Deconstructing Environment Photographers Urban Environment

Looking three photographers, Rut Lees Luxemburg, Richard Wentworth and Vera Lutter. These three photographers looked into urban spaces in a City Environment, however in slightly different ways they almost try to convey the same things. At a first glance Rut Lees Luxemburg and Richard Wentworth seen to have the most in common with their ways of putting across their concepts in their aesthetics. Showing the grime and pollution of the city, a direct view of dirt or litter where as Vera Lutter shows this by having the image inverted to negative give an unconfortable feeling for the viewer as it drops the norm of the city to show a darker side.

Rut Blees Luxemburg
Folly 2003

To start with the photos by Luxemburg, shes shooting with a 5 x 4 camer awith longexposures to pick up every detail of grime and dirt, this is shown in amazing detail in her image called 'Folly'  which shows a stair case leading to the waters edge but is submerged in the water.
After looking at this image i start to read into it that it could be a comment on the grime and forgotten or unused and therefore unseen areas of the urban environment. Her next photo 'Piccadilly's Reccadilloes' also carries this idea of city in increasing grime.

Rut Blees Luxemburg
Piccadilly's Peccadilloes 2007 

I think i prefer this photo to her last, to me it shows the underside, the un-noticed side to a colourful and glamorous city. The pavement with oil, chewing gum, dirt and a puddle in many ways can be a metaphor for the real city, the reflection of the glamorous side of the city, the glorified and in many ways beautiful side of the city reflected in the puddles cant help but leave the viewer questioning why at first impression when we see the lights of the city we do think its amazing, but after we look around maybe see it as a little bit fake, a front perhaps to cover up the problems of a city. The over population, the isolation, the sense of alienation and maybe in-superiority. I get this mainly from the gum on the floor, the trodden in and now a fixture to the floor of the city, each on their own but put there at different times by different people. This image to me starts to reveal so many underlining issues of a city.

After looking at Luxenburg i started to look at Richard wentworth and with ideas in my mind still from Luxenburg i started to read more into the images by Wentworth, the sense of dirt and human effect on the city. But uses a much different style of photography, more basic almost straight documentary style to show the similar idea to Luxenburg.

Richard Wentworth
Bottlestick 

Although Luxenburgs worked seemed more about the grime, loneliness and human effect, the direct sense i get from Wentworth is the effect of man on its environment, the fact that someone has made a conscious effort to place this bottle here rather than put it in the bin or recycle or anything else, they've placed it here. Almost a a knowing disregard to the place they live in, but at the same time because its all man made, all urban its in ways makes it almost acceptable . I think this is what Wentworth is getting across from these images, the ways its photographed, just a plain straight street photography documentary shot, no interesting shadows, tones, colours or aesthetics just information for the viewer to read. I think its a way of commenting on the effect the city has on the individual, maybe how the city is so big the identity of an individual can be lost, the anonymity in an act in a large urban area.  Similar to his next image 'Tirana' 

Richard Wentwoth
Tirana 1999

A similar aspect for this image by Wentworth in the way there's been a conscious effort to leave these scraps here. In a way Luxenburg and Wentworth are working on a very similar concept of effect by human on the environment, but coming at it in very different ways, Wentworth maybe more the conscious and Luxenburg the unconscious and also how the environment effects the main different ways, individuality or anonymity. Both gone about it in similar ways but Vera Lutter in a very different way.

Vera Lutter
333 Michigan Avenure, Chicargo 2001

In these works by Vera Lutter i again get the sense of loneliness but not within the city an isolation towards the viewer, because the image has been inverted it places the viewer in a much more unknown and uncomfortable situation. As the viewer is placed n this uncomfortable place to read the image we start to notice and read the image differently, it almost starts to alienate the viewer from what we think we know about the city.

Vera Lutter
Battersea Power Station 2004

For example the image of Battersea Power Station, an iconic piece of architecture becomes much more daunting and creates a harsher impression on the viewer now its inverted, something that should maybe be seen as a thing of beauty has now been changed to impose upon the viewer.

Vera Lutter
Venice, xx 2005

Again this is done with what should be a beautiful city scape of Venice, it creates a much different atmosphere when reading the image. Prehaps this is doen to create a daunting impression on the viewer as it would be for seeing it out of context in real life.

Photo Shoots

In the shoot

  

Chosen Images

Fashion First Year Shoot

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Fashion First Year Test Shots

In The Shoot

Chosen Images 

Environment Project Part Two Urban Spaces

Pastiche

Brassi
Paris After Dark, No.27

 I chose to pastiche this photo with out really looking into it, night photography has always interested me, the minimal light, contrast and especially in this case and with the work of Brassi the feel of film noir.

I need to recreate the mood and feel of the image, to me this mood doesnt seem to be threatening or dangerous, but just fairly relaxed scene of a Paris street at night. However reading into the image and reading around the works of Brassi there may be more to it than just a scene at night. Brassi was well known for taking images of shifty goings on at night between its subject matter. So maybe the street of hotels down a dark side street might not be as innocent as it is at a first glance, two men in the background walking away from the camera.

