Gregory Crewdson: Photographers Gallery
On the 14th of July I visited the Photographers Gallery which was exhibiting Gregory Crewdson's latest body of work, Cathedral Of The Pines. It was produced between 2013-14, Cathedral Of the Pines signals a departure from previous suburban subjects to large-scale photographs that recall nineteenth-century American and European Romantic landscape painting. The photographs show figures dwarfed by the vast surrounding forests or trapped within interior scenes, charged with ambiguous narratives that probe tensions between human connection and separation; intimacy and isolation. For more than twenty years, Crewdson has used the streets and interiors of small-town America as settings for photographic incarnations of the uncanny. His meticulous crafting of visual suspense conjures forebears including Diane Arbus and Edward Hopper, as well as showing the influence of Hollywood cinema and directors such as David Lynch. Visually alluring and often deeply disquieting, these tableaux are the result of intricate production processes more associated with film-making, deliberately hinting at a story which never unfolds.
“One great thing about photography is that it kind of hovers between everything. It’s really easy to reach out to other mediums and have connections between things,” says Gregory Crewdson. This series was was shot on an extensive production schedule over two summers and one winter in western Massachusetts. The title of Cathedral of the Pines stuck before a single picture had even been brainstormed, let alone taken. The series is named after a rural trail near Crewdson’s home in Massachusetts, a converted Methodist church and firehouse which he shares with his creative and life partner, Juliane Hiam. In the image of the women siting on the bed, a woman in a nightgown is perched in her room. A mirror reflects a sliver of her reality – or perhaps offers a portal to a wished-for other one. There’s the slight shine of her wedding ring and the stray foot of someone sleeping among the rumpled sheets. The scene is tranquil, set with gauzy curtains and drab paintings of lakes, but the woman’s expression of alarm and despair reveals that her interior life is anything but calm.
“One great thing about photography is that it kind of hovers between everything. It’s really easy to reach out to other mediums and have connections between things,” says Gregory Crewdson. This series was was shot on an extensive production schedule over two summers and one winter in western Massachusetts. The title of Cathedral of the Pines stuck before a single picture had even been brainstormed, let alone taken. The series is named after a rural trail near Crewdson’s home in Massachusetts, a converted Methodist church and firehouse which he shares with his creative and life partner, Juliane Hiam. In the image of the women siting on the bed, a woman in a nightgown is perched in her room. A mirror reflects a sliver of her reality – or perhaps offers a portal to a wished-for other one. There’s the slight shine of her wedding ring and the stray foot of someone sleeping among the rumpled sheets. The scene is tranquil, set with gauzy curtains and drab paintings of lakes, but the woman’s expression of alarm and despair reveals that her interior life is anything but calm.
The Subculture Archive
On the 14th of July I also visited the subculture archive exhibition on Carnaby Street. A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviours, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school. A new destination for subculture moved into London’s iconic Carnaby Street, launching a groundbreaking new retail concept bringing Britain’s evocative subculture and counterculture history into the hearts and hands of London’s discerning shoppers and tourists. The Subculture Archive will showcase a curated collection of iconic subculture and counterculture prints, craft and clothing from a specially selected collective of independent artists, and photographers, the birthplace of 1960s Swinging London and home to London’s vast music scene from the Mods to the New Romantics. The new concept store will contribute cultural events to the Carnaby community through a variety of book signings, artists talks, day raves and soapbox debates. Drawing on the sensibility of a traditional gallery alongside an indie retail space akin to an artist's fayre, The Subculture Archives will champion independent thinking and a DIY attitude through a specialist selection of product by British artists and makers all tied through the common thread of subculture or counterculture. Whether you were a Goth, Raver or an Instagram Sea-Punk, The Subculture Archives is a cultural retail experience for all generations in the heart of London’s shopping district.
Exhibition visit: HAIL THE DARK LIONESS
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During the summer holidays I visited an exhibition called "Hail the Dark Lioness".
