Below is my pinterest of all the different images that the title Environment brings to mind:
Perspective - From above
As a first response to capturing the environment I chose to take pictures from two different perspectives. One from above and one from below. I used a recent opportunity of visiting the empire state to capture the perspective from above. I went with the intentions of photographing down on to the streets below. Although largely successful, there were some problems. Shooting in the dark of course requires a longer exposure and being at the height I was this proved slightly problematic. As a result I chose to photograph parts of the skyline that had enough light and were not in such great detail. This meant I was able to capture the environment from above while preventing any blur.
This shot worked out well because of the surrounding light. New York being such a built up area meant that the lights from the building was enough for the low light situation. I like this image in particular as it manages to capture the sheer size of New York. This is because of the way that the buildings are framed and how the different lines intercede giving a somewhat hectic portrayal of the skyline.
In terms of capturing the world below me, this proved the most difficult. The best angle I could get was inside and thus there is some glare from the window. However, this idea of capturing the environment from above is clearly illustrated as the seemingly ant like people walk below and the shop lights illuminate the roads.
Perspective - From below
When changing perspective to below I aimed to capture the different buildings looking up. New York being a city full of skyscrapers it provides a large range of opportunities. When looking up I wanted to try and capture the different shapes and lines that the intersecting buildings create. My first image is a prime example of how the different edges of the two buildings intersect and create somewhat of an illusion. If you look to the right of the image it seems that the boarder is slanted, however, you eventually realise that this effect is created by the particular framing of the image.
Fake Environments - Aaron Farley
Aaron Farley is a photographer/ artist who uses images taken of different environments such as the sea and the sky. He then prints these images out and manipulates them to create entirely different environments. His images (below) show how layering images in different ways can give the false impression of a real environment. This is particularly evident in Farley's images of water mounted upon coloured card or even images of the sky.
My response:
In my response to Farley's work I chose to focus on trying to create an environment that included both the sky and water. I experimented with pictures of water as well as getting blue paper and crumpling it up and placing it against other images of the sky. The images of course are not meant to look immaculate. The creation of these images is a way of exploring the multitude of abstract responses to the theme environment.
artist and me:
Willi Dorner - Tight Spaces
Willi Dorner is an Austrian choreographer and artists that created the project 'Bodies in Urban Spaces'. As shown below, it is an exhibit of people dressed in brightly coloured clothing who manipulate their bodies into different parts of the environment. This can include doorways, public benches, stairs etc. The intentions of the project were to point out the complexity of the urban environment that we inhabit and to also show its inhabitants the numerous things that we can do with it.
my response:
Although we couldn't do it on the scale nor the complexity of Dorner, we still attempted to find different places in the school environment that we could fit our bodies in to. For example, we experimented with fitting ourselves into corners of buildings and underneath staircases. The focus was less on the subject and more on the ability of people in general fitting into their surrounding environments in complex and unique ways. My attempt is seen below:
Radical Eye - Tate Modern
The Radical eye was an exhibition held at the Tate Modern that explored the private collection of Sir Elton John. Most, if not all, of the photographs are taken from the modernist period that spanned around 30 years from 1920. The exhibition includes around 70 different artists from this time period. The works range from abstract photography to traditional portraits, many of which have shaped photography for what it is today.
The image above, 'Migrant Mother' by Dorothea Lange pictures a mother who has been deeply effected by the ongoing depression in 1920s america. This world renowned portrait has shaped portraiture photography to this day. That said, many debate over whether the photographer manipulated the image to invoke a deeper sense of sympathy or shock within the viewer.
This image is from a collection from the American photographer Irving Penn. The collection, named 'Corner Portraits', show a range of different people (usually famous) who visit his studio sit or stand in a makeshift corner. The purpose of the photographs was to show how different people inhabit their surrounding environment. Almost everyone included in the series stands or sits in a completely different way.
Richard Mosse, Incoming - The Barbican
In Richard Mosse's newest exhibition, Incoming, he explores the refugee crisis in all of its forms. Straying away from the more conventional style of documentary photography, Mosse uses a military grade heat seeking camera to depict the effects and consequences that war has created. The exhibition itself is composed almost entirely of a 30min long video that shows refugees arriving as well as the military response. Along with the obvious encounters such as the camps themselves, Mosse explores the much more gruesome side of the humanitarian crisis. For example, he shows the post-mortem examination of what is most likely a refugee. The camera itself is regarded internationally as a military weapon, it is for this reason that Mosse has decided to use it against its intended purpose as a way of documenting the humanitarian crisis.
