Paul Seawright- secterian murders

Paul Seawrights secterian murders was pointed out to me by a tutor. His work is alot like what i want to achieve with my images. The images are somewhat detached to what the photographer is wanting to say and only with the addition of text does it become clear the meaning of the image. It leads the audience into a false sence of security about the images and causes a 360 change in how you view the image once u have read the accompanying text.

I will go into more detail about the work of paul seawright as he is the basis of my essay which i will submit as a post as it holds revilence to my work.

Sara Gadd- Hydropathic

Sara Gadds collection entitled Hydropathic is a collection of images surrounding the history of Craiglockhart. The images are simple, with a dramatic and colourful lighting to create different effects.


 At the end of the 19th Century Craiglockhart was built as a Hydropathic centre for water therapies and healing of various illnesses. At the start of World War I the building was requisitioned and turned into a military hospital for the treatment of sick officers, more precisely those suffering from neurasthenia or shell shock.The story of the patients during wartime is a horrific one and the outcome of their healing is tragically ironic. The pool became a tool of war where men wandered, tormented by nightmares and hallucinations, shocked and confused, unable to forget the flashes and blasts, the mud and the blood, the memories of mutilated and dead friends.


The images are simple, and yet very dark and atmospheric due to the lighting. They are also alot different to the rest of the stuff ive been looking at! I like how again this project relates to the past and history, which is why i looked at it in the first place. 

gabriele basilico

Gabriele Basilico is one of today's best known documentary photographers in Europe. Cities and industrial landscapes are his fields of investigation.
Trained as an architect, he takes photographs of pieces of architecture and works for publishers, industrial concerns, public and private institutions. Much of his work focuses on main towns and huge black and white city scapes but what interests me more is the more local and smaller villages and towns he photographed classed as his 'vintage works.'
His photos are high contrast  black and white images, high in detailing. With focus on lines and structure, he seems to be able to have the right eye to turn a normal structure into something so unusal. I get the feeling of almost a film noir style about some of his 'vintage' collection. theyre just very well structured images.  It reminds me kinda of the work of Bill Brandt.

 

Zarina Bhimji -cleaning the garden

After what i said in my last post about creating images that refer to a place but without being obvious i looked into the work of Zarina Bhimji and her collection entitled 'cleaning the garden.' The images, while simple and pretty, have a very serious point behind them, about slavery. 

Several of the large-format color photographs show an 18th-century British country house and its garden. The garden was designed by Capability Brown, who in the early Romantic era was much in demand for cultivating the look of wild nature in the parks of rural estates. As it happened, the fortunes of some of his clientele, including the owners of the house in the photographs, were based on the products of a very different kind of garden: British-owned sugar plantations worked by African slaves in the Caribbean.While researching this history, Ms. Bhimji came across 18th-century newspaper advertisements for the return of runaway black slaves, some of whom are referred to as Indians, others as Moors. The words from these notices, reproduced on mirrors, appear in the show next to the images and relate the images to the more serious meaning. The news paper clippings, well the text, has been etched into the mirrors and while the text is very old fashioned i cant help but feel it is a look thats very contempory. It also makes the audience relate as they seem themselves as they read about these slaves.

So do oblique shots of another garden, that of the Alhambra in Spain, built by North African Muslim conquerors known in Europe as Moors. To their creators, these gardens, with their exquisite logic and symmetry, were an earthly reflection of paradise. 

The enigmatically sensual images that result suggest, in the context, some core of disruptive psychic energy underlying both the gardens and the histories that produced them. Ms. Bhimji delivers all this information subliminally; the installation gains in intricacy the longer you give it. And the pictures are stunning.  This is very close to the approach that i wish to try and achieve in my photos, a sence of past, history, to give a contrast with pretty photos that contrast the tramatic past. The form in these images are pretty straightforward. and while they are not just images of gardens but  amix of places and imagery, they are all tied by the underlying subject of the slave trade.

Where next?

Where next with my project?

Well after my feedback from my presentation i think i need to focus away from these well known historical places, or work on creating a style for myself, as my lecturer said all these images are rather touristy, and i did think that myself, i mean i like the idea of creating an image that is beautiful and astetically pleasing to contrast the tragity that happened there, but i also dont want to fall into a typical 'tourist pictures' infact i think by looking at smaller, well hidden locations i may be able to avoid this. Also i think i should try for the less obvious shots, as i said before, like the images of cavendish house, my fave photos out of all of them was the simple wall with the leaves and tree, its not obvious where it is, and the colour is reflective of the fire that happened there, which makes me think maybe i could try and add an association to a place in there, rather then just adding text too.

what kinda work is it?

after reading through the handbook i saw that i would need to distinquish out of 3 kinds of styles of work and work out which description best fits my work. 

