The City- Pastiche

Final Pastiche
For my final pastiche I used my research on different locations that have cobbled streets to choose the location I was going to photograph. Originally I went to cambridge to photograph a street that was called Rose Cresent. I decided on this street as I felt it resembled the location in Brassai's image the most. However when I went there the camera wouldn't work properly and kept winding my film on without letting me take the photos. As time was an issue I used another location I researched that was also similar to Brassai's and was closer to the university so it was easier to get to if anything went wrong.

Contact sheets
When I was taking the photo's I first used an ISO 100 film and then used a 1SO 400 film. The photo's from the ISO 400 film came out far too dark, the IS0 100 images are the most similar to Brassai's picture.

I choose this negative to print from as it looked the most similar to Brassai's image. When I was printing the image I turned the negative so it was the opposite way round. I did this to make the light appear on the opposite side to how it was in real life so it would be on the side where there is street signs in Brassai's image.

For the first test strip I set the enlargers aperture to F8, I then set the filter to grade two. I exposed each section for five seconds.

I decided to expose the whole of the second test stop for twenty seconds, I choose this exposure from looking at the first test strip. I kept the filter grade and the aperture on the enlarger the same.

With the third test strip I added a second exposure to add some contrast. I kept the original 20 second exposure with the grade two filter the same and just added a five second exposure using a grade three filter. I wanted to make the blacks in the image more darker which is why I choose a grade three filter.

The last test strip looked very similar to Brassai's picture so I decided to make a final print of it. The grade three filter I added made the picture look more similar to Brassai's as it added contrast to the image.

The Environment- Review

The Environment 

For this environment project I became interested in how humans have intervened with the natural landscape. Robert Adam’s, ‘On signal hill overlooking Long Beach, California’ appealed to me for the pastiche as I liked the way he captured human’s intervention upon nature by capturing tree’s surrounded by an urban area. In my three images I wanted to represent the same issue as the pastiche symbolises. I also want to show how the landscape has been changed by humans which has caused a divide between the nature and man made subjects.

Edward Burtynsky

Robert Adam's

Thomas Misrach

First I decided to research in to the history of landscape photography to gain inspiration for my three final images. William Henry Fox Talbot inspired me to include tree’s in my final three photo’s because of how they symbolise power, stability and strength. By photographing tree’s in a landscape that has bend damged by humans will symbolise the strength of nature. As I was focusing on the relationship between nature and humans I researched into photographers who focus on that theme in there work. I came across Edward Burtynsky who captures the damaging effects humans have done to the natural landscape, his work inspired me as it captures the way the natural landscape has had to suffer. 


After I took digital test photo’s of natural areas that have been changed by humans, I became interested in how we have created a divide between natural and man made. I began to look in to photographers that capture man made paths cutting through a natural environment such as the photographer Thomas Misrach who looks at mans relationship with nature and doesn't just look at the damage but also what effect we have had on the natural landscape intentionally or accidentally. Thomas Struth is another photographer who inspired me with his images of paths or roads cutting through natural environments, his work captures the relationship humans have with the environment and uses pathways cutting through the landscape to symbolise the way human’s have cut through the land and damaged it. For the pastiche I researched further into Robert Adam’s to find out what made his images and how I could pastiche one of them. I first took some digital test shots of a location I thought would be ideal for the pastiche, as it was a hill that overlooks a town which is very similar to Adams pictures.

Thomas Struth

William Henry Fox Talbot

When I took my pastiche I made sure it was a very overcast day as the sky was very overcast in Adam’s picture. I also photographed two tree’s and included the foreground to make it as similar as I could to Robert Adam’s picture. My pastiche translates the same theme that is represented in ‘On signal hill overlooking Long Beach, California’ as it captures nature surrounded by an urban landscape. I photographed tree’s that were very bare to symbolise the damage humans have had on the landscape. The visual choices I made for my final three images include photographing pathways or roads that run through a natural environment to show the divide that has been created between nature and man made, and to symbolise the damaging effects humans have had on the environment. I photographed three different pathways to show different ways a landscape can be damaged, one of the images subtly show the way a landscape has been ruined whereas the other two clearly show pathways cutting through a beautiful and natural environment. When I took my images I made sure to stand on the path way to emphasise the fact that is us that it is us ruining the landscape, I also made sure I included tree's in the image to symbolise the strength of nature and how there is hope in keeping the natural environment as it is. The most challenging part’s of this unit was finding a location similar to the pastiche that had two large tree’s overlooking a urban town. 

My Pastiche

The City
My idea for the ‘The City’ project is to capture modernisation within the city. I came up with the idea from researching into the photographer Brassai for my pastiche. I decided to use Brassia for my pastiche because of how he captures the nocturnal side of the city and with how he uses light from street lamps, shop signs and windows to illuminate his pictures. Modernisation is going to be represented in my images through taking photo’s of large buildings using a low camera angle to emphasise the scale of them and how the city is always growing and modernising. I'm also going to capture windows of buildings as there repetitive pattern can symbolise the control and structure of the city. 

