Project 24: clouds and sky

This is another follow up post on project I completed some time ago. The idea of this project is to take a series of images where the sky is a dominant feature. I have collected these photographs over a period of time with this project in mind. I have tried to produce a set which, whilst the images have the common feature of emphasising the sky, has variety in the nature of the sky and landscape interest. Here they are:

As can be seen there is a lot of variety. The tree image from Volcano, Hawaii has dark threatening clouds surrounding the tree, whilst the sister image of the volcanic tree has floccus clouds which look like they are retreating. The Timanfaya, Lanzarote shot shows white cumulus clouds been driven along and upwards over the mountains by the wind, with the Famara shot featuring a large cumulus cloud dark with moisture. The Dorset photograph features a wide range of clouds but most distinctive are the high cirrus clouds. And finally the large cumulus clouds banked just above the horizon to the west create patterns of light and shade on the surface of the sea.

Over time I have come to realise that if I am to include a large sky in my photograph there needs to be some information there.... uninterrupted blue sky whilst feeling pleasant is in fact quite dull photographically unless a graphic image with areas of plain colour is what is desired. I am learning to anticipate the weather. I still suffer from the problem of limited time to shoot and tend to have to go out on predetermined days....that said there are still the variables of subject selection and where to set the horizon which can make such days productive as was illustrated in the previous project.

Project 23: soft light

This is a bit of a catch up. I have completed most of the projects in the run up to assignment three but have not documented all of them in this blog. I have still to complete projects 25(optional), 26 and 27. These require specific conditions of a full moon on a clear night or snow....I have not been able yet to photograph in these conditions so will have to follow this up later. This post relates to Project 23: soft light. The idea is to take three images in overcast light conditions and to examine the quality of the soft light on the landscape.

My three images are below. In all three I used a ND graduated filter to hold back the sky a little so that some detail is retained in the sky.

What distinguishes each of these images is the relatively low contrast and the way this light has enabled detail to be revealed in the landscape. The key learning point is not to dismiss this type of light. Rather to consider what type of image would benefit from low contrast soft light. Images with lots of interesting detail such as the walls in the Loughrigg photograph are particularly effective in such conditions.

Land Revisited Exhibition Fay Godwin - National Media Museum

The National Media Museum has be staging a repeat of the seminal 'Land' exhibition by Fay Godwin to celebrate the 25th aniversary of the original event. The Museum holds many of the original prints from the first exhibition. The museum introduces the exhibition as follows : "Fay Godwin (1931 - 2005) was one of Britain's greatest landscape photographers. She is best known for her 1985 exhibition and accompanying book, Land – a very personal celebration of the British landscape that enjoyed enormous popular and critical success. To mark the 25th anniversary of this exceptional project, we are displaying a selection of prints from the original exhibition, drawn from our Collection."

On Monday 22nd November I had the great pleasure of visiting the exhibition. I was one of very few visitors on that morning and so I had time and a peaceful environment to give the wonderful photographs full consideration. Here are my thoughts on the exhibition:

• What impressed me the most was the pure quality of the original prints on display. The images are fantastic. Technically they are excellent - the compositions are strong, focus is sharp from back to front, and no detail is lost in the shadows and highlights. The prints themselves are superb. They are generally quite high in contrast and wonderfully detailed. However, what distinguishes the images more than anything else is the way the light expresses itself on the landscape. Areas of light and dark draw out the shape of the landscape and highlight the key points of interest. 
• Her compositions are very carefully thought out. She often uses repetitive elements such as in the image below where the marker stone pointing to the right is echoed by the wall to top left of the frame. The triangle of the marker stone, wall and rock also makes a strong compositional design and depth is created by diminishing scale.

Marker stone, old London to Harlech road by Fay Godwin

• Looking at her workbooks and contact prints it is abundantly clear that having found her subject Godwin would capture a series of images, varying the exposures once she had settled on a composition. Just like Ansell Adams she regarded the negative as a starting point. She devoted a great deal of time, thought and effort to the process of producing a perfect print.
• The exhibition showed an old video clip from the South Bank Show in 1986, in which Fay was interviewed and was filmed working in the field. From this it is clear that she revisited locations on many occasions to seek out the perfect light and climatic conditions. It is also clear that once at a location she would spend a lot of time with a handheld viewfinder searching for the right composition. A National Media Museum video of Roger Taylor discussing Fay Godwin's work can be found on this link National Media Museum - Fay Godwin Video .
• The sky is very often a major feature of her compositions and when it is there is always great interest in the clouds. Very rarely are these clouds fluffy cumulus. Storm clouds appear with greater regularity. I have heard it said that the best time to capture dramatic landscape images is when bad weather is leaving (Charlie Waite quote). Fay Godwin seems to have believed in a similar dictum. She clearly went out in poor conditions and waited for breaks in the weather when the drama of the landscape would be greatly enhanced. Below is one of her images where bad weather is a major feature. This image also illustrates how the light is so important in her images. The dark sky overhead adds drama and as does storm over the hills to the back left. The path in the front left is lit up whereas the middle ground is in shadow. As we move further into the landscape both the lake and the far valley are again lit up. So cleverly Godwin has managed to ensure that the key elements of her composition are lit, whilst providing a dramatic backcloth for their presentation. What is not easy to judge is how much the light conditions have been enhanced by dodging and burning in the darkroom??

