MED1011M – Independent Project Intentions Form
| Which of the words given in the brief document have you selected, and why? |
| I have chosen ‘division’ because I came up with exciting ideas surrounding this word more than I did with the other words. I like the idea of taking something and focusing on just one aspect of it, therefore changing and removing it from what it once was. |
| What do you want to point your camera at? |
| At first, I wanted to do portraiture, but after considering the time frame to do the project in, and after doing a workshop looking at buildings, I have decided to focus on architecture. |
| Why are you interested in this subject? |
| I am interested in taking pictures of buildings because I have never focused on them before and therefore it will be a new challenge. I like the shapes and patterns that they sometimes have. |
| What do you hope an audience will take from your images? |
| I hope they will appreciate the shapes and patterns in buildings that they would have otherwise overlooked. |
| What areas of research are you considering to help deepen your understanding of the subject you have chosen? |
| I am going to do artist research on photographers that have taken photographs of architecture. As well as that, I will look at composition and editing techniques by photographers in general. |
| What support or equipment might you need to achieve your goals? |
| I think I will need to use a long lens, such as a 70-300mm. This will allow me to take photographs of things that are too far away. Moreover, if I am using a long lens, I might also need a tripod to steady the camera on. |
Objective
I have decided to do architecture as my final project, looking at the word ‘division’. This came about due to the workshop we did in class on the subject. Beforehand, I had not considered doing my project on this, and I have never done architectural photography before, so this will be a good challenge, too. My aim is to take photos looking at the usual shapes, patterns and overall design of buildings and architecture in general. By doing this, it will show audiences the beauty that can be found, if only we paid more attention to our surroundings. My idea links into the word ‘division’ because I plan to separate certain aspects (patterns, windows, edges) from the whole building, thus disconnecting them. I will use artist research to help inform and influence my work.
Maik Lipp
Maik Lipp, a freelance photographer, is perhaps best known for his minimalist architecture photographs. According to his official website, he was was born and lives in Germany, where he continues to take photos of nature (one of his passions) and architecture. He uses Instagram to share his work with the world since the end of 2015.
When I found his work I was instantly drawn to it, this is because of the clean lines and patterns he creatively captures in buildings. Some of my favourite images of his are shown below.
(Lipp, 2016)
(Lipp, 2011)
(Lipp, 2016)
Nearly all of Lipp’s work has the blue motif. This, however, is because of the sky that he uses to balance the photo out with. Balancing the photograph out is achieved using colours, in this case, blue contrasted with the whites of the buildings. This can be seen in the first two images shown above where Lipp’s composition of the building fills up nearly half of the overall frame, whilst the other half is sky. The third photograph has less sky, however, cleverly to keep the balance, the left hand side (in the windows) there is a darker shade of blue which acts as a ways of balancing it out.
References:
Lipp, M (2016) L A N D E D. Available from https://www.instagram.com/p/BM7AZ5qgBA2/?taken-by=usrdck [accessed 6 December 2017].
Lipp, M (2011) Bauhaus. Available from https://www.instagram.com/p/BAGF-1_By-V/?taken-by=usrdck [accessed 6 December 2017].
Lipp, M (2016) Mathematics… Available from https://www.instagram.com/p/BAD_prQhyxV/?taken-by=usrdck [accessed 6 December 2017].
Kevin Saint Grey
Kevin Saint Grey’s work is centered around architecture, but more specifically the patterns you can find in it. I really like his work because of the smooth quality it seems to have, I suspect this was achieved by post-production editing. The other way he might have achieved this is a motion blur – particularly for the sky in the third image shown below – to make it look silky. The way in which to do that would be to use a tripod (to steady the camera) and manipulating the exposure, which can be done using the shutter speed. The smaller the number, such as 1/15s, the smoother the sky will appear because the shutter will be open longer. However, this method is primarily used for running water: streams and waterfalls, so they appear silky.
(Grey, 2011)
(Grey, 2011)
(Grey, 2012)
What I like most about these images is the way in which scale is demonstrated. For example, in the last image Grey would have stood at the bottom of the buildings pointing his camera up, capturing the grand scale of the buildings. The lines on the walls create a leading line for the audiences eye to travel along. Looking at the use of monochrome, brightness and shadows in the image, atmospheric prospective is telling the mind that the whitest part of the photograph is the farthest away, therefore cleverly helping to exaggerate the height of the building.
I believe there is no message behind the photographs Grey has created, but rather he wants to capture the patterns, shapes and scale of buildings. This directly correlates to my idea of isolating the patterns and shapes in buildings from the whole, and Grey’s work further supports mine in how I might go about taking pictures. What I will take from looking at his photographs is the use of standing below a building and looking up at it, therefore creating the sense of grandeur and a different view-point that would otherwise not be seen by audiences unless viewing the images.
References:
Saint Grey, K (2011) Nexus. Available from https://kevinsaintgrey.com/architecture/#jp-carousel-1270 [accessed 7 December 2017].
Saint Grey, K (2011) Harmonic II. Available from https://kevinsaintgrey.com/architecture/#jp-carousel-1284 [accessed 7 December 2017].
