What is a landscape?
These photos are my initial view on what a conventional landscape is....
These photos are my initial view of what a covential landscape is not...
WWW: I like this "wrong" landscape the most out of all my landscape photos so far. This is mostly because it is blurred and out of focus which gives a sense of movement within a landscape. Despite being blurred, the main focus of the picure (the person) is easly distinguishable. Furthermore I like this picture because it is taken on an upper level - the boy's head is at the same height as the tree top, the stairs are level with the windows of the opposite building. I like both the sense of movement and the the varying levels within the landscape.
EBI: This photograph was partially taken by in error. However, I could take more pictures using elements of this as an inspiration.
EBI: This photograph was partially taken by in error. However, I could take more pictures using elements of this as an inspiration.
Ray K. Metzker's 'Pictus Interruptus'
Pictus Interruptus is a series of photographs taken by Ray K. Metzker involving landscapes that have been interrupted in some sort of way. I like these photos because of their balance of focus between the background traditional landscape and the interrupter. I also enjoy that each picture is in black and white leaving the audience with a sense of mystery as well as leaving it up to their personal mind to imagine the images with colour.
Comparing Landscape Photographs
In Roger Fenton's Valley of the Shadow of Death I can see a very peacful/lonely atmosphere yet it also feels very negative due to the context of the photo being a war battleground. There are a lot of cannon shells and shrapnel which represent the devastation of the Crimean war. The Richard Prince photo portrays a positive atmosphere - hopeful and bright. However I think that there is also a sense of unease about the photo. The clouds are very big/overpowering in comparison to the size of the man and horse which makes the seem a bit belittled/intimidated in my opinion. Furthermore, the fact that the man has a shadow hiding his face creates a sense of mystery because we don't know who he is. The pictures are similar in the fact that they both include a horizon with information in the foreground. I think that the main difference in the pictures is the atmosphere. It makes the viewer of both the images feel very different. In Roger Fenton's image the viewer feels very isolated negative due to the lack of colour in contrast to Richard Prince's image which has quite vibrant colours.
Minimal landscapes
My Photograms
In class we used black and white card to construct our own simple landscapes. We did this through cutting out black shapes and sticking them to white card. We then printed the negative version of these landscapes and went into the darkroom to create our own postive and negative photograms of our landscapes. Here is how mine turned out:
The four photos above were made and developed in the dark room. This involved screening the initial image onto a piece of photographic paper for 15 seconds and then put the photographic paper into the developer liquid for about a minute to a minute and a half . After that, I transferred the paper to the finisher liquid which just stops the developing of the photo. The photo remained in for about 15-30 seconds. And finally, I put the photo into the third and last liquid which was the fixer, ironing out anything it could to make the picture look fine, this took about 3 minutes before putting the paper to hang and dry. I think my photos came out well although I did do the second one upside down so that was a bit awkward after I realised.
Dafna Talmor's Constructed Landscapes
Constructed landscape slides experiment
In my response to Dafna Talmor I adapted old slides making them more visually abstract. I did this by cutting up 35mm transparency slides that were bought on eBay. To do this I used cutting mats tape scalpels ink and scraps of old transparencies.
Brea Souders
In these photos Brea Souders has explored the idea of glitching through her use shadows and technical accidents. To me, this makes the pictures more visually pleasing and aesthetic. The dark shadows create a subject for the images through the shapes they're creating and the background they're portrayed on. I think Brea Souders may have used these silhouette structures to reference American West postcards from the early twentieth century. The artificial shadows are also used to romanticise the interactions we have within the natural world.
Abstract Advent Constructed Landscapes
Chemigrams.
With chemigrams there are many different variations and adaptations that can change the chemigram drastically. This means that there are endless opportunities for different styles of chemigrams. For example you can change the style of paper , the order you apply the chemicals or the time you leave each chemical. This intrested me due to the vast amount of playfullness was availible. In addition this allowed me to personalise my work because even i didnt fully know how they would turn out when developed . Also i think that chemigrams are a very intresting way of expressing a landscape-the chemicals form intriguing pattens that can be percieved however the viewer chooses to.
Examples of chemigrams:
My chemigrams...
- Take out some light-sensitive paper and select an object to manipulate onto the paper, preferably something more absorbent and thin.
- Once done, take your object and give it a quick dip in the developer and shake off any excess liquid. You can also put into any of the chemicals in any order.
- Then, carefully place the object onto your light sensitive paper cover with a paper towel and evenly press down and hold for 40-60 seconds. Voila! Chemigram made.
My Personal Response to Constructed Landscapes
The inspiration to my personal projects is Harry smith. Harry Smith lived in New York and collected paper aeroplanes from the streets. Photographs of these have been made by Jason Fulford. There are many different styles of plane which created the idea of randomisation in his art. I am incorporating parts of his work into my final project because everyone in the class is making different style planes with different photos and furthermore where the plane lands is further random. Overall in my personal project I hope to create interesting photos of the different variations of plane when landed.
Harry Smith's Paper Aeroplanes
To make the paper for the planes i decided to initialy decided to incoperate randomisation to match Harry Smiths unique way of extreme variation. I did this by taking one of my previous constructed landscapes and printing several copies in various different colours. Then i cut different size holes through differnet layers of the paper to create the idea that different parts of the image were various different colours. I like how this turned out because whilst being a simple adaptation i think thatit creats a good illusion that will look good as different styles of the planes. To create the second image i decided to further develop the same landscape. This is because i wanted mostly for the original matirials to be the same such has Harry Smiths work however for the variety in style of plane to be the main focus. To do this i put tape over the landscape and the spray painted over the entirty of the picture. Overall i am very happy with how this turned out because i find it intresting how the whole perspective of the landscape changes once the lines without orange paint are the main focus. Further more this intrests me because of how now it is almost as if a landscpae in a landscape in a landscape.
