Learning
log – P&P assignment 3; Buildings in use
My Thoughts
This was a tough assignment for me, I think mainly
because I really realised that this is starting to get serious and that maybe I
have not been doing enough to make the cut, as it were.
I think the amount of research I had to complete, as well
as trying to find five or six different buildings to photograph was quite a
challenge for me and although I have not been formally diagnosed with dyslexia
(apart from some online tests) it appears the online tests dictate I have a very
slight form of it. I also noticed it when I was learning Spanish, I would
change words, add in and take out letters, wherever I saw fit! I only noticed
this when my tutor in Buenos Aires was baffled as to how I could say the word
perfectly when she said it but not when I read it.
I have always felt a bit frustrated through all of the
modules and it takes me time to actually get in to the swing of things and this
assignment was no exception to the rule. In fact I was more frustrated with
this assignment and I think it was probably the hardest so far. I know I have
procrastinated a lot to try and avoid doing it, it is not that I do not want to
do it at all. I actually love the feeling I get when I have completed an
assignment, but this is probably one of the most difficult things I have ever
had to do in my life as I am by no means an academic.
When taking the images I felt completely comfortable,
even with my nemesis being in the assignment, which I know is my fault for
choosing it but I always like to test and push myself. I think I felt so at
ease because I am now getting used to the situations that I have been made to
do by all the assignments, especially this module in particular. I would not
usually go and photograph random people without their knowledge, so this module
has helped my confidence a lot.
“I think about photographs as being full, or
empty. You picture something in a frame and it’s got lots of accounting going
on in it-stones and buildings and trees and air-but that’s not what fills up
the frame. You fill up the frame with feelings, energy, discovery and risk, and
leave room enough for someone else to get in there.”
(Joel Meyerowitz)
On researching the photographers for this assignment and
learning log, I could not find any quotes from them, so instead I chose to
include this one from Joel Meyerowitz, he is a photographer that photographed
ground zero at the world trade centre. His images are disturbingly beautiful
and very telling. I could not gain access to his images so I have listed his
website in the list below.
My tutor suggested a few photographers to look at and out
of those photographers I chose two who really made an impact on me.
Luca Zanier;
My tutor told me to have a look at his portfolio of images called “The Corridors
of Power” and I am glad he did. On reviewing the images, they were certainly
powerful, they are a collection that depicts the inside of buildings where some
of the most important people convene to have their meetings, the UN in New York
and the French National Labour Union to name but a few. When he takes his
images, he tries to position the camera in a place which is the view of the
most powerful person in the room, or from the viewpoint from where you walk in
to the room to create an impact of the space that you feel as you enter. I
think his images have conveyed the feeling of power and ore throughout this
body of work.
(Luca Zanier/Anzenberger)
This is my favourite image out of the series, I feel the longevity
and the positioning of the image gives a feeling like you are really there.
This photograph is of the UN Trusteeship Council in New York City.
Scott McDonald;
I found this photographer through my tutor again, on the Hedrich Blessing
website. I looked through the images and I felt that Scott McDonald was my
favourite out of all of them, the way he shows the architecture is inspiring
and obscurely mystical, some of the close ups were unrecognisable but still of
a view with the sense of the actual building. In others images where he used
people, he depicts the sense of scale between the person and the building well.
As with the first photographer I can only provide a link which I have attached
in the list below.
Strengths and
weaknesses on my assignment
I chose to do this part in the groups I have placed them
in.
Abandoned jam
factory
Strengths; - I
am really happy with the composition of these images I feel that for each one,
I have shown the building in a good light how it stands today with giving it
the abandoned feel, but still managing to capture the essence that people had
been there and some still go there, like the local teenagers who go to have a
good time.
Weaknesses;- I
feel I could have given more of a ‘large’ sense of scale to the photographs by
possibly using my wide angle lens in a few of them and waiting for the light to
change, or going back on a different day, when the sun was stronger.
The Shard
Strengths;-
This is my favourite set of images out of all of the buildings. I like how I
managed to get the large sense of scale in these images, which I did not
achieve with the jam factory, the lighting gives rich feel to the images and I
think I managed to achieve the view as to how the building is used.
Weaknesses; -
I feel I did not achieve the focus correctly in the images. For the inside images
it was the people that I could not seem to hold the focus on to and with the
outside ones, it was extremely windy and even my tripod was being blown over.
A Cottage
Strengths; - This
is a mixed bag really, some of the images work well and show the space well. I
think the ones with Mark in them are good and give an accurate representation
of how the building is being used, as well as the bathroom image. I felt I
captured the essence of the house.
Weaknesses;- I think I made a bit of a mistake with the
spare room and I should have moved more in to a corner to show the size of the
room in its correct form.
Borough Market
Strengths; - Were
that I showed the traders of the building in well composed images and that I
depicted the grandeur and flow of the building in the other images.
Weaknesses;- I
feel that some of the pictures look a bit flat, I tried to bring them to life
in the post production process, however I feel I may have failed on some of the
images and the colours are not as rich as I would have liked them to be.
The O2
Strengths; - I
think I have shown the sheer scale of the building and the coldness that I felt
whilst I was there. I like the images where the people are small and
unrecognisable, again it give the feel of how large the building actually is.
Weaknesses;-
Even though I managed to get the cold feeling to the images, it does not make
for good photographs, again the images feel flat to me and I could have
injected more colour in to them.
Some of my
research sources-Books, websites and documents
My Cool Shed: An Inspirational Guide to Stylish
Hideaways; By Jane-Field Lewis; (This book is an
inspirational gem, I used this to have a look at the quirky ways in which you
can “escape” the everyday rat race and be inspired by the places that you see
in the remotest of places. The hideaways in the book are provided by the people
who use them to get away on a regular basis, to be able to be creative and
although there is nothing of this type in my assignment, I feel it broadened my
scope and view point as to what I could achieve)
Light Science & Magic, An Introduction to
Photographic Lighting; By Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua; (This book always helps me understand lighting, I have used
sections from it to help me with taking images of the buildings for this
assignment)
Skyscrapers: A history of the World’s Most Extraordinary
Buildings; Revised and updated by Judith Dupre and Adrian Smith (I used this book to get more of an insight as to how to
photograph the Shard which helped me think about different viewpoints for the
skyscraper and in actual fact, this book helped me with the whole assignment,
due to the content of history of the buildings in the book. There is a lot of
information about how buildings were built and great photographs to accompany
them)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2489974/An-urban-explorers-holiday-album-Traveller-spends-free-time-visiting-abandoned-buildings-world-despite-arrested-20-times-trespass.html
- (To research Dan Marbaix and examine his photography)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pare
- (To research Richard Pare)
http://bombsite.com/issues/101/articles/2952
- (To research Richard Pare and examine his photography)
http://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/photography/after911.html
- (To research Joel Meyerowitz and examine his photography)
http://www.zanier.ch/free_projects/corridors_of_power#img22
- (To research Luca Zanier and examine his photography)
http://www.hedrichblessing.com/scottvision1.html
- (To research Scott McDonald and examine his photography
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