori Gershtswork Rear Window. I looked at this seriesbecause it was quite minimal, often not knowing what your really looking at. I washeavily influenced by this as I wanted to do something similar. This then makes theaudience and viewer really interrogate the photos and it makes you look deeperinto the photograph.


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Liang Yue-Waste-

Liang Yueswork Several Dusks explores the smog of china. Often featuring thisone man in the photographs it gives of this post apocalyptic feel. As though this isdue to the hazy smog that clouds cities of China. He often photographed in thisvery straight manner, with lines present within the images. This gives order andstructure to the images.


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Benoit Aquin-Waste-

Benoit Aquinswork Chinese Dustbowl has a very different feel to that ofothers I have researched. I looked at this work because of the smog andhaziness that is in the photographs. The work has a much more

documentary feel to it rather then others I have looked at. Hephotographed the Chinese dustbowl which was a mixture of smog andsand in the air. This was caused by farmers over harvesting land turningmost of the land into desert.


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How Whee Young-Waste-

This is the work of How Whee Young how photographed the smog inBeijing in January of this year. I referenced this work because of the

haziness and the smog present within his images. This was the worstsmog that china has seen on record and was so bad that the authoritiesurged people to stay inside.


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Hiroshi Sugimoto-Waste-

Hiroshi Sugimoto was quite an influence on my work. After shooting myphotos I was guided to look at him as my work became quite similar to

his. With the seascape covered in fog I thought it was very appropriate toreference him. One thing I took from his work was the horizon line. IN allof my images the horizon line follows through all three images as it doesin his. Also the tonal quality to some of his images become very minimaloften now knowing what your really looking at.


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Contact Sheets-Waste-

These are the contact sheets that I chose my final images from for my

Watse project. I chose these particular images because for me they were visually

stronger then the rest and certain elements such as tone and alignmenthelped me choose. I cropped the negs to get the images I wanted. I onlyshot two rolls of film as I was satisfied with the negs I had from one ofthe shoots.


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Final Images-Waste-

These are my 3 final images for my Waste project. I chose these 3 particular images as it shows different parts of the factories

obscured by the fog. Where the negs were cropped by quite a degree it makes

the main subject point of the factories drop out behind the fog which is what Iwas trying to achieve. My favorite image out of the 3 is the middle image. Youcan see enough of the factory to understand what is there but then you reallyhave to look to deep to see what is actually there.

I think I was successful in portraying my message and concept through out theimages, however some changes could have been made such as the horizon linebeing higher.


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Evaluation-Waste-

I am very happy with what I have achieved through out this project. My references andresearch clearly back up my themes and ideas through out the process.

The main problem that I would say I had when embarking on this project would beshooting the fog. As I cannot predict when the fog will be there I had to stick with the firstlot of images I shot. Even though I was very happy with the images I did shoot, it wouldhave been nicer to have a broader selection of images to choose from.

Another issue I had would be the printing. Where the neg was cropped so much the imagewas enlarged to a great degree. This then made it so I could not see what I was doing on theeasel. This made the whole printing process a lot longer often taking me up to 5 hours toproduce one print.

These were really the main issues that came up during the process. I think if I was to do this project again I would not change the images but come up with a

name for the series that gives the audience more to go in terms of the theme and ideassurrounding the images. Although, I think you can still get a good idea of what the imagesrepresent with out a name present.

I purposely printed so the horizon line of the images matched up and were all of equal size.This was also so that when placed in an exhibition format the horizon line would thebecome one straight line leading your eye across the images rather then looking at eachimage at a time.

Overall I am very happy with the overall project and I think I have managed my time wellwit regards of shooting well in time of the deadline and printing workshops. I found thatthe session with Andrew Lacon and Steffi was very helpful as it gave us a better idea of howto select and edit our images.

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