In more than 60 photographs Muholi uses her body as a canvas to confront the politics of race and representation in the visual archive. Taken primarily in Europe, North America and Africa, each portrait asks critical questions about social justice, human rights and contested representations of the black body. Muholi’s psychologically charged portraits are unapologetic in their directness as she explores different archetypes and personae, and offers personal reflections. By increasing the contrast in the dark complexion of her skin, Muholi interrogates complex representations of beauty and desire. Gazing defiantly at the camera, Muholi challenges the viewer’s perceptions while firmly asserting her cultural identity on her own terms: black, female, queer, African. "I’m reclaiming my blackness, which I feel is continuously performed by the privileged other. My reality is that I do not mimic being black; it is my skin, and the experience of being black is deeply entrenched in me. Just like our ancestors, we live as black people 365 days a year, and we should speak without fear." - Zanele Muholi |
Documenting a Journey
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander, born in 1934, began photographing the American social landscape in 1948. With an ability to organise a vast amount of visual information in dynamic compositions, Friedlander has made humorous and poignant images among the chaos of city life, dense landscape and countless other subjects. Friedlander works exclusively with black and white film, and organizes his pictures in series, which he develops over the course of several decades. He took black-and-white pictures with a Leica 35-mm camera. From the start, he used reflections in storefront windows, plate-glass doors, and side-view mirrors to complicate the viewing experience. He also incorporated street signs, doors, and windows as framing devices. He plays with shadows, angles and obstacles which he uses to frame elements and structure his compositions. His own shadow or reflection can be found in countless pictures throughout the years. Friedlander clearly identifies himself as a part of the American life he aims to capture. Furthermore, his self-portraits underline a necessary truth of photography, more precisely un-manipulated photography: the presence of the photographer is inevitable. Different than painters or sculptures, the photographer lives what he captures. The picture is proof of what he saw and where he was.
My Response
In this task, we were required to document a journey. In the summer, I went to Greece and documented my day trip from Athens to an island just 1 hour away. I took many pictures of the island which showed what I did during the day and what I explored in the island. This task links to the theme 'Past Present Future', as it has a start, middle and end. Its continuous. I don't think the concept was very clear in my images, I needed to make it very explicit that I was documenting a
journey by consistently taking many photos. However, I did like how in some of my images I focused on small details to make the journey more interesting. Next time I will consider the work of Lee Friedlander to inspire a more accurate depiction of what I want to achieve.
I chose my two favourite images and put them next to the photographers' image and I decided to edit them into black and white as I was trying to make my images look similar to Friedlander's. I really like how in my first image, you can see the shadow of the car and this links to the point of having the photographer in the image. Also, I like how my images are not complicated and you can clearly see that I am documenting a journey. Furthermore, I like how I used the wing mirror to photograph the journey, I also like how the background isn't still as it clearly shows that I am moving. However, I think that I could have experimented more and thought of photographing people in the city and not just empty spaces.
journey by consistently taking many photos. However, I did like how in some of my images I focused on small details to make the journey more interesting. Next time I will consider the work of Lee Friedlander to inspire a more accurate depiction of what I want to achieve.
I chose my two favourite images and put them next to the photographers' image and I decided to edit them into black and white as I was trying to make my images look similar to Friedlander's. I really like how in my first image, you can see the shadow of the car and this links to the point of having the photographer in the image. Also, I like how my images are not complicated and you can clearly see that I am documenting a journey. Furthermore, I like how I used the wing mirror to photograph the journey, I also like how the background isn't still as it clearly shows that I am moving. However, I think that I could have experimented more and thought of photographing people in the city and not just empty spaces.
Lee Friedlander
Photographer My Response
Exhibition Visit: Wim Wenders
For Wenders, Polaroids were not art. Rather, they were spontaneous, playful and communicative objects that celebrated the uniqueness of the individual moment and the “unmanipulated truth” of time. The title Instant Stories reflects a narrative identity for Wenders and he suggests that the reckless freedom that came with capturing these Polaroids provided a “direct window” into the person he was back then, when he was getting “sidetracked” by making movies, still longing to be a painter. Wim Wenders thought that polaroids were a very unique thing which were produced instantly as prints. You don’t do that with your iPhone now. These little objects were an instant communication between people. You could hand this actual thing over to them. They were proof and memory.