Developing my personal project
Here i began to develop my idea towards my final project. I did this by photgraphing where the original plane landed and recycling the photo into another plane. I think that these were successful and intesting due to the fact the recycling element made each plane unique to itself and furthermore allowed nature to be incorperated into the paper planes.
This is the video for my final exhibition. I find it quite interesting because i like how you are able to capture the landscape in motion which tells a story in how each plane gets to their destination rather than just being thoughtlessly placed there. In addition it further personalises the planes because now each different variation and style of plane has a face to it. Also it shows the different ways people throw their different plane which all adds to the unique element of every paper plane.
Constructed Landscapes : Evaluation
Throughout the Constructed Landscapes project, I have explored a variety of creative work from artists such as Harry Smith, Dafna Talmor and Breya Soulder. I have been inspired by the ways these different artists capture the world around us and how the different photographers respond creatively and imaginatively to their physical surroundings to create unique visual pieces of art. One photographer whose work particulalry stood out for me is that of Dafna Talmor. Dafna Talmor desconstructed her own landscape photographs by cutting up negatives and then reinventing landscapes. She says of her work that she is trying to create "a space that doesn't exist" and one that "only exists in a photographic sense". I found the idea of reimagining a landscape that was originally rooted in reality extremely intriguing.
During my exploration of the work of different photographers, my idea of what landscape photography represented has changed significantly. My previous view of landscape photography was limited and conventional: I pictured uninterrupted rural images; sunsets on the horizon; images with only one subject of focus and images that did not contain human interest. Studying the works of Ray K. Metzker, Harry Smith, Dafna Talmor and Breya Soulder , made me understand that landscape photography means so much more. The subject matter is far more extensive, encompassing a far wider range of scenes, and the photographer is able to play a far more creative and imaginative role in capturing these scenes.
For my final project, I was inspired by the work of Harry Smith and his collection of paper airplanes. I liked the idea of an artist choosing to collect something as whimsical and playful as paper airplanes and to treat them with such value. These paper airplanes were all found discarded in the dirty streets of New York, and to anyone else would have been viewed as litter. But Harry Smith logged the location and examined the number of folds for each plane he found. The idea of making art out of what we treat as mundane appealed to me. My study of Constructed Landscapes has made me much more aware of the photographer's role in creating art in what we consider to be part of the everyday, commonplace world.
One of the the themes that I chose to explore in my paper planes project was that of randomisation: Smith's planes were found discarded alll over New York; they'd been made by all sorts of different people; the style, decoration and condition of these planes varied drastically. Similarly, the planes made by members of my class were of all different designs with unique personalisations. Unlike Smith's planes, they were all created and launched at the same time. However, due to the nature of paper in the air, each plane took its own random, unique journey. I was then able to capture their haphazard landing positions. I really like the chaotic and disorganised arrangement that the planes made as they landed. I thought it was interesting that Harry Smith's planes were all intentially retrieved whereas mine were intentially distributed.
Most of the time paper on the floor of the landscape is a polluting distraction from the beauty of the landscape around us. However, one of the concepts that has captured my imagination is how photographers' work allows us to see the world through a new lens. In my final project I have tried to capture the artistic result of paper randomly thrown into our environment. Looking back at my photos, they have also made me consider the juxtaposition of nature with man made objects. I like the way that the paper planes have settled between branches, as though they have found their natural habitat.
During my exploration of the work of different photographers, my idea of what landscape photography represented has changed significantly. My previous view of landscape photography was limited and conventional: I pictured uninterrupted rural images; sunsets on the horizon; images with only one subject of focus and images that did not contain human interest. Studying the works of Ray K. Metzker, Harry Smith, Dafna Talmor and Breya Soulder , made me understand that landscape photography means so much more. The subject matter is far more extensive, encompassing a far wider range of scenes, and the photographer is able to play a far more creative and imaginative role in capturing these scenes.
For my final project, I was inspired by the work of Harry Smith and his collection of paper airplanes. I liked the idea of an artist choosing to collect something as whimsical and playful as paper airplanes and to treat them with such value. These paper airplanes were all found discarded in the dirty streets of New York, and to anyone else would have been viewed as litter. But Harry Smith logged the location and examined the number of folds for each plane he found. The idea of making art out of what we treat as mundane appealed to me. My study of Constructed Landscapes has made me much more aware of the photographer's role in creating art in what we consider to be part of the everyday, commonplace world.
One of the the themes that I chose to explore in my paper planes project was that of randomisation: Smith's planes were found discarded alll over New York; they'd been made by all sorts of different people; the style, decoration and condition of these planes varied drastically. Similarly, the planes made by members of my class were of all different designs with unique personalisations. Unlike Smith's planes, they were all created and launched at the same time. However, due to the nature of paper in the air, each plane took its own random, unique journey. I was then able to capture their haphazard landing positions. I really like the chaotic and disorganised arrangement that the planes made as they landed. I thought it was interesting that Harry Smith's planes were all intentially retrieved whereas mine were intentially distributed.
Most of the time paper on the floor of the landscape is a polluting distraction from the beauty of the landscape around us. However, one of the concepts that has captured my imagination is how photographers' work allows us to see the world through a new lens. In my final project I have tried to capture the artistic result of paper randomly thrown into our environment. Looking back at my photos, they have also made me consider the juxtaposition of nature with man made objects. I like the way that the paper planes have settled between branches, as though they have found their natural habitat.