Location for pastiche ideas, i took these on 35mm colour film, scanned them in and changed to black and white, just to see how it might look. Walking around London looking for back streets with only a few lights and only a few people on the whole street.

                                                         

















I was looking mainly for the lighting here, i feel its slightly to light, i could change this in the dark room but i think it can be done a bit better.

I prefer this shot to the previous one i'd done because it was taken in Soho, dodgy area. I prefer this one because Brassi was known for taking photos which on first glance looked innocent enough but if you look at it a little deeper becomes much more grimy and a feel of indecent about it.
This is the view of the full street way, its a pretty dirty looking street with strip clubs and really dirt massage parlors.
It might look better if i don't crop it so much and show more of the street, this would agree with the aesthetics of Brassi a little more.

Test Pastiche 1

Pastiche of Brassi 

Test of print 

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Bouncing Ideas:

Idea 1)
An idea that came to me when i first got the brief was of place of waiting, waiting to travel or places of waiting for contemplation or relaxation. Place where people either make a conscious effort to wait or just have to wait out of necessity. To do this is was maybe thinking a slightly long exposure so it would capture the people in the image, but take away their identity and make it slightly more abstract, more impersonal in ways as to be read by anyone, keep the figure in the photo but at the same time take them out.
This does still need more work, and perhaps guidance from looking at other artist.

Idea 2)
An idea of keeping a city scape quite fairly beautiful, but not for how nice the architecture is but more for how it either blends or stands out or even apposes nature. This sort of idea came to me whilst looking at William Turners painting, how he uses the light and how the light intensifies areas or bleaches them out.

William Turner
Rain, Steam and Speed 1844

As an exploration of this idea and to see possible how i could either advance this idea or completely drop it, i went to the river side early in the morning to see maybe how i transfer this idea into the city. I'm thinking of combining the city with some sort of natural landscape to, where you see the crane in this photo maybe trying to find a sky scraper to 'poke' out the mist or early morning light.
The photo here works for what i want to use it for and show so maybe keep looking into this idea, see where it goes, explore it until i can feel comfortable with either dropping it or committing to it.

Test of an idea
shot early morning
Digital 

Idea 3)
After looking at Philip Lorca diCorcia street photography series of one person in a crowd. Isolation in the crowded city. He set up flashes and almost hid himself and with a telephoto lens snapped when someone walked past, this way the subject is completely relaxed and not aware that they're being photographed so are totally normal and unopposed.

Philip Lorca diCorcia

So maybe look at the people in the city, the people that make it a city, this at the same time could begin to influence the way i shoot idea1

Student Fees Protest
maybe use as a starting point for people in city

I decided to go to London and explore some of these ideas and see if i could come up with other ideas too.

Testing the idea 1)

35mm neg test shot 1
longexposure movement in theses spaces

35mm test shot 1
longexposure movement in theses spaces

I wanted to look into places of waiting, places where people dont really set out to go to or to perposfully go to spend their time, but maybe have to spend time in order to go to places where they intend to spend their time. Walker Evans briefly touched on this but called it 'transitional spaces'

I wanted to show the hustle and bustle, the busy and maybe chaotic nature of these places of people wanting to be there for the least amount of time or the reluctance to be in these areas.

35mm neg test shot 2
longexposure movement in theses spaces

35mm test shot 2
longexposure movement in theses spaces

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35mm test shot
Location of waiting
London Underground

A classic and well known place of travel is the London Underground, an iconic symbol of British transport of London. As im looking at transitional spaces i couldnt not look at the tube, this lead on to the next few test shots, of taking a slightly longer exposure shot in one spot, taking down the movement of the transitional space, an unwilling waiting area.


Shots from tube, 35mm tests

I set up my tripod in the corner of a station and took a long exposure from of people waiting for the train and people getting off and on.
The images are slightly over exposed but shows what i wanted to explore for this sort of idea.
The blurred figures give a good impression of how busy the city can be.







Tube Station Redone :

After taking these photos of the movement on the tube i started looking at the expressions of people in the tube as they become more and more in their own space. These are as they are coming down the escalator, this triggered off my final idea of people waiting in the areas where they dont intend to be.

35mm test shot idea

35mm test shot of idea

People using and reacting in these spaces.

After looking at the hustle of city area in waiting places or transitional areas i wanted to look at how people use these spaces, use the areas where they are almost forced to wait. I set up a tripod with my 35mm camera and using a telephoto lens (a 70 - 210mm lens) just waited for when people had to stop and got a snap of when they where waiting at a traffic lights.
I think the shot i got of the couple kissing really works, the focal point is the couple but what interests me are the people around them. How no one looks into their space, no one wants to intrude in their space. Everyone is dotted around, looking in every direction and just being in their own zone their own space.

