charlottemcbratney-blog

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blog task 1

For this project I want to focus on the social problems we face as a society. I want to incorporate urban living into this through photographing things such as social housing, urban landscapes and other problems like abandoned/closed shops and buildings. I believe looking into social problems will give my project meaning as I increasingly see more and more areas looking broken and unkept. I want to raise the issue of funding and lack of it which results in these areas becoming unsightly and looked down on by others in society. I am inspired by the black and white photographs of David Hoffman for this.  I will also include my title of obscure by photographing in a blurred/out of focused way which I hope will add an edge to my photos. I will experiment with my shutter speed and depth of field, inspired by the work of Uta Barth

I’m interested to focus on this project because social care and social wellbeing is something I’m passionate about and it is my career goal to one day work in social care. I believe it’s a smart move to photograph something you truly want to help make better and learn about which is why I have chosen this topic. Overall this project has many different avenues I can explore and allows me to be creative and free.

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Blog task 6

Evaluation

For this project, I would say that Judith turner was the most influential artist for me. Turner looks into angles and finding unique ways to represent the architecture she shoots. I like her unique way of seeing the buildings. For me Turners use of black and white worked best for my project. The black and white brought a darkness to my photographs which enhanced the texture and materials of brutal architecture. I believe if my photographs were in colour they wouldn’t have the same impact nor would they highlight the texture and shape of the buildings. The use of black and white impacted my outcomes as I decided to frame my final outcome with a simple black frame. The simplicity of the way I presented my outcomes allowed the photographs speak for themselves which is the feeling I got from Turner.

Overall I think my project was successful as it had development from the original idea of social housing to brutal architecture. These two things worked hand in hand as I was shooting similar buildings. I could have worked more on experimental ideas. This is something I struggled with in this project as I believe architecture should be simple and not too complicated. I felt that the angles and way I was shooting as more important than how I made the photographs unique. For my next project, I want to choose a subject I can experiment with. I believe this would be best with colour photography rather than black and white. I enjoyed this project and think almost all my shoots produced quality photographs. One thing I wish I did was travelled more for my shoots as I was limited to the types of buildings I wanted in York.

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Blog task 5

When I first started this project, I picked the title of obscure. I thought this would subject would give me lots of room to explore and experiment within my project. I first investigated ways of obscuring photographs using the camera e.g. out of focus/blurred photos. I found this interesting and I liked the mystery affect it gave my photos especially if I photographed people. I also looked into artist such as Uta Barth who had also shot out of focused photographs. I enjoyed looking at her work as it inspired me greatly and I would consider Uta Barth one of my favourite photographers as her photos are so calming and enjoyable to view. Though as my sketchbook work started to progress I lost interest in the obscure title, especially after doing a black and white week shoot. During this shoot I realised that I wanted to change my idea and photograph more architecture and more importantly urban architecture. After speaking with my tutors, I knew how important it was too shoot subjects that you enjoy and care about which is why I chose to look into social housing and the issues surrounding that. I began by trying to incorporate the blurred idea from earlier in my project to create a connection, but I felt that the blur gave the images a softer look which was the opposite of what I was trying to convey. I wanted my images to be hard hitting and make the audience think of the problems surrounding this subject. This was not something I could achieve with the blurred edits. I have now dropped trying to blur my photos and instead want to develop a different type of obscure. In the future I hope to experiment with text over photos or books that I can work on, which will still show a slight obscurity. When I think of the future of my project I want to see the urban tower blocks and housing estates that I shoot to convey a meaning. I recently stumbled upon brutal architecture, which are structures usually housing tower blocks that were built after the war. These buildings were used for a housing crisis as they were cheap and quick to build. What I find most interesting about brutal architecture is the heavy use of concrete and the way that this material creates interesting edges, curves and texture. Most people may say that these buildings are ugly or an eye sore but what I enjoy most about these buildings is finding their beauty. By shooting brutal architecture I am still able to keep my theme of social housing whilst developing the historical context behind them. Though I have a clear path of where I want to take my project I still face problems that may restrict my work. The city of York is less urban and more historical so though there are housing estates, there isn’t much brutal architecture nor many blocks of flats to shoot. so far, I have been travelling to Leeds as its much more urban, but this isn’t something I can do every week. To overcome this, I will have to be more creative in my shoots, so I am able to have the number of photographers I need.

This photo is a good representation of my first ideas for this project. I liked this idea because the out of focus affect obscures the faces which adds a mystery element. I also liked the way the colour blended together. I think what intrigued me most about this effect was the way that all the details you would get in a normal focused photo are removed.

with this photo, I incorporated both architecture and obscure which creates a connection to the artist Uta Barth. I believe this photo is successful in what I tried to achieve but with my development and wanting to represent social housing this photo is too soft and doesn’t have the strong stance I want to take.

This is a photo from my black and white shoot. I think this photo is key to showing the type of things I look for when shooting architecture. I like finding interesting angles which show the structure in new light and the use of black and white brings a harsher feel to the photo.

My more recent shoots have been in Leeds, around a housing estate. These areas are great for brutal architecture and also capturing the life of the people that live there. For example, with this photo you see the child’s toy and the balcony which shows a brief insight into these people’s lives.

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blog task 4

Joe Newman has a collection of photographs of unique tower blocks that were built in London after the second world war, as many Londoners where left homeless. These blocks were built fast and cheap and mostly built of concrete. Newman’s series of photography celebrates these blocks and how they have stood the test of time and become homes to many other desperate people as they were originally designed for. Unlike my own work which explores the social housing problems, Newman’s photographs celebrate the uniqueness of these blocks and how they have helped the city and become a large part of London’s skyline. The way in which Newman photographs is what I like most about the photos I have looked at. His photographs are very clean due to the use of lines and the way his photos fit almost symmetrically in the frame. This is also the way I enjoy shooting as I find it the most pleasing to the eye. The advantage of shooting heavy concrete buildings is there are always many leading lines that can be found. Joe Newman’s photography style is the style I aspire to show in my own project.