Saint Grey, K (2012) Nimrod. Available from https://kevinsaintgrey.com/architecture/#jp-carousel-1269 [accessed 7 December 2017].
Contact sheet 1
What I like from this photo-shoot is the range of buildings I found that looked interesting.
A problem I faced was the direction I was facing when the sun was setting down, what i mean by this is that because I was facing the sun it meant I got a silhouette of the buildings and structures. Although I like the effect it has in some of the images, I think it looses the colouring and detail of the buildings and if I were to do it again, I would go out earlier in the day so that I could get an even light.
Julian Schulze
Julian Schulze’s architectural photography is stunning in the way Schulze has managed to capture the lines, colours, diagonals, shapes and even textures in buildings. In the first image, Schulze has found an aesthetically interesting wall, due to the various colours, patterns and shapes. Despite there being multiple compositional elements, there is a simplicity in the work which is achieved by the clean lines and balancing of the things within the frame. The grey horizontal line near the top of the photograph is balanced with the vertical flooring at the bottom; whereas the two black squares (top, middle left), are balanced by the longer black door (bottom, middle right), with a thick grey strip separating them. The orange creates a new element to the photograph because of its boldness and contrast to the black and grays.
About the work of of bottom photograph, Schulze says:
“The Concrete and the Abstract Series deals with the transition of concrete and manifest architectural details to latent and abstract forms of geometry.”
(Schulze, 2015)
Exploring his summery about this series of work is interesting because it tells us that he was consciously focused on geometry, the lines and angles he could find. He also calls his work abstract, which has made me realise that my work could be classed as abstract as well.
(Schulze, 2016)
(Schulze, 2015)
References:
Julian Schulze (2016) THE CITY IS ABSTRACT. Available from https://www.julianschulze.com/work#/the-city-is-abstract/[accessed 6 December 2017].
Julian Schulze (2015) THE CONCRETE AND THE ABSTRACT (PART 2). Available from https://www.behance.net/gallery/31259893/The-Concrete-and-the-Abstract-%28Part-2%29 [accessed 6 December 2017].
Julian Schulze (2015) THE CONCRETE AND THE ABSTRACT (PART 2). Available from https://www.julianschulze.com/work#/the-concrete-and-the-abstract-part-2/ [accessed 6 December 2017].
David Hockney
Another source of inspiration I came upon is by the painter David Hockney. He painted the well-known painting entitled: ‘A bigger Splash’ (1967). In the painting it features a bungalow, swimming pool with a diving board and two palm trees. The style of work this belongs to is Pop Art, hence why the lines are sharp and the use of block colours. Although it does not focus solely on the building – which is what I plan on for my final images – the painting is still inspiring due to it’s strong, bold attention grabbing quality. I think it achieves this through its use of vibrant block colours and the interesting composition it has. I say interesting composition because despite there being quite a lot to see in the painting it remains minimal and fresh. What I will bring forward from this painting into my own work is the use of layers – how and where Hockney has placed each componant to create depth in the painting.
(Hockney, 1967)
Reference:
Hockney, D (1967) A bigger splash. Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hockney-a-bigger-splash-t03254 [accessed 7 December 2017].
Contact sheet 2
I thought this photo-shoot went very well because I focused on sections of buildings rather than the whole of them, which, I think, portrays my intention for the photographs. My intent is to take aspects of the buildings and make them look even more interesting, whether that be separating it from the building as a whole (making it unidentifiable) or highlighting the existing shapes, patterns and textures.
Potential final images
Unedited
After much thought about the final selection of final images, I have decided to take forward only eight of the eleven photographs shown above. I decided that some of them did not ‘fit’ with the rest, either due to the colour (the orange scaffolding photograph) or because the quality was not as good as the rest of the images. With the eight final photographs selected I will take them forward to edit in Adobe Photoshop.
Editing final images
Before and afters
For this photograph I edited the walls, cleansing them of any imperfections using the patch tool and healing brush tool. Then, I altered the levels – making the image brighter and cleaner in appearance. The image itself and the editing was inspired by Kevin Grey’s photograph. I am really happy with how this turned out because it is somewhat difficult to identify that this is a window from the viewpoint of standing on the ground against the building, looking directly up.
My process of
editing for this photograph was to start with cleaning up the walls, I did this using the patch tool and the healing brush tool. Secondly, I edited the sky, making the clouds appear smoother, using the patch tool. I then edited the levels, making the photograph brighter and correcting the exposure.
Like before, I used the 
healing spot tool and patch tool to get rid of imperfections. Then I used the levels adjustment layer to make the photograph brighter, making sure that all of the buildings with the same style walls are similar in brightness. I also used the patch tool to alter the clouds, making them subtle.
Again I edited this photograph like the others, using the patch tool and healing brush tool to clean the walls and the clouds in the sky. I made the image brighter, however, unlike the other photographs I edited, this one had a colour adjustment layer where I tinted it to appear less grey and more blue. I did this because I felt it looked better, yet also to make it ‘fit’ in with the other photographs.
The only editing t
his photograph received was to make it appear lighter. I decided to lighten it using the curves adjustment layer so that the shadow on the left was subtler, therefore balancing the photographer better.