35mm shot, how people using space,
how people react in these spaces
Taken with 210mm lens

35mm shot, how people use space,
how people react in spaces
Taken with 210mm lens

35mm shot, how people use space,
how people react in spaces
Taken with 210mm lens
(doesn't work in this set)

35mm shot, how people use space,
how people react in spaces
Taken with 210mm lens

Telephoto camera set up

Deconstructing Environment Photographers

The Flatiron Building in New York was and still is a piece of architectural beauty, admired in its day and respected even now. Photographers such as Edward Stieichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Walter Gropius, Walker Evens and Berenice Abbott used it as their main subject in sets of works.

Edward Steichen
The Flation, New York 1905 

Edward Steichens camera position is at street level, with the building very central, however not straight on the camera but slightly at an angle as to enhance the buildings peculiar shape This is a similar camera position to how Alfred Stieglitz and Alvin Langdon Coburn set up for their shots. The position, not directly in front of the building gives a very soft frame to the focal point, which is the Flatiron Building, the way there are objects in the foreground of the image, not so much taking away from the images focal point but creating a relationship with the surroundings and the showing an impressive but impacting presence the building has in these surroundings. The very soft lighting conditions in this image of Steichens gives a very welcoming atmosphere to the viewer a slightly different atmosphere is felt in the Walter Gropius image and Berenice Abbotts image which both seem much colder.

Alfred Stieglitz
The Flatiron 1903

Alfred Stieglitz image of The Flatiron building has the same feeling to it as the images by Coburn and Steichen, the similarities lie in the tonal range as well as the composition. The use of tonal difference from the foreground to the background draws the viewer into the image, brings them in to read everything in turn, from the trees and greenery in the foreground to the dominant skyscraper in the back, but this isn't done in a harsh way or with intention to make the building look overpowering or threatening but in my eyes make it look triumphant and glorifies the building by having it side by side with the greenery and trees and having the building the same size as the tree. This combined with the easy tones of the image gives a relaxed ambiance.
Its easy to make simularities between Stieglitz and Steichen as they influenced each other and as in 1902 they formed the photosession group and became close friends.

Alvin Langdon Coburn
The Flatiron Building 1911

Alvin Langdon Coburns image of the Flatiron Building is very similar to that of Stiechen, in the sense of aesthetics, camera position and focal point. The way the tree frames the top third of the image and the trees along the path on the left hand side of the image channels the eye towards the Flatiron Building, the tonal range is different to Stiechens choice of tones, it seems slightly colder and also done by showing more human life in the image.




I feel as though Steichen, Stieglitz and Coburn work together and seem to have many similarities with each others work and kind of fit into a category of their own. The main similarities seem to be camera position, lighting, tonal range and focal point. However Walter Groupius, Walker Evens and Bernice Abbott seem to have a much different style to these three, a much more graphic or design way of work, maybe more about shape and empty space.

Walter Gropius
The Flatiron Building 1928 

The framing of this image by Walter Gropius is very original and has a feel of the Bauhaus art movement in it. By shooting at an angle the edge of the building cuts the image into two geometric shapes, this is much different to the images of Steichen, Stieglitz and Coburn as they didn't souly focus on the building   but had other subjects such as trees and streets to put the building into some sort of context or scale. The lighting is also much different to these three, the lighting creates slightly harsher contrasts of shadows and as the sky seems to all be one constant blanket of the same tone creates a pale background for the building to become slightly more out of context, almost like a drawing or a design.

Walker Evens
Flatiron Building From Below 1928

 In Walker Evens image of the Flatiron Building he seems to reflect it in a much different way, as Evens was famous for recording the families suffering from the depression he can show this by looking up at the great building, giving it a greater sense of importance and prosperity. The camera position is really close to the building, so much it has to look up at it, lighting similar to Gropius and Abbott but i think this image stands alone against the rest for its much more unusual composition and camera position.






 

Berenice Abbott
Flatiron Building 1938

The final image to look at by Berenice Abbott is most similar to that of Gropius in the way of camera position and composition and lighting, again the one tone lighting gives the space around the building an empty canvas feel and really makes the building come out towards the viewer.
Its hugely different to the images of the first three photographers i looked at, Steichen, Stieglitz and Coburn, although, unlike Gropius, Abbott does show some way down the street, not enough to place the building to the street, in the way of giving it reference and scale to the surroundings. Its more like its showing its dominance to its surroundings rather than to give trees or greenery as scale reference.

In conclusion Steichen, Stieglitz and Coburn relate to each other the most, by having similar camera positions being on the ground level and showing the street or floor as well as the Flatiron Building, also by having a much more varied range of tone .

Gropius, Evans and Abbott seem far distant to that of the other three, much in the ways of camera position being as its looking up, not giving view to the floor. Also by having less of a varied range of tone, giving a blank background in the sky. The difference in time of these photos being taken also must have something t do with why theres so much change, between 1903 - 1911 the photos are rather documentary and by using trees seen to reflect on the past and how change has come fast, the other three glorify the change and its modern surroundings.