Commission: Environment

Challenging the Picturesque

Claire Smith

Introduction
Generally we have a pre-conceived conception of what picturesque is and have done since the 17th century. It entails subject matter that is considered picture perfect and creates the ideal landscape. Seeing photographs by Roger Fenton and Henry Peach Robinson and how they have constructed their images, creating photographs for the purpose of being pleasing to look at also creates an image that doesnt portray reality. Because of these ideas about the picturesque, certain types of landscapes arent acknowledged as being so. People fail to see the beauty amongst the un-picturesque and this is what inspired this project to show people what they arent seeing.

Challenging the Picturesque

John Muir, an American naturalist, and father of the modern conservation movement once said: None of natures landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild

J. M. W. Turner

Portrayed landscapes and seascapes of England. He experiments seeing how the placement of humans and animals within the image effects it. He captures the mood of an environment through light, colour, tone and composition, creating an atmosphere within the image.

Jem Southam / Dan Holdsworth

What I like about these two photographers is how they photograph the ground. Even the horizon and sky is white, not to draw attention away from it.

Ori Gerscht

A 2004 series of mysterious, elegant and dream-like images that were actually taken in mundane locations around London such as traffic islands. Subjective photography removes us from the landscape and into another world via a low level and high angle. Overexposures cause loss of detail in the negative, distorting the colours and creating a fantasy like feel.

Medway Salt Marshes

Found on the top layers of mud in sheltered areas, flooded at high tide and contain blocks of grasses and plants that often arent found anywhere else. They provide a habitat for nesting waders and sea birds, worms, shrimp, shellfish and are also a source of food. Dissipate tidal energy, a natural barrier between the land the tide.

Contact Sheets
Taking Ori Gerschts subjective approach I used a high angle and cropped the horizon out of most frames so that we focus on the land. The more severe crops, honing in on the detail of the land were most successful. Ive highlighted areas with wide tonal ranges to create a mood and atmosphere.

Photographic Choices
Ive used natural lighting, on a cloudy day to keep everything, a true representation of reality. Ive used a high angle so that we are analysing the details that I have focused on and not the surrounding area. Ive focused on the reflection, something associated with beauty and how the rocks appear suspended. Slightly overexposed, the still water becomes a pool of empty space, drawing the viewer in.

Photographic Choices
In this image I focus on the curve in the mud, showing the intricate systems that go on in within the saltmarsh. Beauty within form and texture and not subject matter. Pointing the lens down onto the landscape gives us no choice but to focus in the landscape.

Photographic Choices
An obvious but overlooked feature of a salt marsh is how the mud flats have been carved by the tide. I used a 180mm lens to capture the landscape and enabling me to further crop the image and produce the final. This image is all about how the grass interlocks and the surface of the water glistens in the sun. Theres something peaceful about its appearance

Unit Evaluation
Time management was an issue with this part of the unit. From where I started with my concept and experimentation the idea developed a lot, which shows in my research. The biggest challenge has been controlling all the photographic choices so that they all communicate the same thing. I am definitely more aware of these choices when photographing. However I still think the images could be stronger in communicating the idea of the picturesque.

The weather has been another issue, but one that has been out of my control. Overcast days created flat images and dull colours and sunny days caused lens flare. However, it has made me aware of how important every aspect of the image is. A better choice of location wouldve made it easier to shoot more. If I were to carry on with this project or had more time I wouldve shot with a longer lens to fine tune the composition instead of enlarging shots of the landscape. This wouldve made it easier to make the imagery more abstract. The second image I feel is the weakest because of the dull colour scheme and doesnt possess the same quality of the other two but that is down to different days and light conditions. Ive learnt that communicating the idea through imagery is a lot harder than I thought. I believe the images to still be in d evelopment to what I want them to be. And that capturing the true beauty of a salt marsh is also tricky. The photographic choices helped me to create a subjective style of photography which takes the audience into the landscape. In this instance it was a success. Being more experimental and original in technique may have improved the images ability to take the audience elsewhere.

Commission: City
Boundaries

Introduction
When we construct, politics causes man think he owns the land. He builds a fence or a wall and claims ownership. As urban structures fall into disrepair, nature will eventually reclaim the land. My initial idea was to capture natures control over neglected urban environments and how it responds to the decay.

Nicholas Goodison

Comments on human intrusion on the Scottish Highlands Captures how natural elements such as rain, wind and sunlight eating away at man-made structures, eye-saws. The footprint on the land left by man will soon disappear in a geological timescale. Close up images focus on the details, the textures, the patterns.

J.B Jackson: The Necessity For Ruins

Jackson questions what a ruin is. A reminder of a period in history? "Ruins provide the incentive for restoration, and for a return to origins "There has to be an interim of death or rejection before there can be renewal and reform. The old order has to die before there can be a born-again landscape "History ceases to exist We can re-enact and re-construct environments from history but the truth is, there is no getting back history; It is in the past.

Yoshiko Seino

She depicts scenes where nature has begun to reclaim a landscape from man made efforts to claim and re-shape it. Her choice of spaces and locations focuses not on the decay or architectural and industrial spaces but the neglect by humans that allows transformation back to nature.

Andreas Gursky

Interested in how people live within the landscape. Portrays human impacts of capitalism and globalisation, concentrating on areas of commercialism or tourism. High angles emphasize the scale of his images and the human impacts. Very technical approach, images made up of parallel sections, separates the images into layers. Human impacts flatten and bring order to the wilderness.

Contact Sheets
I shot films with a mixture of compositions and techniques, from all my researched artists to see what worked and what didnt and settling on the structured Gursky style.