Path and reservoir, Lumbutts, Yorkshire, 1977

• I was also intrigued to hear how much time she spent in determining the sequence of images for display in Land. Her final choice was to present the photographs in a geographic sequence, starting in the north of Scotland working south towards the end of the book.

It was a great day and very timely given my decision to study Fay Godwin's work for my next assignment.

Assignment Four - a critical review

For the next assignment I have to conduct a critical review of a well known landscape photographer. I have decided to select Fay Godwin as my subject for this review. My reasons for selecting Godwin are listed below:

• Godwin's work is very varied. Her early landscape works were classic images of the British countryside. She went on to produce a body of work showing how major companies and landowners were restricting use of the countryside and abusing its natural beauty - a strong documentary series of images. The first two series were all in black and white and fitted the classic landscape genre. During her later life however she made two series of intimate landscapes in colour. I felt that this variety would provide great learning opportunities.
• All of my assignments so far have been based on colour images. I am looking forward to working in black and white "in the style of" Fay Godwin.
• Her work was based on the British landscape, often in poor but dramatic weather. As I shall be shooting in the UK and during the winter, I will have greater opportunity to produce images in her style, rather than for example in the style of Galen Rowell, where great mountains and exotic locations abound.
• I admire her work greatly. Whilst at first sight her images appear a little understated, her photographs are powerful and evocative and capture the mood of the British countryside wonderfully.

Here is one of my favourite Godwin Photographs:

Flooded Tree, Derwentwater 1981 by Fay Godwin

Assignment Three - a linking theme LAKELAND WATER

I have now submitted my third assignment to my tutor. The idea of this assignment was to produce a set of photographs all of which are based on a common theme. For some time I had been planning to base this work on the them of 'Water'. I had made some images in my trips to Languedoc and Hawaii which I had thought would be included in my submission. However, my recent trip to the Lake District gave me a new idea, which I believe has enabled me to produce a much more cohesive set of images based on the theme - Lakeland Water.

During my trip to the Lakes the weather was consistently poor with overcast skies and lots of rain. The prevailing light conditions gave a cool tint blue to the images when shot on a daylight white balance. This coupled with the reds, golds and yellows of the autumn leaves resulted in some interesting warm cool colour contrasts which seemed to work surprisingly well.

I developed the theme a little further by presenting three groups of images covering the interaction of the lakes, becks and rivers with the broader landscape, lakeland trees and man made structures.

I will report back when I receive feedback from my tutor. Here are the images:

Quotation - Georgia O'Keefe

I discovered this quotation from Georgia O'Keefe on a website referencing Fay Godwin....there is a lot in it !!!

"Nothing is less real than realism. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things"


Georgia O’Keefe

Landscape Photography Influences - Terri Weifenbach

At the suggestion of my Tutor Caroline Bloor, I have been researching the work of Terri Weifenbach. This has been an interesting excursion. She has her own unique personal style. At first sight I found her work to be very inaccessible. So I have delayed posting my thoughts until I have had time to reflect and revisit her photographs.

Weifenbach's work steers well clear of the cliches of landscape photography. Her subjects are often slices of the landscape in the fringes between the true countryside and areas inhabited by man. Large wilderness vistas are not for her. She focuses on local intimate subjects. Her style is to make images which leave much for the viewer to ponder and interpret.

To quote an essay on her work by Gareth Branwyn  'Her photographs unapologetically challenge our everyday visual awareness, provoking the normal conduct of the eye to quickly and categorically assess the visual information we take in. Using narrow depth of field, selective focus, forced perspective, and other techniques, she's confidently taken photography to a place that is both familiar and strange, a realm somewhere between painting and photography.' 


This is an excellent description of what I found when reviewing her photographs.


Her work is difficult and generally unresolved. Much is left to the viewer. One is forced to look closely and to consider.  It is very thought provoking and forced me to consider some uncomfortable questions about my own work. Am I too hidebound by classical landscape traditions? Are my images too predictable and cliche? Am I really looking at the landscape around me or am I just seeking grand vistas - which in turn make it easy to produce appealing, apparently beautiful images? Am I really trying to develop my own style or am I simply a sheep following the latest trends in the photographic media? Heady stuff and important if I am to truly find my own signature.


