Structure
Structure In Nature:Myoung Ho Lee
Response
Sanna Kannisto
Sanna Kannisto uses plants in combination with scientific equipment to highlight the structure present in natural form. The plants are framed so as to isolate their silhouette or present visually interesting angles. The contrast between natural structure and the mechanical structure present in the image creates a unique visual style, and most of the shots are framed so as to emphasise this. Images have a strong horizontal or lateral focus, drawing the viewers eye in a very direct way.
Response
Task: Brutalism
For this task I visited Robin Hood Gardens, an estate in Poplar, Tower Hamlets. Built in 1972, the buildings have been cited as some of the most unique and prominent examples of Brutalist architecture in London. The estate consists of two main blocks running parallel to each other, separated by a large green space and man-made hill. Much of the estate has fallen into disrepair over the last decade or so. Windows have been boarded up, fly tipping is prevalent and graffiti is very common. I also visited the Barbican centre, another famous example of Brutalist architecture in London, as well as a world famous performing arts centre.
In my shots I aimed to explore various facets of the architecture. I took a series of shot primarily focused with the scale of the structures, aiming to capture their scope in comparison with the surrounding areas. I then took close up shots, focusing on specific segments of the architecture that served as microcosms of the overall building.
Thomas Danthony- Brutalism Screenprints
Thomas Danthony photographs brutalist architecture in London, he then simplifies these shots in photoshop. The new tonal designs, emphasise shape and shadow. They are finally screenprinted.
Response
I took one of my shots from Robin Hood Gardens and used a similar photoshop process to Danthony, simplifying and tonally shifting specific parts of the image. I was careful to keep a lot of the tonality and shape of my image intact. I used a range of tones to simulate the varied texture of the original shot. This was important as due to the simplification the image could of come out as flat and uninteresting, the texturing countered this.
Bodily Structure
Peter Hickley uses stitching to to create anatomical overlays for his portraits. These overlays are carefully proportioned and fitted to each respective image to provide a anatomically accurate yet still stylistically interesting aesthetic. In addition to these overlays, the original photos are given a filter which helps to create a contrast with the overlay.
BeemSteemproductions uses photoshop to achieve this hybridised skull, using opacity control, and the eraser tool to blend the skull into the face. He graduates this effect across the face in order to create a blending, or melting affect. This gives the image a sense of motion.
Response
For my response I tried to incorporate elements of both prior examples. I firstly chose to not approach the scaling of the skull in the anatomically accurate way in which Peter Hickley did. I chose for my stylistic interpretation that i would make the skull much larger and position it slightly off centre, giving it a more distorted look than the anatomically correct approach. I then took influence from the blended skull style, choosing to underlay my skull rather than overlay it. Rather than simply blend the skull into part of the face with an eraser, I choose to draw on the stylistic approach of Hickley once more, blending the skull in an erratic pattern, not just one main block.
Strand: Structure In Nature
In this strand I focused around the structures found in nature. I focused mainly on organic structures, and partly on their interaction with both other organic and non-organic structures. I primarily examined shape and texture, especially that of tree-bark and the waxy surface of some leaves. I took most of the images for this strand in Parkland Walk and the woods around Southgate Cricket Field. One area of focus was the spiderweb like shapes that branches of trees form when shot from low angles, these shots emphasised the clear, stark structures that can be found naturally occurring.
Strand: Contrast
In this strand I explored contrast in structure. I focused on traditional architecture that also managed to be very unconventional. I chose Portobello road as my primary location, due to its intensely colourful buildings. Many of the houses along this road follow traditional architectural patterns for this area, yet breakaway in one very striking way: being painted in bold, contrasting shades. To compliment this, I chose to shoot all the buildings at a variety of off centre angles. This choice allowed the already disrupted, traditional, symmetrical architecture to look even stranger and more abstract.
Strand: Body
Robert Mapplethorpe
The work of Robert Mapplethrope was my stimulus for this strand. His work surrounding the body highlights texture and sihlouette through the use of isolation. This gives each image a clear focal point from which the viewer shapes their interpretation of the image.
