Edward Weston

Edward Weston

I am a massive admirer of Weston’s Landscape images. During the 1930’s Weston and others formed the f64 group, f64 is one of the smallest apertures on the large format camera they were using larger formats, mainly the 8x10. The f64 group wanted to take advantage of photography as a medium, their photos with sharp detail, largest depth of field and full tonal ranges. Although I have noticed in much of Weston’s work his blacks are slightly greyer. They did believe in any photo manipulation (not even cropping in the darkroom) but relied on their exquisite hand printing.

In May 1928 Weston is claimed to have made his first focused attempt to take photos of a landscape. He is now one of the most famous modernist photographers to take images of the America, attempting to explain the American landscape through his images.

Some of Weston's most influential work:

The images I have chosen to concentrate on are of the dunes in Oceano during 1936. These images focus on the details and the curves of the landscape rather than the landscape as a whole. I also admire the sky shown in some of these images, it shows the fine clouds. Conceptually, as these are known for trying to define the American Landscape I would like to apply the same concepts in my images but with my local landscape. I live in quite a hilly area and whenever I visit Burton Dassett near my home the sky tends to create patterns that I feel could reflect England’s weather; sometimes sunny but always with dark skies and rainfall (a mixture of all).

Aesthetically I would like to focus on the shapes of the landscape, utilising photography as a medium in the way the f64 group did. I would like to take my images on my DSLR as even though Weston prominently used his 8x10 large format I feel it would be a challenge for me to try and achieve these digitally.

During my photo-shoot I tried to use the smallest aperture possible but because of the wind this was not possible (as I would have to compensate with a longer shutter speed). Therefore I used an aperture of f20 with a shutter speed of 1/6 on a tripod with a lowest iso of 100. Even though I chose a sunny day the clouds left a strip of sunshine across the top of the hills, representing the weather I wanted to portray. This meant the curves in the landscape became more prominent and contrasted more with the shadows. I took this photo in black and white obviously in the style of Weston but this also makes the shapes look more abstract, focusing more on the shapes rather than the actual scene. I tried to include some land in the foreground as Weston does in his work. I have found Weston doesn’t include much of the sky in his images but because I am trying to combine both and aesthetic concepts and I feel this reflects my area well.

My take on Weston's method:

I am pleased with my final aesthetic outcome but would have liked to try out smaller apertures with longer shutter speeds to gain more fine details in the image that it would have benefited. I have only slightly used post production on my image, slightly adjusting the contrast even more to create darker shadows but still not completely black. 

Rinko Kawauchi

Rinko Kawauchi

Kawauchi is most famous for her tranquil 6x6 medium format images; however her method is not always fluent throughout her bodies of work. During an interview with Martin Parr for Aperture magazine Rinko stated: “whatever I’m taking pictures of, I need to discover something”. Personally I feel this is a very uplifting way of taking photos and using the medium. During the interview I also discovered that Kawauchi now uses digital and film together to get the best results.]

Some of her images from "Illuminance":

Her most famous and, I believe, most beautiful work is her series “Illuminance” in which she photographed things she sees every day in her home town after the tragedy of the tsunami. I would like to try and recreate this in my own work as I feel it will challenge me, taking photos of parts of Leeds I see all the time. Her images contain many moments in which we may normally ignore, using water, people etc for rhythmical energy but the images may not necessarily connect.  She over exposes a lot of her images in an effective way (using lens flare), making them appear more important and generating feelings in such simple objects. There is a blue and pink pastel tone prominent in many of her images, which may be an adjustment of white balance that allows them to link together emotionally even though they may not be related. She shows such delicacy through her compositions and attention to fine details but does post produce her work. This is also created through putting two images next to each other in her books/exhibitions.

My image inspired by the method of Rinko:

In my images I chose to take photos of everyday scenes around Leeds, as Rinko did in her home town after the tsunami. These images could reflect the themes that Kawauchi applies such as depicting the world around you, elements of nature and the life-cycle with attention to detail. I shot on DSLR to try and recreate these mostly when taking the actual pictures. I adjusted the white balance to “M5” on my Nikon as it contains pink and blue tones prominent in Kawauchis work. I also chose a day where the sky was bright as it would allow me to create lens flare and in a way “illuminate” areas I wanted to stand out. By using a combination of a higher iso of 320 and an aperture of f8 it allowed me to slightly over expose the canal. By using a fairly fast shutter speed of 1/200 I kept all the detail in the branches entwining over the canal. I am pretty happy with my results, the pink and blue pastel tones worked out as hoped but I slightly saturated these on Photoshop to finish it off. I walk past the canal a lot and by looking at it a different way I discovered different plants and patterns within my shots which linking back to the quote stated earlier, is one of Rinko’s aims whilst taking photographs. My final image links aesthetically and includes the themes that are noticeable in Kawauchi’s work.

I have really enjoyed researching the series of “Illuminance” but if I were to do this again I would like to spend more time photographing something I can connect to even more (such as my home) as this is what stands out most in the series. Shown through colours, details and composition you can really see a strong connection that Kawauchi has to her pictures.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism was a reaction against Modernism, logically being from 1960's until today, even if some critics state that we have entered the post postmodern period. Essentially, Post modernism is the opposite to Modernism; Modernism being "form follows function". This meant in art and design there was a move in aesthetics, saying to be started with Pop art.

1967-  Warhol’s color portraits of Marilyn are meant to evoke different sensations just by changing the color. This is typical of the 1960’s. This was typical of the popular screen printing process in this decade. 