For me Weifenbach's work is a curates egg. Some images I find both moving and attractive. When one looks carefully one finds nuances or secrets within them....perhaps this is why she entitled two of her series 'Secrets' . She forces the viewer to look carefully to find the hidden nuances.


Other images I find more difficult. They are both difficult to understand and unattractive. I have decided for this review to examine this dichotomy in more detail by comparing images from Secret Series which I like and from the Woods Series which I find more difficult. 


Here are two images from Secret Series:


Secret Series 14 by Terri Weifenbach

Secret Series 26 by Terri Weifenbach

Both of these images are impressionistic. Number 14 is completely out of focus or blurred with a heavy vignette. It is almost like one is has a fleeting glance though some leaves into a clearing in a wood. The colours are rich and saturated and have an autumn feel about them. There is a path leading out of the frame to the right. It poses questions. Where is this clearing? Why can't I see it clearly? Shall I go there to investigate? Where is the path going? Will someone be coming along soon or am I alone? Because it is unresolved it allows the viewer to use his or her imagination to interpret the photograph. However, I wonder if I like the photograph because of its intriguing nature or because of the strong colour and the associations that this has with autumn landscapes? I am not sure.


In Number 26 Weifenbach has used limited depth of field to throw most of the image out of focus. There is just a single leaf from the maple treein focus. This is situated close to the intersection of thirds towards the top of the image. The colour is very strong with complementary reds and greens predominating. The bokeh in the out of focus areas is very attractive. Beyond the green (of foliage?) in the background one can make out the blue of the sky. There is what looks like the trunk of the tree at the edge of the frame to the right. What I really like about this image is the way the in focus leaf leaps out of the frame and says look at me. It seems to me that this image is about that leaf....Its five pointed shape. Its rich red colour. Its position at the  high-point of a branch on the tree. The out of focus areas around the leaf add context but do not detract from our concentration on the leaf itself. 


Turning now to the Woods series. Here are two images I find more difficult:
Woods number 9 by Terri Weifenbach

Woods number 3 by Terri Weifenbach

What strikes me immediately is that I find the colour of the woods images unappealing. Green is a colour which recedes and as such everything in these images seems to move away into the background. In number 9 we once again appear to be looking through trees into a clearing or path. However in this case what we are looking at is less distinct. The impression is therefore more difficult to resolve. There does not appear to be any main subject to grab my attention. The same could be said of Number 3. Although in this case the out of focus leaf towards the bottom of the frame does command attention as does the glimpse of the sky through the centre of the frame. Once again though the lack of a clear subject or point of focus makes this image unappealing for me. Both images do however convey a sense of what it feels like to be lost in a wood....perhaps this is Weifenbach's intent.


Whilst my initial impression of Weifenbach's work was not a positive one, looking at her work has been very thought provoking. I have also come to admire her iconoclastic style and indeed some of her images I now personally rate very highly. I think I will return to her work again for inspiration.

Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 Visit

On Sunday 7th November I visited the Brighton Photo Biennial 2010, along with OCA CEO Gareth Dent, OCA tutors Jose Navarro and Clive White and fellow student Eileen Rafferty. The trip was organised by the OCA.

We had a very full day visiting several Exhibitions at different locations. The theme for the event is New Documents and it has been curated by Magnum documentary photographer Martin Parr.

We began with a visit to Strange and Familiar: Three Views of Brighton on show at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. In this exhibition three well known photographers were commissioned to produce a set of photographs which present their response to the city of Brighton and Hove. Sadly Alex Soth was unable to produce a set of images due to work permit issues. Instead, he presented a set of photographs made by his daughter with limited direction from Soth. These were interesting in that they presented an uninhibited and naive view of the city from a 7 year old girl. Indeed the perspective of the images is that of a small girl looking up. Whilst interesting and thought provoking in terms of what can be achieved when one frees oneself of adult inhibitions, I did not find this work too instructive. The second contributor was Stephen Gill, whose 'Field Studies' work I had come across in my documentary photography course. Stephen's work is very radical. He had collected detritus from the streets, beaches etc of the city and had included some items in each of his images. The effect is for the photographed scene to appear as a backdrop for the items resting on the film inside the camera. I was left wondering what the linkages were between the background and the items....the recorded interview with Stephen was not very forthcoming in this regard. The final contributor was Rinko Kawauchi. She produced two sets of photographs. One made in the winter with the murmuration of starlings over the sea. I liked this set a lot...as the images were taken at twilight the  colour is predominantly blue and whilst the images show flocks of the birds there is a sense of isolation and sadness about them. Here is an example of her work..

Murmuration by Rinko Kawauchi

Her second set was taken in Brighton during the spring festival. Her subject this time is people. I had the feeling she was trying to depict people flocking to the event. Her subjects were anonymously presented generally shown only from the waist downwards. Many of the images had great tension with the compositions very unbalanced  and unresolved. For me this set did not work as well as the murmuration group.