Photographic Choices
Ive used a similar composition to Andreas Gursky, a constructed image, but I have used a mid to low angle to not emphasize size or scale but to put the viewer in the position to observe the landscape. The fence is almost completely obscured and nature is stating on the overpass. The composition includes enough of the fence for it to be recognisable and I also like how you can see the pattern gradually fade as you scan the bush. I like how the nature appears wild and unruly, dominating the space.

Photographic Choices
Ive used a standard lens so that I was able to take a step back and create this position of observation . Here it isnt just physical evidence of nature reclaiming but also similar to Goodisons work, natural processes such as wind, snow and rain have weathered the fence and now it appears to be being pulled down. I like how the vegetation, though not overpowering, seems to be wrapping itself around the fence to pull it down in sections. The imagery may not be as strong in this as the other two in the series but I like it all the same

Photographic Choices
Ive used natural light to show both forces equally and as they are in reality. When I photograph in this constructed manner, it gives the viewer an unbiased viewpoint on the issue. Here I like how the fence is sandwiched between vegetation, and also how the trees have formed their own fence-like barrier. Theres a sense of irony in that the fence, usually used to confine land, is being confined.

City Evaluation
I think my photographic choices and the compositions have helped to communicate my ideas. Taking a step back and shooting straight on creates a place of observation for the audience which was what I wanted. I didnt want to present a biased point of view. The image of the wooden fence is the weakest of the three because the imagery isnt as obvious however, it fits with the series aesthetically. If I had the time I wouldve liked to shoot a lot more so better time management would be an improvement in future, something that is recurrent throughout all three parts of this unit. I would place my work under the umbrella of man versus nature. Its about nature creating boundaries for urban structures, containing and reclaiming the land that has been claimed and marked by humans. It has made me a lot more observant of man made structures around me and how the neglect and lack of maintenance has made this topic a very common occurrence within society. The challenge with this unit was scouting locations that werent repetitive and then having the correct weather conditions. This comes down to again time management and also planning ahead. Shooting a lot more would have helped me to expand the series to help put the second image within a better context and strengthened the message and debate between man and nature

Commission: Waste
Negligence

UK Landfill: The Problem

Around 7.2 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK every year. About two thirds of the waste at landfill is biodegradable organic matter from households, businesses and industry; it rots and releases methane, a damaging green house gas. In 2007 it was estimated that we only had five to ten more years of approved landfill space left.

My Intentions
Recycling schemes are a part of everyday life but what I have done is collected food waste over a month from one household, food that wouldve gone to landfill and placed it within a familiar home environment to raise awareness of how the impacts from societys actions are closer than they think. Whilst the human presence seems unaware and negligent of the piles of waste around them, the impact on their environment is hugely significant.

Surrealism and Dada

Surrealists avoided all logic and reason, seen as hindrances to creativity with the aim to trick the eye, shock and make their audience look twice. Dadaists used an early form of Shock Art, humor, visual puns and everyday objects into the public eye. In a world absorbed by war, they made art that wasnt art as a visual protest.

Rene Magritte

Frequently displays a collection of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. Juxtapositions or combinations of objects, by inversions of scale and so on to create such surreal imagery. "the art of putting colours side by side in such a way that their real aspect is effaced

Samy Charnine

Charnine's work is very similar to that of Dali's and Magritte's. These influences are evident within her paintings. Most paintings combine objects in juxtaposing environments. The contemporary twist to a pre-existent style was something I noted through her subject matter and composition.

Becky Beynon

Stretched stockings across the scenes of domestication, aims to raise questions upon the placement of the female role within contemporary society. The intrigue of seeing stockings stretched across the house environment. The framing creates a sense of the environment and provides context.

Nelly Ben Hayoun

The Other Volcano is a project that domesticates the most violent of natural processes, addressing and reinterpreting different natures. In the corner of the environment it can provoke fear or excitement. Human Presence provides a sense of scale, low angle emphasises the volcano.

Contact Sheets
Low Angle 50mm lens

Subtle Human Presence

Photographic Choices
A low angle with the waste in the foreground emphasises its presence within the environment.

With the humans back turned, it is as if the waste is creeping up on him, its also representative of how the majority of society turns a blind eye onto the consequences of their waste disposal.

Photographic Choices
A 50mm lens helped me to capture a lot of the environment to help give the audience a sense of where the waste is located. Keeping the human small within the frame means that they are the last thing to be noticed which is what I wanted.

Photographic Choices
I have also used the environments to my advantage and placed the human in another room in each. The frame within a frame emphasises how society distances themselves from their responsibilities to do with waste. The pile of waste is something to shoot through, a barrier that we must get past which is something I like about this particular frame.

Waste Evaluation
This body of work is a statement about societys attitudes towards the disposal of their food waste. It would fit well alongs ide other photographers works who also communicate environmental statements. The other niche that it would fit into would be into a magazine for an environmentalist group or geographical topic. In my images I wanted to emphasise the pile of waste and the negligence of the human presence. The photographic choices of the 50mm lens and the low angle both create a sense of the environment and exaggerated the size of the pile. The framing was successful in including the human aspect but for it not to overpower the shot. I do think my researched artists are evident in the final photographs. Something that stands out to me when I look at the final photographs is how the colours arent as vibrant as I wouldve liked. In some circumstances, though I used all natural light, there was trouble printing because of the areas of shadow and light. To correct this I wouldve used lighting to correct the areas of shadow to create a more even tone. I wouldve liked to have shot at a few more locations to create a larger choice of photographs to choose from or to add to th e series. Unfortunately die to time management and the massive development of my original idea, I dint have enough time to do so. In the future, I will better manage my time if the same issue should occur with idea development. The biggest challenge in this unit has been the time management and the trial and error process with my idea and also how to communicate it in a way that works photographically. In the future, more experimentation and better planning will help to overcome this.