While my work has some conceptual aspects to it, the project i do feel im following more of a documentry approach. 

my work is 'to produce a body of work that informs on and describes something (and comunitcated it to an audience) in the form of a naturalistic, visually led narrative (all be it from a persoanl perspective), though the use of real-life material.'
which is a documentary approach to the work. While when ever thinking of documentry i think of street style candid photography in a sence my work is heavily documentry with the reserch into the locations behind it.

More socialnetworking reserch

After the popularity of my first lot of surveys Ive now created a second based around the idea of locations and there history. Ill be pimping out the link to see how many people i can get to do it. All the questions are based around the idea of feeling at locations, locations retaining memorys and haunted locations. Hopefully ill be able to get a great response like before. 

the link is locations suvey this maybe a great way for me to find more locations to shoot around leicester or my home locations.

holga 35mm pinhole with b/w film.

These are the first test shots taken with my pinhole holga 35mm. The film used was the iso 400 HPT film.

Here are the scanned in negs, here the negs have appeared very grainy, which on the negative they do not appear to be, so i feel it may be the way in which i scanned the negs, i used the flatbeds rather then the normal b/w neg scanner that i normally do. I also noticed that even with the grainyness (caused by the scanner) the images have a really interesting blur to the images. this i really as it adds atmsophere to the images. while it was an experiment in black and white, the images i want to create for my final peice i would like to be colour. 

Some of the images didnt come out completely. the images around the newarke houses had a very harsh light and obviously some of the images are over blown in alot of the images which i will have to keep in mind with using this camera.

On the images below, as u can see the top image shows the noise i said caused by the scanners. The images below that are edited in photoshop to blur out the noise and it highlights the use of the blur in the images.

more then anything i need to experiment taking images in different light and to get the technique down to an art really. the images are not as contrasted as i normally like but i do like my black/white images to be very contrasted which can also be adjusted in photoshop using the digital scanning method and in the manual printing method.

Pinhole holga experiment and Pentax Super ME

So yesterday my Pinhole 35mm holga arrived, today i took it, as well as my pentax super ME out. I used BW film in the holga as i  think for now i want to focus on using b.w as its cheaper and maybe progress to colour once im more confident with using the pinhole. It was weird not having a zoom, nor having a focus ring for the pinhole. I shot a 24 exposures at the Newarke house musesum as well as the guild hall, which are both on my list of places to photograph. The exposures i wrote down in my notebook as a reference and im going tomorrow to develope and scan in the film to see how this works. I experimented with a range of times from under a second up to 7 seconds to see how they turn out and im excited to see if they work. My Super-me camera that stopped production in the 1980's gives a great old fashioned look to the images. I used a colour film in it as its the only thing i had in, (i had one bw and one colour in) but new how to use it so chose this for the images. i then got them printed on the way home. (ill scan and add the photos tomorrow when i have access to the neg scanner) These photos came out interesting, the focusing gives it a very strange effect and while the prints maybe a little to dark (had them processed in boots) the  negs seem alright and im going to scan them digitially and see what i can do with them.  I do love the effect you get on film but until i get used to working on it again (it has been a while) im going to continue on BW film, as i can process it myself and its cheaper to buy. Which is best just for experimentation.

Cavendish house photoshoot 1

When i got to abbey park and saw Cavendish house i felt very calm and relaxed and it seemed easy to take photos. the natural lighting was pretty good, it was that sort of 'ice cold yet a cold sun' look and this was before the snow so the images are all very autuminal. The colours i like as the reds and browns reflect the idea that there was a fire there, and the lighting on some of the images is very interesting, with the light coming from the trees and casting random patterns. Some of the images are sihouetted, and i like this, and some of these would look just as good in black and white, but these images are far more atmopsheric then the images ive taken so far.  The idea that the house and ruins are in the middle of a popular is very interesting and shows a mixture of the past and present. And the change between past and present is what i wanted to look at in locations as well as capturing the atmosphere of the place. its very post card perfect and i like this cos it contradicts with the idea that during the civil war the house that stood grand on the grounds was burnt so badly to the ground, only 2 and abit walls remain all that was left. 
What i also like about alot of these images stick to the photographic rule of thirds. for example the bottom three of the examples below do and i really like the framing of these images. it would be interesting to photograph these images in my pinhole or film camera, so another visit will be in order to reshoot some of these images 

Cavendish house, abbey park

Cavendish House ceased to be a residence of any kind after 1645 as a result of the events surrounding the Battle of Naseby.