I cleaned up the walls and clouds using the patch tool and healing brush tool. I did this to make the clouds smoother and less distracting, the same applying for the architecture. I then brightened the photograph with the levels adjustment layer. Moreover, I cropped the photograph, editing out some of the sky at the top so that it was less overwhelming and balanced the composition.
Firstly, I edited the blemishes out of the walls, cleaning them up using the patch and healing brush tool. Then, using the adjustment layer for levels, I increased the brightness. I did this so it appeared cleaner and aesthetically pleasing as well as to match the brightness of the other photographs, too.
I did not edit this image, preferring it as the original photograph.
Conclusion
I started this project with the word ‘division’ as my starting point. With this word, I decided to explore isolating components from a whole. I found myself drawn to architecture following on from a workshop I did in class exploring buildings around campus. Reflecting on the photographs I took from the aforementioned workshop I decided that architecture would allow me to explore my idea of separating parts from a whole. I continued to explore this idea by looking at artists who focused on architecture as their main photographic subject. What I found from this exercise was that I was interested in the patterns and shapes buildings had. Knowing that I wanted to look at dividing something from its whole, and that I am inspired by artists looking at patterns and shapes, I began combining these two elements, resulting in my final idea which was to take photographs of shapes and patterns found in architecture (mainly buildings) in a way that made them unidentifiable from the entire building.
Before doing my first photo-shoot I researched artists to get me inspired. This is where I found Maik Lipp, a German, self-taught and freelance photographer. Best known for his architectural photographs, I drew inspiration from him by analysing his photographs. What I found in his work was that he seeks out interesting buildings that usually have a repeated pattern – this allows the photo a clean, orderly appearance that suits his minimalist approach to photography. In his own words, on his official website, he even says: “Less is more,” which clearly highlights his desire to find simple, yet intriguing designs. With Lipp’s work in mind, I did my first photo-shoot and took many photos of buildings I thought had a fascinating architectural design. However, what I found was that I wasn’t focusing on the patterns and shapes enough.
On reflection to my first photo-shoot, I decided to look at artist research again so that I may gather more ideas from them to apply to my work. I found the photographer, Kevin Saint Grey and his architectural focused photographs. I loved the way he used framing and composition to make the buildings look grand in scale, achieved by standing close to the building and directly taking the photograph looking up. In my next photo-shoot I tried this method and I was thrilled with the results. This was because when looking directly up the building lost its quality of being whole because you are just focusing on one side or edge of it, therefore linking straight to my idea.
Another photographer I looked at was Julian Schulze. His work looks solely at the patterns in buildings and architecture, exploring in close detail the lines, textures and colours found in them. What I liked about his work was the precision it had as well as the intriguing composition he manages to achieve. His work inspired my own, because I began to see the buildings surrounding me as shapes and I believe this can be seen in my work. Moreover, as I have mentioned previously in my research, Schulze calls his work abstract which leads me to believe that, if classified as a genre of photography, my work could be seen as abstract.
All the photographers I looked at did not have messages in their work, apart from allowing the viewer to experience the beauty they have captured in everyday buildings. Following on from this, the meaning I tried to portray in my photographs was that beauty can be found even in the tiniest detail of a whole building, if only we look. Therefore, the purpose of my photographs is to allow viewers the opportunity to see building’s patterns and shapes from a different view-point they might not have seen before.
A difficulty I found during this project was the lighting. Unlike using the studio where you can manipulate the lighting to your liking, I was unable to because I was outside taking pictures of, at times, far away buildings using a 70-300mm lens. Therefore, I had to plan when I could take photo-shoots in order to get the optimum natural lighting available. For this I had to consider the weather, making sure it not miserable or raining, and the time that I took the photographs. Whenever I took photographs, I did so when the sun was just beginning to set so that I could get a bright, warm glow on the buildings.
I used Adobe Photoshop to edit my work. I made sure to edit out any imperfections on the buildings, or in the sky, by using the patch tool and the spot healing tool. I then used the adjustment level layer to brighten the photographs, correcting the exposure, and making sure all of them matched in colour, too. The reason for doing this was to make them appear aesthetically pleasing, yet also because in the artist research I did, when looking at the painter, David Hockney, if I edited the blemishes out it could make the colours look more like blocks of colour, like Hockney’s inspiring Pop art styled painting “A bigger Splash” (1967), it made the colours stand out and the overall look more simplistic.
When selecting my final photographs, I made sure that they ‘fit’ together, meaning that they work as a series of work. Therefore, I decided to remove some of the potential final images because I felt they did not belong with the rest, that they stood out against the rest for the wrong reasons. Saying this, this is the reason why there is a reoccurring shape of a triangle and beige, metal blue colours.
In conclusion, I am very pleased with how my project turned out because I have manged to fill the brief yet also make my original idea a reality. Having never taken photographs of architecture before the project challenged me, yet persevering through it meant I got the results I wanted. If I could redo the project the only thing I would alter would be to find architecture that featured interesting colours, much like Julian Schulze work, which I could have then explored further.