Robert Vizinni

Brassai

Bill Brandt 

For the pastiche section of this project I chose Brassai, I first began to research in to the photographer to get an insight into his idea of the city and why he choose to photograph at night. Next I decided to search for locations that look similar to the one in the pastiche, I looked for narrow street’s that have cobbled roads and lights on either side of the street as I felt they were the main focal points of the photograph. When I took the photograph I made sure that I included some of the path in the foreground, I also made sure the main light was in a similar area to where the hotel sign is in Brassai’s picture. 


To gain inspiration for the second part of the project , I began looking into night time photographers such as Bill Brandt and Robert Vizinni. Both Brandt and Vizinni inspired me with how they photograph large buildings and emphasise the scale of them which represents the growth of the city and how its always modernising because of the way the buildings are towering above the rest of the city. The way they photograph at night also inspired me as I felt it empathises the modernity of the city because of all the light illuminating from buildings windows, street lamps and shop signs. Another visual reference for my three images was photographer Ori Gersht, his formal pictures make the city appear very structured and controlled because of the symmetry of the buildings and the repetition of the windows, however if you look closely you notice how some of the buildings have actually been damaged. Michael Kenna was my main visual reference for this section of the project because of how he emphasises the buildings scale, by using low camera angles. I also like how he makes you see the city in a very different way to how you normally view it as he photographs parts of the city that are normally over looked by looking above the street level.

Michael Kenna

At the beginning of this project I researched into modernisation, on the BBC webiste I found a map showing urban growth from 1955 to 2015. From looking at the map it made me realise the major difference in urban growth between this period of time, I also found that North America and Europe were the most urban areas. This research made me want to look into modernisation especially around the area I live, as I have lived there my whole life and have personally seen the town change and grow. When I took my three images I made sure I captured modernisation by showing large buildings that tower over the rest of the town to represent the growth of the town. I also took close ups of the windows on buildings as the repetition of the windows symbolise how the town is being controlled, I used the light illuminating from the windows to symbolise the modernisation and the windows that were not lit up broke up the repetitive pattern which symbolises the way the control of the city is becoming much less. For my three images I decided to use a film speed of ISO 400 to give the images a very controlled feel to represent modernisation so there isn’t any harsh shadows to make the pictures look very even. When I took the pastiche I used an aperture of F8 to make sure everything was in focus, I then used a shutter speed of eight seconds as the location was dimly lit. The most challenging part of the project was when I had to print my three images, I decided to uses a film speed of ISO 400 for the first time and they came out a lot softer then I expected so I found them difficult to print because of how flat they looked. 

                                 

The City- Final three images

Three Images

For my final three images for 'The City' project, I photographed areas around a urban town. I wanted to capture modernisation of the city, so I chose to photograph tall buildings to symbolise the growth of the city and how its always growing. I also wanted to capture repetition in windows and symmetry in buildings to represent the structure of the city. When I took these photo's I used Ilford Black and white ISO 100 film, I did this to soften the way the city looks and to make everything appear very equal. 

Close up of black window
For the first test strip I set the enlarger's aperture at F8 and set the filter grade at two. I then exposed each section of the test strip for five seconds.

I made another test strip as I felt the first one was far too dark so for this one  I decreased the size of the aperture on the enlarger. I changed the aperture to F22 so the image will be more brighter. I used a grade two filter and exposed each section of the strip for five seconds. 

For the next test strip I kept the aperture at F22 to make the image more brighter. I exposed the whole of the test strip for fifty seconds, I choose this exposure from looking at the test strip I made before. I decided to keep the grade two filter to add some contrast.

I felt that the last test strip was too dark so I decreased the exposure time by five seconds, so it was a 45 second exposure.

I still felt that the picture was too dark so I decreased the exposure by five seconds again, so it was a forty second exposure instead. Too add contrast to the image I  added a second exposure of five seconds with a grade four filter.

The test strip was still too dark so I decreased the exposure again so it was thirty five seconds. I still kept the second exposure of five seconds with a grade four filter to add contrast.

Next I made a final print, with the same printing times as above. However when it was printed I noticed there was a mark at the bottom of the print so I decided to print it again.

This is my final print I used a grade two filter with an exposure time of thirty five seconds with the enlargers aperture set at F22. I also did another exposure of five seconds with a grade four filter too add contrast. Even though this image was taken at night it has a softness to it.

Building and car park

For this test strip I exposed each of the sections for five seconds. First I set the aperture on the enlarger to F22 and used a grade two filter too add a slight contrast to the image.

