Shoot 1- Work Diary

In this shoot I decided to take a series of images under and around some arches in my local area, I wanted to focus on the architecture, the urbanisation of the landscape, the graffiti etc. I am overall pleased with the result of the images. 

This shot is take from the inside of an arch with the whole width and most of the length of the arch, with the vegetation visible at the end of the arches, I wanted to take it form this perspective to capture a clear view of the entirety of the archy, focusing on the shape and architecture of the structure, the angle is looking up from the ground trying to encompass as much of the arch as possible. In the majority of the series I used flash because of how dark it was underneath the structure; the camera settings therefore all came out the same; 1/60 Sec ISO 400 F 3.5. The light from the flash captures all the little details such as the limbs and branches of the trees and the brickwork and graffiti on the tunnel, showing clarity and contrast.

In this shot I focus on the graffiti under the tunnels, the flash is visibly illuminating the wall and therefore the art, I wanted focus on the urbanisation of the landscape, due to how dark it was I needed to use flash 1/60 Sec ISO 400 F 3.5, and therefore my was struggling to focus however I think it has captured the scene clearly including the depth of field of the curve of the arch and the wall in the far left corner. The colours are clear and contrasting with the wall and the art work, the bright and dark tones are shown in the dimly lit setting.

Progression-

I am overall pleased with the way in which my photos have come out, due to how dark the setting was, the majority of my images are used with flash, a lot of the ones that didn't have flash on came out blurry, I would like to come back to the spot or one which is similar in the day time to capture a series of images in urban settings without the use of flash. I would also like to incorporate graffiti into more of my shoots because it is a big part of the urbanised landscape.

Shoot 1- Straight Images

Shoot 1- Contact Sheet

Artist Research

Rut Blees-

Rut Blees Luxemburg (born 1967) is a German photographer. Her technique is to take photographs at night, mostly exploring the urban landscape.Luxemburg studied photography at London College of Communication and gained her last formal education at the University of Westminster. She employs long exposures to allows her to use the light emanating from the street only, for instance from office blocks or street lights in her photos. Luxemburg created a series of images for the London Underground in 2007. Many of her photographs and prints deal with nocturnal themes. 

This shot is called 'Towering Inferno' the tower block pictured is the south face of Kestrel House on City Road in London.The image depicts a high rise council flat building in the urban landscape of London. The frame of the shot is really effective in focusing on the subject of the flats, against the sprawling buildings and lights in the distant backdrop, the depth of field is really effective in showing this. The light exposure used shows all the rooms in the building that are still awake while the city sleeps, this is really effective e in showing the silence of a city at night in the chaotic urban mess that it is at day. The use of exposure has made me want to experiment in showing different elements in the urban landscape.

This shot is named 'Vertiginous exhilaration  shot in 1995, the shot shows a birds eye view from the top of the flat down to the bottom, including the car park and cars. The exposure of the piece shows the lighting at the car park, reflecting the bright colours of the red cars, this adds another dynamic to the urban landscape, the light in this has an eery green glow, this adds to the atmosphere of the intensity of the heights, the leading lines are very good in showing the structure of the urban building, as well as showing the scale of the structure. 
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This image is titled 'A modern  project' and taken from the title name of her book, the image has been shot in 1996. The piece shows a tennis/football court in the right hand corner, it is illuminated by the lights in the grounds. The roads are criss crossed and risen, so make for interesting lines and directions of travel, as the lights from the cars have light up a pathway of travel that is visible via the red lines on the road, Blees has managed to capture this via the means of exposure time, meaning that many different cars paths of travel have been captured, and the exposure also adds to the brightness of the football court contrasting in the lightness of the shot. 

The importance of reflection in urban landscape photography is shown here, as from this image alone, the image of tarmac in which the reflection occurs on is a symbol of urbanisation. The puddle that casts the reflection is a common London thing, where the rain has nowhere to dray out, the reflection depicts Cockfosters train station in London, the exposure of the shot shows off the brightness of the train sign, adding to the urban landscape that is captured. Reflection shows that it is evident to show the urban landscape in multiple different ways. 

                                                                       Alfred Stieglitz-

Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was known for the New York art galleries that he ran in the early part of the 20th century, where he introduced many avant-gardeEuropean artists to the U.S. He was married to painter Georgia O'Keeffe.

In this image it is of the view of a building front on, showing all the people in their rooms living their lives. The light exposure in this shot shows the dimly light rooms that these people once had to live in.