The thermal imaging camera creates a somewhat scary photograph when pointed at people. There faces are shown as quite dark with their eyes even darker. The dark eyes in particular are largely to blame for this 'scary' photograph as it makes the subjects almost look subhuman. This subhuman effect that it creates is largely meant to invoke the exact opposite response. Instead it is meant to show that these people are still human but are unfortunate enough to be born into a war that they didn't start.
As well as the humanitarian response Mosse explores the military response to the growing threat of terrorism that caused the humanitarian crisis in the first place.
This image shows an old stadium that has been converted in to a refugee camp to house the thousands of displaced civilians.
Irving Penn - Corner Portraits
After seeing the corner portraits at the radical eye exhibition I decided to explore it further. Above are a few different portraits taken in the exact same corner. These images show how each individual places him/herself within the environment. Although it cannot enirely be said for the mundane environment of a corner, it does highlight how different environments invoke different responses among different people, whether that be a physical or mental response.
my Response:
To try and recreate the corner portraits we placed two different boards together to create the corner. We then put different people into the corner and saw how they would 'naturally' inhabit the environment. Some pushed themselves far into the corner almost so it engulfed them, while others ignored the claustrophobic environment that surrounded them. I also edited the coloured photograph to black and white to highlight how the subject filled the space rather than the specific colours or anything else that may cause a distraction from the original intent of the photographs.
Nick Turpin - On the Night Bus
Over a three year period photographer Nick Turpin photographed people on their daily commutes during the winter months. Turpin positioned himself a substantial distance from the bus stop in Elephant and Castle and began to capture the journeys of random people. Over the years he accumulated thousands of images, some people even appearing on multiple occasions. Taking the photographs in the winter means that the bus windows become fogged up. This inevitably creates a somewhat mysterious environment. It also reminds the viewer that there is a window there and that we as viewers are almost looking into the lives of those photographed.
Nick Turpin explains his full intentions behind his project below:
My response (1):
For my first response I went to a local bus stop and attached a zoom lense. I attached a zoom lense so that I could keep an appropriate distance from the bus and capture those on it without them looking directly toward me. This is mainly because the idea behind the photographs is to capture those in their environment without the distraction of external factors such as myself so that they are as authentic as possible.
Although a few of the photographs came out really well, it was not as successful as I hoped. This was, however, largely due to the fact that the whether conditions were not perfect. Ideally, the best whether conditions are wet and cold so that the windows of the bus fog up. That said, i was still able to capture those in their environment undisturbed from eternal factors such as myself. Given that the whether was not completely in my favour I attempted to reposition myself to capture different parts of the bus and its inhabitants. This also allowed me to capture the different effects that the internal and external lights had on those on the bus. Moving on from this response, if I want to improve it would ideally have to be in the correct whether conditions. That said, I could still improve by changing location to find a range of different people.
William Eckersley - Dark City
William Eckersley's Dark City explores the usually grey and mundane London during the late and dark hours. Taken over a four year period, Eckersley explores the different, more discreet, and desolate places around London. His photos usually include different kinds of light sources that illuminate the somewhat boring environment. For example, the last photo I chose shows the Thames at night. The way Eckersley uses the long exposure allows the pink fluorescent light to be picked up by the water. It also creates the smooth effect on the thames that usually happens when photographing water with a long exposure.
My response:
In my first response to Eckersley's 'Dark City', I chose to shoot an empty local car park. When deciding on my location I chose an area that was both quiet and empty. The location was also particularly fitting as it had a range of different light sources that I could experiment with.
For most of the images below, I used an exposure time of around 10-20 seconds to ensure that it picked up all of the surrounding light. Exposing the image for 10-20 seconds also means that the reflection of the different light sources is nicely picked up by the concrete ground. For example, the picture of the white van shows a stream of light from a car with its headlights on.
On the night bus - 2nd Response
Moving on from my first response to Nick Turpin's Night Bus series I decided to change the environment that I took my photographs from. For this I found a spot at euston bus station that put me almost at level with the top deck. It not only gave me the distance needed to not be seen but also gave me a position to see into most of the busses stopping in front of me. My images are below:
This response was, to an extent, somewhat of an improvement from the last observation. Although the whether conditions prevented me from getting the same sort of photographs as Nick Turpin, I was still able to position myself in a far better place to capture those on the bus. Having the range of busses that passed through the station meant that I was able to capture solitary travellers rather than just packed buses. However, if I were to move on and improve from this observation I think it would only be appropriate and successful if I waited for the right weather conditions.