 

In 1645 the Civil War was going badly for Charles I. He only had effective control over Wales, the West Country and parts of south Midlands. By late spring, Parliamentary forces under Sir Thomas Fairfax were besieging Oxford, the Royalist capital. In an attempt to draw Fairfax from the seige of Oxford, the King’s army marched on Leicester.

 

Charles’ army arrived at Leicester on 30th May, and after only a two day siege took and sacked the town. Fairfax broke the siege and headed north to meet the King’s army. Having thus saved Oxford, the Royalist commanders did not know what to do. The Royalist army headed slowly south to meet Fairfax, only to find itself facing a far larger army with the advantage of the ground. On 14th June the King’s army was decisively defeated at Naseby. The remains of the Royalist army fled back to Leicester pursued by the Parliamentary army, and Fairfax re-took the town on 18th June.

 

How this sequence of events led to the destruction of Cavendish House is unclear. All we know for certain is that on arrival in Leicester, Charles lodged at Cavendish House, as a guest of the dowager countess, and that he stayed there until his army marched south on 4th June. By the time Fairfax had secured the town, however, Cavendish House had been severely damaged by fire. We do not know who set fire to the house or circumstances under which it happened. The only other certainty is that the Cavendish family decided that they had no need of a residence just outside Leicester, so the mansion was neither re-built nor demolished.

 

 

The abbey pumping station photoshoot 1

I did a photoshoot of the abbey pumping station on friday. The only problem i actually had is that its locked until febuary, however i managed to take some photos through the gates. The location is rather atmospheric, however the space center is just behind it so framing i had to be careful not to get that in (its a very futuristic looking building!) another thing is that going about midday the sun was behind the building which means that some of the images are very dark or sihouttted, i dont mind this but u loose alot of the detailing on the building. i will revisit on one of the days that i can get into the ground to explore abit more and experiment more. I deffo think that i dont want to continue to shoot on digital as its far to clean and crisp and i think that film will give a better atmosphere. 

I feel with these images i would be able to improve if i could get closer or without barriers in the way. I do like the first image as you can see the detailing of the house in all its glory and i think thats my fave image. the  second image is an example of what i took through the gates at the front. These are the images that came out rather dark as the building was backlit, so maybe revisiting at different time of day will create better lighting. Again these aint as atmospheric as i would of liked but overall theyre not to bad. Its interesting how the lighting has changed from the first image (rahter cold)  to the bottom image where the lighting is rather warm.

The abbey pumping station

The next place on my list of places to visit was the Abbey Pumping station. As it was in a pretty easy walk as well as knowing someone who can show me how to get there for future reference. The building was mentioned on the councils website as having a history still 'living alive' there in a sence that its reputidly haunted by a former employee who fell to his death there in 1890 off of the top balcony falling 50 feet.  Now a museum, it was previously a pumping station used to pump sewage to treatment works at Beaumont Leys, and was opened in 1891. The grand Victorian building, designed by Stockdale Harrison (city architect in 1890) and beautifully decorated beam engines were a cause of great civic pride. It continued pumping Leicester's sewage until 1964, and then underwent renovation. It opened as a museum in 1972. 

  The ghost that is said to haunt the location is that of the only known fatal casualty whilst building the Abbey Pumping Station. The death happened just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday 26th August 1890 when Robert Richardson a 43 year old labourer who was working as an engineering labourer for the main contractors, Gimson Ironfounders of Vulcan Road Leiceter. At the time 2 hours overtime was being worked each day in order for the building and engines to be completed on time, when he missed his footing on scaffolding in the roof and fell some 45 feet (14 Metres) sustaining internal injuries. At the time he was marking some ironwork with red lead. A doctor was called and Robert was rushed to the Leicester Royal Infirmary where he died from his injuries two days later with his wife at his bedside. Sadly, injuries that by today's improved medical standards and hygiene could have been treated.

The inquest was published in the Leicester mercury on 30th August 1890. maybe i could see if i could find a copy or print of it anywhere? 