The main aspects of modernism are:

• chaos
• innovation
• mixed media
• irony
• no rules
• "kitsch"
• juxtapositions
• questioning convention
• originality

Las Vegas is described as the ultimate post modern city, with its little NY etc it gives you the feeling you are somewhere else.

Andy Warhol was obviously a massive influence/icon of the post-modern period. His works of Marilyn Monroe. He works with layers of images and blocks of colour. The pieces are much more conceptual, supposedly representing the breakdown of Marilyn over her rise to fame. It made the critics question what art actually was, moving from realism into the realms of pop culture. This was a shock to the art world as it had focused on realism for hundreds of years. Surrealism is obviously a factor here, a massive part of postmodernism. It makes the viewer question the art, becoming more mysterious. 

Constructivism

Constructivism was mainly an architectural movement that also influenced many genres such as graphic design, film dance and fashion. The constructivists were the developers of the photomontage, which is evident in their work. The main characteristics of constructivism were geometric, abstract shapes that were usually done with a purpose in mind, rather than just for the sake of it.

Rodchenko branched over many areas of constructivist art for example art and photography. He also designed costume for some plays in1914, which show his focus on geometric forms in which sometimes he even used a compass.

 

Rodchenko started to experiment more with photography, playing around with the idea of perspective. Although the ladder image may be one of his most famous, especially for the constructivist movement, I almost prefer this odd diving image.

This would not have been the typical pose of a diver but by playing with perspective the diver just becomes shapes and shadows in the air. The composition is also slightly unusual as the diver is in the corner of the image and almost reminds me of some of his experimental paintings from his earlier work.

 This image also takes advantage of viewpoints that could be achieved from this period. As the diver is pretty high up it may suggest that Rodchenko had taken it by standing on something.

Free-Style Diver 1936

Surrealism

Surrealism was an art movement based in Paris, originating in the 1920’s. Freuds theory of unconsciousness influenced a lot of surrealists and the techniques to expose them. These include socially unacceptable thoughts such as sexual desires, traumatic experiences and painful emotions. Dreams and the change in perception became main themes.

Brassai’s photographs display surrealism in many ways, his series “Paris by night” 1933 celebrates the edges of society, juxtaposing the ordinary next to the extraordinary which a main theme recurring throughout many photographers work from the same time. On the other hand his series/picture “Involuntary sculpture” 1933 depicts accidental and coincidental discoveries. Although it might take a while to defer what the object is, this image shows a bus ticket folded and rolled up at the ends. This leads to many questions that arise from one photograph. It may depict someone’s boredom waiting either for or on the bus, unintentionally rolling the ends up. The title suggests that the object was come across by chance but Brassai made it a sculpture by taking a photo of it.

Other types of surrealism included Man Rays tests with film and exposing it to light, titled “Rayographs”, solarising the images. The print or negative is briefly exposed to the light during the development which creates the reversal of tones, especially at the edges.

In conclusion the key features of surrealism are themes such as the female body, representing sex, body vs mind and the unconscious. The visual language includes photomontages, juxtapostions, symbolism and solarisation.

Pictorialism

“Winter-fifth avenue” 1892

This is image, by Alfred Steiglitz, is a black and white image of a horse drawn carriage in the snow, leaving trails behind it. The photograph appears smoky and mystical showing elements of pictorialism. This photo was a result of the experimentation of movement and the want to produce an atmosphere in an image.

This sort of picture is typical of pictorialism, creating a mood rather than just documenting a subject.  The smoky effect made is slightly atmospheric and could almost be brush strokes, standing up for photography as an art form. There was usually a lack of sharp detail in pictorialist images. Steiglitz and his pictorialist group (Photo secession-1902-1910) believed that the work of art should be seen for the manipulation etc rather than even considering that it was taken by a camera.  They were known as a group of men that broke away from tradition and the group was invitation only.

Pictorialism originated after George Eastman Kodak evented plastic film and the first amateur camera using the slogan “you press the button, we do the rest”. This of course meant that photography became enormous and practically everyone could take a photograph. The need for professional photographers declined rapidly and the debate arose that if anyone could take a photo then was it still an art? Pictorialism challenged this with the use of manipulation and mimicking styles of contemporary painting. Creating an image rather than simply recording it using tinting/toning, emulsion, drawing onto etc. 

Pure and Straight Photography

Pure and Straight Photography

This is an image called “Shell”,  1927 by photographer Edward Weston. The object in the image is a shell, against a black back ground. The shell itself is an obscure shape with many different tonal areas, a highlight on the top of the shell and some darker areas towards the bottom, which pick up on the texture.

There are many ways in which this particular image depicts the visual information of pure and straight photography.  One example, as mentioned, is the vast range of tonal colours. The key highlight being on top of the shell and the other extreme being the darker area used to back the shell. The distinct lines and textures that are shown on some areas of the object were also used a lot in straight photography, showcasing the strengths of a camera by offering a new detailed view of a shell. In addition to this there is also quite a large depth of field, not just focusing on one aspect of the item.

Edward Weston was known the want to be able to illustrate his love for life through his work,  he felt he may be able to do this by demonstrating nature truthfully.

“To clearly express my feeling for life with photographic beauty, present objectively the texture, rhythm, form in nature, without subterfuge or evasion in technique or spirit, to record the quintessence of the object or element before my lens, rather than an interpretation, a superficial phase, or passing mood—this is my way in photography. It is not an easy way.”- Edward Weston (taken from minimalistphotography101.com)