Simon Kennedy is an architect that uses photography as an extension of his work. What I especially enjoy about Kennedy’s photographs are the time/weather he photographs. It seems that cold foggy mornings are his version of golden hour. The fog and dull grey colour that mists his photographs create an eerie and empty feel to the photos. This is especially relevant in his sires “Heygate abstracted” because the location he is shooting is an empty estate. Kennedy manages to capture both the now empty estate and the life that once remained in the location. This helps to remind the audience that, though now empty, the estate was an important part of many lives. In my project, I also want to show the life that these social housing areas hold but also the damage and problems that these people have to live in. I believe that estates such as Kennedy photographs are a quick fix to a problem but these areas are unable to sustain a safe and happy quality of life for most of their residents.

Studio Esinam, in collaboration with London based photographer Rory Gardiner, have created the sires “utopia” which showcases the beauty and fascination of brutal architecture. Brutal architecture is post war architecture that uses simple blocks, usually concrete, to create long standing structures. These structures usually use geometric shapes and are interesting due to concretes being highly textured. Most of these brutal structures were used in the creation of social housing buildings as they were quick and cheap to build which was especially important for the extreme housing problems at the time. This sires celebrates brutal architecture and how concrete can be used in unique ways. This is relevant to my own work as the locations I am shooting are highly concrete and considered brutal architecture. I want to look more into brutal architecture and perhaps even taking my project in that direction as it still connects with my idea of social housing but also allows me to develop and shoot the locations.

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Blog task 3

Something I can explore with this shoot is the idea of layering text on top of my images as I usually try stay away from heavy edits or layovers as I like my photos to speak for themselves. As I’m looking at social issues with housing and lack of government funding and the way this causes areas and communities to become dishevelled, I could use statistics and quotes over images to drive home the point I’m trying to get across. This is a risk for me as I haven’t done this style before and I’m unsure of the outcome. I personally like letting my audience make what they will of my photos but by adding text I will be directing them more to my concept. This is not a bad thing as I believe social issues need to be heard and I want them to stand out in my images but it also takes that thinking element away from the photos.

Examples

David Hoffman is a photographer I have mentioned in previous blog entries. This photo is the idea I am heading for though my text will be added later in Photoshop, this photo is still my main inspiration. The text on this photo really opens your eyes and makes you think and both the building and text complement each other well. One of my worries for this new idea is that my text may look out of place and not tie in well with the photo.

Kaylynn Devaney is a photographer I want to mention as she also adds text to her photos but in a very different way. Her photography style is more documentary and she gets the person’s life she is photographing to write short text on the photo. Though this is different from my main idea I could look into getting a group of people to write about their problems with social housing and issues they have faced that tie in with my main project idea.

Overall there are a couple of risks I can explore in my next shoot. Print text and the possible involvement of others is my main focus. I believe these new elements will bring depth to my project and stop my sketch book looking boring or repetitive.

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Blog task 2

Uta Barth

Uta Barth is a German photographer, who, throughout her years of photography has focused on many things. The photographs I want to talk about are her blurred images that she doesn’t give a name or series title too, as I feel they have been most influential in my work thus far. I like this notion that all the photograph is the background. It makes me think that these photos could normally be overlooked as we always have a focal point within a photo. These photos are fascinating to me, maybe because they don’t follow the conventions of other photographs such as detail and texture. Instead these images are smooth, and the colours blend together seamlessly. When I look at these images I find them relaxing, there are no harsh edges and though they are out of focus the viewer can still make assumptions or interpretations surrounding the subject matter. I find Barth’s use of light captivating; these images use lots of natural light, this adds to the calming feel and my ability to work out what I’m looking at. I want to explore the potential of this method in my own work, stripping my compositions of their detail and placing more importance on tone and shape. I want to work on shapes and edges within my own work by looking into how both soft and hard edges create an emotive response. 

Rinko Kawauchi 

Rinko Kawauchi is a Japanese photographer who is described as using “the ordinary” things in life as her inspiration. What I find most interesting about these images is her use of negative space and the way the space really puts emphases on the main focal point. The backgrounds to these images are plain and blurred out drawing attention away from them but at the same time, are key to the photograph. For example, the photo of the seed being held has a green out of focus background that I feel ties well with the seed and brings it back to a nature theme. With the other photograph the lighter is blue as is the background. This idea of linking colours together is something I find both interesting and necessary for such a simple image because it helps to add depth and meaning. Going back to the idea of these photograph being simple and of “ordinary” things, I feel like most people try to overcomplicate photography which can create wonderful art, but sometimes the simple things in life can be the most beautiful.

David Hoffman

What I like about David Hoffman’s work is the social and urban elements that he photographs. From my research into this photographer he mainly photographed protests and rallies about social problems such as housing and police brutality. These are ideas that I want to also investigate, so this photographer is great inspiration for me. Hoffman’s photos are very different to the other two photographers that I have looked at as he uses black and white images and they are all in focus. This could cause a clash in my project, but I feel he is key for my development into social issues and urban landscapes. I could also link his work to obscure through his back and white photos. Not using colour in a photo, especially modern photography, could be considered a type of obscurity as it takes something away from the photo and makes the audience use their imagination to what the image could look like in colour.