Gina Glover- Pathways to memory

In her search for meaning and the lost enchantment of childhood, Gina Glover embarks on a photographic quest and invites us to enter her special garden. Her garden becomes the safe playground for the interpretation of symbols and impressions which have haunted her all her life. With alot of references to childhood, memory and fairytales, Gina Glovers work really interests me. Often causing you to look deeper into the photograph to interperate the meaning these are more then straightforward landscapes. Her compositions are often very clever, and objects are stregically placed to be suggestive of whats happening. The contrasts in the use of shadows are also impressive and make a statement about the images. To achieve this she must of waited for just the right kind  of weather and time for the shadows to fall just how she wanted.  There is alot of symbolism and hints at different things with just the use of shadows and time of day. The idea that she encorperates memory into this makes it very much relevant to my work, as i myself are looking at places that seem to have a history and holding the memory's. Glovers work seem to have this great atmosphere about them, and she often uses pinhole (like kate mellor) and classic cameras, even camera obsurers. This is something myself i want to try and experiment with. Often her subject will contain sections of architecutre rather then a whole lot, sections of buildings, walls, or even just statues, and often uses the trees and bushes to suggest walls or being walled in like her photo of the maze.

Lou Spence - Maddle farm

Maddle farm is a collection of images from the countryside based around the idea of identity  and the shifting of identity from the stance of the british agricultural landscape,  from the landscape photographer Lou Spence. These images were featured in the shifting horizons book i mentioned before. Most of these images were taken on dull grey days, the sky blends naturally into the landscapes of mud, and earthy colours of green and dullen gold. The images are all squared off and this helps as most of the imagery used in the photos is based heavy around the shapes and structure of the shapes in the countryside. From the patterned crop circles to the wave in the mud filled tracks of a tractor of the past, there are alot of curves featured in the structure of the images and is presented in a way to contrast with the images being squared off. Often playing with the rule of thirds and splitting these images into fore/middle/background help to make these images surprisingly aesthetic for images of feilds and mud on a dull and overcast day. Each image seems to have a hint of a focal point rather then just rolling images of hills, from muddy tracks, to signposts or even just a small huddle of trees. Im rather supprised at how these images just seem to be so beautiful even though the subject matter isnt, and by using well known and easy photographical techniques it adds to the images.

Kate Mellor- SHIFTING HORIZONS

after looking at the work of kate mellor i was lead to a book from the Libuary called Shifting Horizons- womans landscae photography now. Ive found this book very useful as its given me a great list of women who've photographed landscapes in very different ways and use different techniques to create atmosphere. From this book its lead me to look at different ways of photographing landscapes, but also some of the ladies in the book use text and images, which was something i wanted to look to. Standing alone the images may portray an atmosphere or a tension of a place, but i want to reflect what the history of the place is in some way to link the location and the historical research ive done. This maybe through text, but also by placing objects maybe in the place as a reflection of whats happened there? its something i can explore again in my work. How much or how little would be needed to suggest what happened? 

Guildhall Photo Shoot 1 black and white

Here i converted the images that were shot digitally on my SLR, to black and white using CS4. the images i feel do have more of an atmosphere in black and white, and while i had to lower the brightness and adjust the contrast slightly to add more of a shading rather then some areas blowing themselves out with light colours conversion to b/w. at the moment im unsure as to if my final images will be in colour or black and white but i feel these images do indeed work better in black and white. I dont like it because it makes the images feel old, but the fact it does effect the atmosphere of the images. As i said before i will revisit this site at different times to see different effects with the lighting at the atmosphere of the places. However as im still waiting for my pinhole to return im going to continue to shoot digitally, maybe experimenting abit with film until my pinhole camera arrives. 

Guildhall Photo Shoot 1

The first photos ive taken were just sort of a wrecky more then a photoshoot. Due to the location being in town and in very close quarters to the surrounding buildings, it didnt give me alot of room to play with when it comes to manovering and getting different angles and experimenting with different views of the location. Also the lighting started off good, with a reflection of the sun off of the adjoining building creating a pattern onto the side of the building, However the blocked in surroundings meant that the lighting wasnt the best. i didnt really feel that inspired at the time. 

My Fave images selected by yellow(above enlarged too), these i feel have the best colours as well as the better framing. I dont think i managed to capture the feelings of the place, rather more then documenting it and this isnt what i wanted. A combination of the lighting and the weather ment that these werent as atsmopheric as i wanted. i guess what i need to look at is what and how im going to achieve this atmosphere that i want. Im going to revist the site at different times to see if i can improve the images that ive got, and explore the location abit more. i also will try and convert these images to b/w to see if that has any effect of the astmosphere of the images