From the first test strip I choose a thirty second exposure, and still kept the grade two filter. I then added another exposure of five seconds with a grade five filter too add contrast to the image.

g2 f22 30s
g5 10secs
I still kept the same first thirty second exposure but for the second exposure with the grade five filter I increased the exposure time to ten seconds to add even more contrast.

For my final image I kept the enlarger's aperture at F22 and then used a grade two filter for thirty seconds. I then added another exposure with a grade five filter for thirteen seconds, I decided to increase the grade five filtered exposure by three seconds to add even more contrast to the image.   

Close up of illuminated windows

With this test strip I set the enlargers aperture to F16. I then used a grade two filter and exposed each section of the image for five seconds.

I decided to change the apertures enlarger to F22 to make the image more brighter. From the first test strip I decided to expose the whole of the image for thirty seconds using a grade two filter.

For this test strip I kept the same exposure as the previous test strip but I increased the exposure time by five seconds to darken the image slightly. I then decided to add a second exposure for five seconds with a grade four filter to add contrast to the image.

For my final print of this negative I used a grade two filter for thirty five seconds with the enlargers aperture set at F22. With the second exposure for five seconds I increased the grade of the filter by one to grade five to add more contrast.

Tall building against night sky

I deicded to print this negative as I liked the building that is pictured as I felt it would represent modernisation of the city. However once I began to print it I felt the image was too dark and didn't have enough tonal range in it. 

For the first strip I set the enlargers aperture at F22, I then chose a grade 2 filter and exposed each section of the test strip for 5 seconds.

I decided to use a twenty five second exposure for this test strip by looking at the previous one I made. I felt the first test strip looks very flat so I decided to add a grade five filter to add more contrast, I exposed the paper for five seconds using the grade five filter.

With the final test strip I made I kept the first exposure as the same, but with the second exposure I tried a grade three filter instead of a grade five as I felt the image was far too dark. After I made this test strip I realised how dark the negative was so I didn't make a final print of it.

The City- Book Research

Picturing Modernism
From the library I rented a book out called 'Picturing Modernism, Moholy-Nagy and Photography in Weimar Germany' by Eleanor M Hights. The book focuses on modernist photography that have been an important contribution to art in the twentieth century by the photographer Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. It also looks at something called the 'New Vision' and how the modern world is explored. Moholy believed that art should 'heighten our awareness of the ever-changing present' this is represented in his photographs of buildings as he captures the modernity of them. I found Moholy's work to be very interesting with how he uses dramatic angles to capture modern architecture.

I scanned some images from the book to analyse for inspiration as they all capture modernisation in the city which is what I want to capture in my own photographs. In this image Moholy has emphasised the scale of the building by using a low camera angle as it makes you look up at it because it towers over you.
By composing the image this way Moholy has made the tallest building the main focal point because of the way it is centred in the picture and framed by the other buildings as it is in the middle of them.

In the two  pictures below the camera angle Moholy has used captures the size of the buildings. By using a low camera angle makes you look up towards the building which represents the way the city is growing and expanding. Moholy has used dramatic camera angles that makes the photographs appear very modern  and new as it gives a different look at buildings. The repetition of the windows adds a formal view to the pictures because it represents structure, they also draw your eye upwards towards the top of the building which emphasises the scale of them.

The City- Digital test shots for final idea

Digital test shots for final idea
Now that I have come up with my idea for my three images for 'The City' project I decided to take some digital test shot's. As my idea is to photograph tall buildings to symbolise how the city has modernised, I walked round the town where I lived to find buildings that could resemble this. I also looked for buildings that have lots of windows to symbolise the structure of the city. Once I found buildings that would represent modernisation I photographed them so I had a reference of what one's to use for my final images. Taking these images were good practice for me in shooting night photography, when I take my final images I know that I will need to use a tripod as I would have to use a long shutter speed so this will prevent camera shake. When I took these test photograph's I used a low camera angle as I want to use a low camera angle when I take my final pictures to emphasise the scale of the buildings. I did this so I could have a feel whether the buildings would represent the theme of the images.

I photographed the building above as it is very tall and would symbolise the way the city is growing and expanding. By using a low camera angle on this building will represent how the city is always modernising and always expanding upwards. I also photographed this buildings as I liked all of the windows and how they're symmetrical as they would help to represent how the city is being controlled. 

I decided on this building as I liked the scale of it as I feel it will represent modernisation well. I also liked how there was nothing distracting around it so you could just see the building against the dark sky. The symmetry of all the windows also symbolise the controlling of the city so I felt this building would be ideal.

I decided to photograph the building above as I liked the repetition of all the windows, I felt that they would represent the way the city is controlled well as there is so many of them. The lights illuminating from the windows would also represent modernisation and the darkened windows disrupt the repetition of the windows as if it showing the controlling of the city is being lost. I also felt that the scale of the building would emphasise the modernisation of the city.