Response
For my initial response I focused on a part of the body that Mapplethorpe avoided in his work: the eyes. I took his core tenants of a strong focus on texture and a clear focal point and applied them to a much smaller area than what he tended to shoot. I choose to shoot just a single eye, using my macro lens, which has a strange blurring effect to it. This effect helped accentuate the focal point of the image, giving it a whirlpool like draw.
Development 1
For each subsequent development after my initial response I aimed to explore a different area of the body, whilst experimenting with shadow, tone and texture (similarly to Mapplethrope). In this first development I focused on the shoulder. I took care to frame my shots so as to keep the shoulder very pronounced and thus maintain a clear focal point for each image. I controlled the lighting so as to create a well of shadow between the collarbone and shoulder. I took a series of sequential images as I gradually illuminated the shoulder, removing the shadows steadily. This sequential approach emphasised the changing tone and texture of the body as well as the underlying bone structure of the shoulder/collarbone region.
Development 2
For my second development I switched my focus to the arm and hand region. This new area provided a chance to focus on tone to a greater degree, as closeups of the hands showed a wider range of tonality than the shoulders. I set the model further back so as to show a fuller silhouette as the shadows were a less important part of this development. I shot the arms from a wide variety of angles so as to counterbalance the singular focus of my prior response.
Development 3
For my third development I revisited the shoulder region as well as adding in the neck. Differently to my first look at this region, shadows were not an area of focus. Instead I focused almost entirely on tonality, only mildly adjusting shadows in order to bring out the different tones of the skin. I also looked closely at the texture of the skin, which is very pronounced in this region, due to the wide variety of skin thickness. The overall approach for this development was to examine a region I had already explored with a much wider range of aspects.
Development 4
For my fourth development I incorporated all of the focuses of my prior developments. I moved my focus to the stomach region, and examined tone, shadow, texture and silhouette. The stomach region itself provided a perfect subject for these focuses, with its defined and varied shapes that created various interesting pockets of shadow, as well as a wide range of different skin tones and textures. I used a part of a lamp to create a distinct, artificial shadow, that I went on to warp and shift from image to image. i kept most shots relatively close, but changed angles and the positioning of my model to highlight the different tones and varieties of silhouette.
Development 5
For this development I focused on exploring the interaction between two body parts from separate bodies. I chose a simple set up of two arms, this allowing for a greater focus on the texture and tone of the simple shapes. I took a series of simple shots with flat angles, giving the images neutral, face-on layouts. I arranged my models in two contrasting positions, one set to emphasise force and another to portray connection. The clasped hands and strained arms for the former and the flat palm-to-palm positioning for the latter.
Development 6
For this development I changed my approach by introducing an object into my images. I chose an apple because of its strong colour, varied, organic tones and relatively compact silhouette. For the first time in this strand the body was not the primary. focus of my images, and instead served as more of a backdrop. I experimented with the angles and lighting of these images in order to observe how the dynamics between apple and body changed.
Final Pieces
My final pieces very much served as a continuation of my experimentation in my sixth development. I utilised many of the shots from this development for my six final images. I chose three distinct images, each with a different distance, angle and lighting and for each image also created a counter-image. Duality was a primary theme for these pieces, with it being expressed through choices surrounding colour and tone. I began by making all images black and white but giving each one different levels, brightness and contrast so as to preserve much of their unique features. Then for each of three selected images I selected a distinct colour-way and over-layed the image. This created a new layer of uniqueness for each image, this time in the form of an overall colour palette. I then switched my focus to the counter-images, again beginning by changing them to a monochromatic colour palette, but with one major change, I kept the colour in the apple in each image. This created an immediate and stark contrast (much like the one I had been experimenting with in the previous development) between the body and object. I then took this focus a step further, by changing the apples into far more abstract forms. I used a wide range of filters for these changes, such as paint strokes. This gave each apple a very unique and wholly different texture to the rest of the image. Finally for one apple I changed the colour drastically, from a warm red to a much cooler purple. This final colour change acted as a further line of contrast not just within the image but between all other images in the set.