Patterns
"Patterns can be observed in nature and in the built environment. Patterns can also be present in human dress and behaviour. Diverse approaches to this theme can be seen in the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Paul Strand, Andreas Gursky and Hans Eijkelboom."
Research
Bernd And Hilla Becher
I looked at this pair back when I was doing Typology in Unit 1. These 2 went around industrial Germany and photographed buildings of industry. So they would set out to get photos of water towers, barns or buildings. The couple liked to describe their subjects as "buildings where anonymity is accepted to be the style". This shows that the 2 liked to photograph the condition of a group of buildings rather than the actual buildings.
The Bechers typologies feel like a way of showing the history of a place this is because these buildings were captured in the 50s and in the 90s. Nearly all the buildings had been demolished. |
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Quotes
"All we did was to turn back the time to a photography of precision which is superior to the human eye."
"Our camera does not produce pretty pictures, but exact duplications that, through our renunciation of photographic effects, turn out to be relatively objective"
''I became aware that these buildings were a kind of nomadic architecture which had a comparatively short life—maybe 100 years, often less, then they disappear. It seemed important to keep them in some way and photography seemed the most appropriate way to do that."
Paul Strand
Paul Strand is one of the defining artist of American photography. Strand believes that a photograph could and should be used as a powerful tool for the better of humanity. Strand is mainly known for his photos of hustle and bustle of the busy street and street portraits. However I focusing on another theme is famous for. Formal abstraction. Strand tended to capture images of shadows that were created by walls, sometimes he took photos of gaps in buildings where shadows fill up the gap.
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Andreas Gurksy
Andreas Gurksy is a German photographer who likes to portray tension between both clarity and the formal nature of a photograph. He also like to take stills that have a meaning to them. Gurksy tend to take photos of no particular subject, one week he might photograph a river, next week he may photograph something else like a shop. He like to publish and display his photographs on a massive scale. "Through all his work runs a sense of impersonality, a depiction of the structures and patterns of collective existence"- Tate
In the 1990's, he took photos of urban landscapes in the Far East and would juxtaposing to a different urban zone. He probably like suggesting an interplay between both the zones of leisure and of commerce. Gurksy relied on photo manipulation because sometimes he believed in the "rejection of the truth of the candid image".
In the 1990's, he took photos of urban landscapes in the Far East and would juxtaposing to a different urban zone. He probably like suggesting an interplay between both the zones of leisure and of commerce. Gurksy relied on photo manipulation because sometimes he believed in the "rejection of the truth of the candid image".
On the left is Gurksy's most famous photograph called Rhein II. This probably because it is part of a series of 6 images taken along the Rive Rhine in Germany. When you look at this you will think this is just an ordinary landscape. However the real location is actually different. When this photo was taken, it had a barge, people walking their dogs and a factory in it. As this photo proves. Gurksy digitally manipulated the image, removing the factory, the people and the barge to make this abstract but life-like pattern. In 2011 it was sold at auction to an anonymous German bidder for 2.7 million pounds. The bidder still hasn't and will probably never be identified. That is the record for a photograph sold at auction. That just shows how admired this image was. People have described this work with photos of beautiful, vibrant, memorable, unforgettable, contemporary twist and the romantic landscape. Interestingly enough Gurksy also holds 4th place in the most expensive photograph at auction with 99 Cent II Diptychon. Another pattern photograph
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Hans Eijkelboom
Eijkelboom is another photographer who is famous for his typological studies. However unlike the Bechers, he made typologies of clothes that people wore or their actions. So he would go out and get photos of people who are wearing camouflage shirts, photos of people driving cars.
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Typology ideas
Keywords
environment, space, surfaces, places, natural form, made form, textures
1st Set: Batteries.
For my first photo shoot, I decided to make a typology of batteries. I decided this because some people don't realise that they are different colours, shape, sizes. Even the condition of the battery varies.
Refined & Developed
Next I decided to retake these images, however I'm going to get a lot closer to the battery, I also decided to photograph them from a different angle. This time I'm going to get a photo of the top of the battery, so it looks like a circle with a pattern. Also I'm going to get really close to the battery by using one of the Nikon bridge cameras. Bridge cameras tend to have very good macro capability.
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In my opinion, this set of batteries went a lot better than the previous one. The main reason why I feel this typology went better than the last one is because of the continuity of the images. When looking at this Flickr album. It feels like a pattern because I'm looking down the battery with a birds eye view.
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Photoshop
Merged |
In Photoshop I wanted to merge them over each other. At first this wasn't really working because of the difference in scale. All the batteries were the same size, but some were taken at slightly different heights, so as a result they didn't line up. As you can probably guess, I didn't really like this technique because in the end, it looks like a blurry image with no real pattern. So next I decided to try a different merging technique.
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Lighten
After I did the 'Lighten' experiment of the battery typologies. I decided to make a series of them. So I picked 4 batteries at random and I Lightened them over each other. Then after that I mirrored them. I really liked this effect because it made a normal pattern into an irregular abstract pattern. Some of these look like eyes, tyres, a couple even look like planets.
Typology 2: Airfix
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During half term I decided to make another typology, once again with the same principle of the batteries. But this time I did it was Airfix paints. I decided this should be my subject because in my room, I've probably got hundreds of Airfix paint pots and it wanted to see which one is the most common, are they all the same shape, are they all in similar condition.
In this typology there are only 56 photos, I believes that there are a lot more paints around my room, if I have a proper look. |
2nd Set: Abstract Shadows
Over the half term, I focused on getting photos of shadows. You can tell by looking at the photos that they are clearly inspired by the work of Paul Strand. Here are the photos that I took for this shoot. I was pleased with these photos, however I felt they could of look more like Strands work. So I decided to put them into photoshop and manipulate them. Here I decided firstly to put them in B&W, then there is some nice contrast between the shadow and the surface. Then I decided to really up the contrast and lower the brightness. That way there are some very strong contrasts. In some of the photos it makes it feel like the black areas are a completely new layer compared to the white areas.
Refined version
After I finished editing the first batch of shadows. I decided to retake the photos around my
Next Step
After I took the 2nd set of shadow photographs. I decided to try something different. So I looked on the Tallis Arts Pinterest board and I found a group of Cyanotypes made by Jo Bradford. So next I decided to do some dark room experiments.
Refined Shadows
I decided to retake the shadow photos but this time I decided to focus on shadows of structures that have been made to a specific shape, so fences, benches, bins. Basically objects that are symmetrical, have patterns in them. After I took these photos I realised that patterns were usually disrupted by the landscape [especially image 20160307_093731]. The shadows of the fence are going up and down rather than giving a normal pattern, but they are given off an irregular pattern thanks to the bumpy landscape. Also some of the shadows feel like they are distorted by the angle of the sun.