Our next stop was the House of Vernacular at Fabrica. This was an installation with seven collections of vernacular photographs, ranging from baby photographs to images of the interiors of African dictators private jets. To be honest this was not for me....although the jets were in my opinion the most interesting. They were presented as a typology in a very consistent manner and the quality of the work was excellent. Wonder how the photographer Nick Gleis managed to persuade the owners of the jets...shows anything is possible if you try hard enough.

Next stop was Lighthouse and the 'Queer Brighton' exhibition showing work by Molly Landreth and Zoe Strauss. I was particularly impressed by Molly Landreth's sensitive portraits. She seemed to be able to gain the confidence of her sitters such that they have relaxed their guard. The resulting images reveal the sensitive and vulnerable personalities underneath the veneer of exotic clothing and make up. Here are a couple of her photographs:
EJ Scott, Brighton, England (2010) by Molly Landreth

 

Johanna and Anna, Brighton, England (2010) by Molly Landreth



Finally we visited the showpiece of the festival, 'New Ways of Looking' at the former Co-operative Department store. There was much to see here. The work 'Sleepers' by Dhruv Malhotra was well received. I felt that the series of images worked well to document the situation of many homeless people who sleep outside in India's big cities. Here is an example of his work...
Untitled, from the series Sleepers, by Dhruv Malhotra

Personally I was more taken by the series of photographs 'Windows' by Oscar Fernandez Gomez  a Mexican taxi driver. They are presented as a typology of sorts with each image a scene on his travels. Every image has the same framing with the door window of the taxi clearly visible. Here is one of his photographs...
Windows by Oscar Fernando Gomez

I also spent some time looking at the Simon Roberts Election project ...on first sight they left me a bit cold. Although I have to admit as I spent more time looking at the images I began to see more in them – perhaps this was Simon Roberts’ intention…to make us look and think. There is something of Stephen Shore in these images in my view. This could be simply the format used- large format 10x8- which is very static but has the ability to capture immense detail. 


All in all a good day out and great to meet with and talk photography with tutors and a student from the OCA. I will sign off with an image of my own. The day in Brighton was also the day of the London to Brighton  Vintage car rally....here is a piece of the action. 


Finish of London To Brighton Rally 2010

Postscript.... I have looked some more into the influences on Simon Roberts' photography and judging from this quote from an interview in 2009 about the 'We English' work there is no doubt that Stephen Shore's work had had an influence on Robert's style...'I’ve long been fascinated by the tradition of the road trip in photography. Two of my early influences, the photographers Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld, have both employed extended journeys as an avenue for exploring America’s cultural landscape.'

Light and Land Workshop

I have just got back from the Light and Land Photo workshop in the Lake District with Charlie Waite and Phil Malpas....both acclaimed British landscape photographers.

I have a great time, even though the weather was appalling - it rained every day. I went a day ahead of the workshop and returned one day after it finished giving a total of five days for photography. There was also plenty of classroom work and photo critiques, so it was a busy time.

I had hoped that I would manage to capture a few photographs for my next assignment - a linking theme. My chosen subject is water. In the end I feel that I have captured enough images to base the entire assignment on my lakeland visit, with the revised title Lakeland Water. The fact that the shots were all taken within a week during rainy weather in Autumn adds to the consistency of the photographs - plenty of gold and yellow foliage and blue/grey skies to accompany the water. I will post a separate description of these images within the next week or so when  I have finalised my submission for my tutor.

So what did I learn....well plenty. Most importantly it reaffirmed a number of learning points from the course so far....

• I need to take greater care in previsualising an image - they handed out a black card with a 3x2 aperture to us and suggested that we spend some time working on our compositions before shooting...this worked really well.
• I need to anticipate the light and be prepared to wait for things to develop - this is the way to capture the best out of a given situation
• I need to work on capturing images within camera and not to rely on post processing so much - in this regard I have been trying to rein back on my tendency to over filter skies....the result of this practice is to constrain the contrast in my images too much
• I gained useful insight into digital colour management and the impact of the linear gamma of digital sensors and will review my digital workflow to accomodate some improvements
• I gained inspiration and critical feedback from two highly accomplished photographers whom I admire

Apart from the photographs of Lakes, becks and rivers, I also made some interesting images of trees clad in their autumn colours. Here are a couple of examples...

Great Wood, Derwentwater English Lake District

Near Surprise Corner, English Lake District

As I indicated in my previous post I am a great admirer of Charlie Waite's work. I have also come to regard Phil Malpas's images very highly. Here is an example of his work...

Val D"Orcia, Tuscany by Phil Malpas

Speaking to Phil about composition was very instructive. He uses the technique of composing the image, then reconsidering it to decide what could be taken out to emphasise the main subject even more, he recomposes the shot accordingly and then reconsiders again from the simplification standpoint....a great way to reduce an image to its most powerful statement.