“Polaroids remind us of an innocence, of a different attitude toward the world and toward the act of taking pictures. And of course these images show an interesting journey through the first movies I made. There was some sort of testimony in these Polaroids that I thought could be interesting to oppose to our present culture of instant picture-taking.” - Wim Wender
“Polaroids remind us of an innocence, of a different attitude toward the world and toward the act of taking pictures. And of course these images show an interesting journey through the first movies I made. There was some sort of testimony in these Polaroids that I thought could be interesting to oppose to our present culture of instant picture-taking.” - Wim Wender
Portrait- Present and Future
The intention of the task is to transform a young person into an old person using photoshop. This relates to the theme as it is looking into the future and changing how someone looks now in the present. I had to consider some things before I took the portrait of my peer. Firstly, there had to be no shadows on the persons face and they had to stand against a white wall so that it would be easier for me to edit on photoshop. When finding an image of an elderly person, I had to make sure they had a similar facial expression to the one that I took. Also, I had to enlarge the image from google or else it would look very pixilated on photoshop.
In this task, I don't think I was very successful in making my model look like he was old. It doesn't look very realistic and I didn't blend the old man's face very well as it looks a bit patchy. I will do this task again to show how I developed from my first try. I will also consider the work of Bobby Neel Adams to give me more ideas and make my second try even better than my first.
Although his face looks a bit patchy because I didn't fade the photos together properly, I still managed to successfully age certain parts of the face but still kept the same features on my model so it still looked like him. I also managed to fade the photos together so that the skin colouring is not completely different.
Although his face looks a bit patchy because I didn't fade the photos together properly, I still managed to successfully age certain parts of the face but still kept the same features on my model so it still looked like him. I also managed to fade the photos together so that the skin colouring is not completely different.
Recreating old pictures
In this task we were meant to recreate old baby photos and do the same exact pose and have the same composition. This links to the theme as we are looking at images from the past and photographing what they look like now in the present. Werning says she works on a tight budget and does most of the work herself.
"I love old photos. I admit being a nosey photographer. As soon as I step into someone else’s house, I start sniffing for them. Most of us are fascinated by their retro look but to me, it’s imagining how people would feel and look like if they were to reenact them today… Two years ago, I decided to actually do this. So, with my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future.." - Irina Werning
"I love old photos. I admit being a nosey photographer. As soon as I step into someone else’s house, I start sniffing for them. Most of us are fascinated by their retro look but to me, it’s imagining how people would feel and look like if they were to reenact them today… Two years ago, I decided to actually do this. So, with my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future.." - Irina Werning
Irina Werning
I liked how I made the composition look very similar and how I made them wear the same coloured clothes, this makes the image look more like the one in the past. I was trying to make the background look black like the original one so I used flash but that didn't make the background look black so I had to edit it in photoshop. Even though the background is black, it doesn't look very natural and it looks like I've edited it. I think I am going to do this task again and choose at least 2 images to recreate so that there is more variety and not just one picture that I recreated. Also, I will try and choose images that I can easily recreate and don't need to be edited on photoshop.
Past in Present
In this task we had to get old photos from the school and take photos of the place currently with the old image in the same position. This links to the theme as we are looking at images from the past and putting them in the present places. In this task, I managed my exposure very well but I had problems with the aperture as the images would come out really blurry. I overcame this problem by using a tripod and having a higher aperture. I chose to edit my image into black and white because the old images were black and white and I wanted to make it all look like one image but with the older version in the middle.
Man Evolves
The idea that in the future man could evolve to one day fly is the theme of many science fictions movies. Super heroes that live among normal people is a theme that continues to create huge interest. This links to the theme as we are looking at the future and seeing what man can do with superpowers.
In this task we had to use a fast shutter speed with a low ISO to capture a superpower. In my first few images, I didn't manage my ISO very well as the images were a bit over exposed, I then put my ISO to a lower setting which worked very well. Next time I should go to a more interesting location, organise people in advance and think more about my composition. |
Two Strands
First Strand
Fong Qi Wei
Fong Qi Wei creates amazing cityscapes showing the transition from night to day. He aims to show the passage of time in a still image by cutting together multiple photographs. He was keen to invent a way to show how scenes change over time, without resorting to a video camera or time-lapse photography so he captured multiple pictures of the same sites over the course of a day, before splicing them together into a single image taken over several hours. The series is entitled 'Time is a Dimension', and aims to prove that skilled photography can show the passage of time just as easily as a video. "Most paintings and photographs are an instance of time, " he said. "That's not the way the world works. We experience a sequence of time, and that's why a video is somehow more compelling than a freeze frame."