Dark City - 2
As a second response to William Eckersley's, 'Dark City', I decided to go into central London and attempted to find desolate areas that involved interesting different light sources throughout. For this I mainly focused on finding discrete areas. This usually meant that I was taking pictures of alleyways or walkways. Luckily they had adequate sources of light that created interesting effects across the ground. These images are seen below:
As seen above, I changed my camera's exposure to a slightly longer one than completely necessary. This allowed me to create the desired effect of the reflection from the lights. For example, in my first and second images in particular, the increase in exposure allowed me to capture the spotlight effect that is created from the lights pointing toward the ground. As a way of increasing this effect further, I highlighted some parts of the reflection in photoshop and increased the brightness slightly to emphasise the effect. Overall, this observation proved quite successful. The focus on desolate alleyways proved to be beneficial in that it allowed me to isolate the light sources.
Thames Long Exposure - Dark City 3
To explore the theme of the dark city further I chose to again attempt at recreating William Eckersley's photographs of the Thames and the light that is reflected off of them. With this in mind I tried to find places along the thames that reflect the lights and colours of the surrounding buildings. Using a long exposure not only allows me to capture the different light but also creates the smooth effect that is seen across the water. This means that the light reflected off of the water is far more clear.
This picture (above) is a prime example of how the long exposure turns the water into some kind of a canvas that reflects the surrounding light.
Artist and me:
Overall, this response to William Eckersley's dark city proved largely successful. I was able to capture empty and desolate environments in the dark and at the same time include the different light sources that manipulated that environment. However, although the idea of long exposure proved effective, I think that the best way forward would be to pursue the idea of empty and desolate environments. That said, I think it would be more beneficial to open up the range of photographs and instead experiment with capturing environments both during the night and the day.
Median Stacking Test
When looking online I found a method that is traditionally used for the removal of noise within photographs. I also found out that some people had manipulated this technique to remove people from images. I realised that this gave great potential to experiment with creating desolate environments during the day. However, before going out to take pictures and start median stacking, I thought it would be best to practice on a very simple level. For this I took photographs of my mum walking around the kitchen. I kept my camera in the exact same position and took around 8 photos as she walked about.
After selecting my images I put them all into photoshop in one single page. After doing this I selected all the images within the same document and used the 'auto-align' tool in photoshop. Once the images had rendered and auto-aligned I then converted the images into one single smart object. Once it converted I went to 'layer - smart objects - stack mode - median', this can be seen below:
The actual effect of median stacking removes any irregularities within the selected photographs, hence why any moving objects (my mum) will be completely removed from the final image. However, the overall purpose of this is to find places that are generally quite populated and thus give the effect that they are completely deserted. This is leading on from my previous photos of London at night that show empty back streets. This time I hope to photograph places such as leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus in the hope to capture an uninhabited landscape. The final test image is below:
Median Stacking
Trying to photograph an environment that is entirely empty in London can be a challenge. So, moving on from my previous observations of an empty and dark London, I decided to attempt to capture a set of photographs in the day. For this, I decided that after taking test shots at home, median stacking would be the best method of capturing an empty environment. My response is below:
Although it wasn't a complete success, I was still able to achieve some sort of desolation with my photographs. Median stacking is usually used for removing the noise within photographs taken in low light, however, it is also possible to use median stacking as a way of removing inconsistencies within an environment i.e. moving people. As seen in my test median stack, it effectively removes the person moving around the kitchen, while keeping all stationary objects within the environment in the end photograph. It is for that reason that taking pictures in somewhat busy environments can make it look empty and desolate. However, when there are too many moving objects (i.e. people) the stack creates a blur of people. I have shown the problems that pop up below. Therefore, I think that the best way forward is to actually attempt to take photographs of locations around London that are almost completely empty.
Jiri Rezac - Empty London
After attempting the median stacking method, I found a photographer called Jiri Rezac and his series of photographs called 'Empty London'. I found his work particularly fitting as it ties in closely with my previous attempts of capturing empty and desolate environments across London. Although visually Rezac's work does not completely tie in to my previous photos captured at night it still maintains the idea of capturing the city as its inhabitants sleep.