"Our experience of a scene is more than a snapshot. We often remember a sequence of events rather than a still frame full of details."
"Our experience of a scene is more than a snapshot. We often remember a sequence of events rather than a still frame full of details."
Planning
I am thinking of going to central London by the River Thames where there are many skyscrapers and staying in one spot for. I want to choose this location because at night there are loads of bright lights which show how much is going on. I want to go on a clear day so that my images can be as clear as possible. Also, I will be using my tripod and placing it in one position for the whole time. I will be photographing for around 3-4 hours; starting at around 4pm and stopping at around 7-8pm. At 4pm there is most light during the day and at around 6pm the sun starts to set so at 7pm I will be able to get the greatest contrast in light. I am going to use a tripod so I can avoid camera shake and also, using a tripod ensures that the camera will be in the same position for the whole time.
My Response
This is my first try of doing this strand. Before I photographed I had planned to go to the thames and take pictures there, but then I decided that I wanted to photograph tall buildings as you can really see the contrast between day and night. At night all the lights are on in the buildings and I really like how it looks in contrast to the sky. So instead of going to the thames I decided to go to Canary Wharf where there are many tall buildings all around you. I researched about the area and made sure that I kind of knew where I was going to be taking the pictures. As soon as I came out of the station, there were buildings all around me but my first thought was that I was way too close to all these buildings and I needed to have a much further away view. I walked around Canary Wharf trying to get as far from the buildings I could. I then found a spot that was the furthest away from the buildings and I took a few pictures to see how the composition was and I really liked them so I decided to stay there. I had my tripod with me so that I could avoid camera shake. I started photographing at 3:30pm and I stopped at around 7:30pm. I am pleased with the photographs I took as they aren't over exposed and there is a clear difference between day and night. When it was daylight, I had my ISO setting on 100 but as it got darker I realised that I had to increase it. One thing that I would do next time to improve this, is to photograph buildings but much more further away so I can capture more of the sky and buildings. Also, I had planned to take pictures every 30 minutes but I ended up taking pictures whenever I thought was the right time. I think next time I will be more consistent and take every picture with the same amount of time apart.
I had to photoshop all the different images into one photo to see the different times of the day. To do this, I opened one image that would be the base and then went on View and selected Rulers to draw lines on my images that were equally spaced apart. I then opened all the different images in the right order. I copied the image onto the base image and changed the opacity so I could line up the pictures because they didn't all line up exactly. I then put the opacity back to 100% and selected the part of the image that I didn't want and then I repeated the process until I got all the different times of the day. Even though I used a tripod, the photos weren't all in the same composition so I had to line up each image with each other. Also, in the finished image, you can see that the building doesn't quite align so next time I will make it look more seamless. However, I think you can clearly see the different times of the day and I put them in the correct order. Lastly, next time I do this, I will arrange the lines vertically.
Second Strand
Omar Reda
Portrait photographers usually focus on the faces of subjects, but photographer Omar Reda wanted to tell the story of people’s lives in a different way: he created detailed photos of the palms of their hands. “The hand, like the eyes, reveal what’s hidden below the surface,” the Lebanese photographer writes. “It is essential for our evolution and survival. Early humans used it to ignite a fire, hunt, fight and other survival actions.” Reda traveled to different countries around the world and photographed the hands of people from many different walks of life — people he met in tribes, villages, and cities. I believe that the palm lines in our hands unveil the underlying truth about our lives. They uncover our struggle, burden and life passage that we chose.
For this strand, I am not going to photograph people's palms from tribes but instead I am going to photograph people's palms from different ages. I feel like this links to the theme as it tells us a story from the past. For example, if i photograph an elderly person's palm, it shows us how much they've been through and how much they've worked in the past. It could also be interpreted as present, for example, if I photograph a baby's palm, we can't look into the future and see what their hand will exactly look like but instead we can see what stage they are in their life.
For this strand, I am not going to photograph people's palms from tribes but instead I am going to photograph people's palms from different ages. I feel like this links to the theme as it tells us a story from the past. For example, if i photograph an elderly person's palm, it shows us how much they've been through and how much they've worked in the past. It could also be interpreted as present, for example, if I photograph a baby's palm, we can't look into the future and see what their hand will exactly look like but instead we can see what stage they are in their life.
In this strand I photographed many different palms from different people. They were all different ages and all had their own individual pattern. As you can see, I took close ups of the palms as I thought photographing this part of the human body would be very interesting from close up. I really like how I used depth of field to focus on just the hand and nothing else, I also like how I took pictures of different parts of the hand. One problem that I realised though, was that some of the images that I had to zoom in a lot, were quite blurry and not that clear. I don't think I will be developing this strand as it can be quite limiting and there isn't much I can do to further develop it and make it more interesting.
My Chosen Strand - Fong Qi Wei
I have decided to further develop the strand by Fong Qi Wei. I have chosen this strand as I thought it was easier for me to create my new ideas and expand on the initial strand. This is my second time staying in one location and photographing until dark. I went to Greenwich where there is a view of Canary Wharf as I said before that I wanted to try and go to a place where you can see all the buildings and have more sky in the image. I stayed outside for 4 hours (2pm-6pm) and I used my tripod again to avoid camera shake and have the same composition in all of the images. I think I managed my exposure well, however, I decided to zoom in which made the images a bit grainy so when I do this again I will not zoom in. Even though last time I did this I said I wanted to go somewhere with a further view, I think I actually prefer it when I'm closer to the buildings. Next time, I will try and go to the centre of the city and go to a high building with the view of London. I will be higher up and I will have a much wider view of everything and also get the high buildings that will be around me. For example, I am thinking of going to St Paul's Cathedral or Tate Modern or One New Change.
I photoshopped my images again as a collage but I didn't select enough pictures and the pictures I needed to carry on the collage were not the same composition and they didn't fit with each other. So next time, I will make sure that I select enough images. However, I really like how the images fade to lighter and this time all the buildings are lined up so it looks more seamless.
Third Try
New Set of Images
I used the same process on photoshop to edit my new images. So first I opened all my new images and used the darkest image as my base image. I selected View > Rulers and then dragged lines onto the images so that there was a 5cm space between each line. I previously did this process and did not select enough images so I couldn't finish editing the image. Then, I would copy each image onto the base image and turn down the opacity so that I could line up the images. I then deleted the area that I did not need and turned my opacity back up to 100%. I repeated this until I had all my images on the base. Finally I cleared my guides and cropped my image because there were some areas of the image that were not lined up.
I am really pleased with how I edited the image and made all the buildings line up. Also, the different times of the day are clearly shown.
I am really pleased with how I edited the image and made all the buildings line up. Also, the different times of the day are clearly shown.
Fourth Try
I went out again and stayed in the same location for 3 hours. I took pictures from the Tate again but at a different view. I preferred the pictures that I took before that there are many more tall buildings whereas these image have much lower buildings. I edited it the same way as I had done before with vertical lines but after editing it I realised that I had done so many of these versions so I wanted to try and do another shape like circles.
I managed to edit all the different images of the times of the day into one image but I don't think there is a clear difference of the different times of the day, they are all quite similar colours and from the middle of the picture the lighting is very similar so you can't see much of a difference.
I decided to go back and use the images I previously took from the Tate as the different times of the day were more clear and there were various different colours. I also decided to make a collage but instead of vertical lines again, I used circles.
First Try
I decided to try cutting out circles instead of just doing vertical lines as I did this many times and I wanted to try something new. In photoshop I opened all my images and used the lightest image as my base image and then I copied the second image onto the base image and selected the Elliptical Marquee Tool and made a circle and then deleted the inside of the circle. I then repeated this and gradually the circle was getting bigger and I could see the difference between light and dark. When I first tried this, my circles were not the same size and it looked quite messy so I tried again and the circles were the same size and it looked more neat. I thought of trying to make it into a GIF as I wanted to see how it would turn out.
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I tried doing it as a GIF but firstly, the image isn't the same composition throughout the GIF so it moves and doesn't stay in the same place. Because of this, I decided to leave it as an image instead of a GIF. For the GIF, I selected Window > Animation and the selected all the frames and copied and then pasted them so that it could reverse the frames.
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Second Try
I tried to edit it into circles and the second time I did it, the circles weren't equal so I tried it again and I made the circles equal and I also edited some of the darker images so that they fit into the collage better. I used my third try as my final piece as I thought it was the best out of all of them.