My Response:
Moving on from the slight failure of my previous observation, I decided to reattempt capturing a desolate London. This time, however, I decided to attempt is with a more conventional approach. Instead of using time consuming and somewhat complicated editing techniques, I chose to wake up before sunrise on a Sunday morning. I started off in piccadilly circus and continued to attempt to go to fairly famous land marks and at the same time capture other, less significant, environments that surrounded them. For example, in one of my photographs I found a tube walkway that was lit up and completely empty. I then moved on and attempted to capture the roads before traffic began to fill them up. Overall, it was a fairly successful observation. It adequately captures the environment in its empty and desolate state as its inhabitants sleep.
As well as being inspired by the work of Jiri Rezac, I was also inspired by the opening scene of 28 days later. The scene depicts an entirely empty London and shows some of the main landmarks. Overall, despite it being a success, I feel that I still need to capture other environments across London that are empty and desolate.
Empty London - Canary Wharf
After looking over my previous observations I decided to attempt to photograph empty locations but at the same time experiment with finding the narrow point of view where the background begins to vanish. For this I decided to take photographs in the day but in a particularly empty place. I chose to photograph around Canary Wharf on a bank holiday morning. I chose to focus on this narrow point of view because of the success of my previous photographs that included alleyways within central London.
As shown in my images above, I focused on capturing empty places with narrow backgrounds. The best example of this within this set of observations is the silver public walkway that gradually narrows the further you look. This links in with the previous work of narrow alley ways that I captured along the south bank at night. Although my intentions there, were to capture the way the light fills the dark environments, it also led me to focus on desolate places. The focus on narrow environments adds an emphasis on the emptiness as it tends to create more of a claustrophobic feel to the photographs. Although this set of photographs was largely successful, I think that I need to move on to the more desolate environments that London has to offer. For this I think that the best times to go and photograph London are when the majority of its inhabitants are at home sleeping.
Dark City - The Night Bus
Although my last observation was, to an extent, a success. I decided to move back to my previous theme of dark night shots. That said, I still ensured that I was following the same idea of desolate environments. For this observation I decided to get on a night bus and capture the environments both within and outside the bus.
Toward the end of the video I decided to photograph the desolate streets. I feel that this manages to capture most, if not all, of the aspects and themes throughout my observations despite its simplicity. Overall, although it was somewhat of a sidetrack, it still manages to capture the idea of a dark city and desolate environments, especially toward the end of the video when I show the empty streets that London has to offer in the middle of the night. Moving on from this, I therefore think that the best way to end the project would be to focus on the streets that surround us while we sleep.
Dark Road 360
After filming my previous video I decided that I should experiment with creating another video. This time focussing on just the desolate streets that lie empty in the dead of night. I felt that the best way of capturing the streets would be to shoot what looked like a seamless video of different streets as I panned my camera around. Below is an example of how I used my tripod to create a 360 view of the empty and desolate streets. I decided on this particular intersection because of the different colours that the different lights create on the surrounding environment.
Although it was largely a success, I feel that the best way forward is to shoot stills of the empty streets that can appear along side the video. However, I also think that the photos should focus on the different sources of lights that surround the street. It may even be appropriate to, at times, artificially light certain areas with different coloured lights or just regular ones.
Daniel Crooks
When looking online I found an artist/photographer that captured the environments of different alleyways through a video that is edited in a way that makes it seem like they are never ending. I felt that this was particularly relevant to my previous observations of alleyways.
Alleyway Test
I also attempted to create a video similar to that of Daniel Crooks' by using a gimbal to ensure a steady shot as i was walking down the alleyway. I also ensured that the alleyways I shot included a range of different light sources. After getting my footage I uploaded the clips up on to iMovie and began layering the different videos on top of each other to create a similar effect to that of Crooks'. The screen shot below shows how I repositioned the separate videos on top of each other.
As a first attempt it proved quite successful. It also links in with the previous work of empty and desolate streets and the different light sources that surround them.
Overall, however, due to the complexity of editing a video like this, I feel that the best way forward is to focus on the empty streets and at times if necessary include photographs of the surrounding alleyways.
Final Piece
For my final piece I decided to focus on capturing still images of the streets of London. Looking back on my previous observations of my work, I tried to encompass all that I had done before. That included playing around with different exposure times to create different light reflections and choosing environments that were both desolate and allowed the narrow point of view that I found in my previous photos. As a way of emphasising all of the above, I manipulated the images in photoshop to create a bigger emphasis on the light on the road, as well as darken the surrounding environment. My images are below: