I researched a collection of artist for both projects and went on a number of shoots for both. I looked at the work Chris steele-Perkins and Dominic Nahr did in and around the Fukushima power plant as inspiration for evidencing man made light in a dark setting. Both artists documented the area in the three year period after the melt down. The work done at night by both the photographers had a brilliant isolated emptiness that I really wanted to adapt into my own work. There way in which both artist used man made light as a major light source to illuminated there darker images really shaped the way in which I set out to shoot at night. I took a slightly different approach in parts as in some of my images I focused on the light source instead of what it was illuminating. In future I will take a deeper look at the light that is projected by the light source and shape the image around that instead of the light source as the main subject.
For the architectural photography I used the work of again Chris Steele-Perkins and Robert Low. Robert Low took a more abstract approach, focusing on a the architecture as a single piece, an inanimate object, making it look as if it is just the part of building not connected to anything else. Where as Perkins grounded the architecture, showing it as an integrated part of the area, having people in the image, giving the architecture purpose. Although I liked Chris Steele-Perkins more street photography style I shot a lot more in the style Roberts Low, taking a more abstract approach to architectural photography. I also loved the use of desaturation in Low's work, when editing the images I tried desaturation and found it worked perfectly so chose to desaturate all of the architectural shots.
The architectural photography was produced in different locations around the country, as I was visiting a number of large cities on university open days throughout the project. This plethora of images allowed me to gather a really vast catalog of image, it also let me show lots of different styles of architecture as each city was designed differently with totally different buildings. The number of shoots let me shoot in different weather conditions, giving me a perfectly white back drop some day and an atmospheric cloudy sky on others. This really mixed up the images keeping them fresh but not overly inconsitent. I was shooting on a Canon D500 with a standard 70-300 lens. I used a large lens as my subjects were usually quite a distance away and as I was going for a similar style to Robert Low, I needed to make the architecture look as solitary as possible.
The photography of man made light was obviously done at night time. I chose to shoot when it had gone totally dark. A lot of the artists I had looked at shot at dusk and although this gave you a wide amount of detail and more to look at I really wanted to shoot with a totally black backdrop. The totally black backdrop also made it easy to focus the viewers attention on the light sources I was focusing on, You you easily show the light source and the sprawling light it produced without incorporating any other elements. I loved the feeling of isolation that this created, the solo light source almost engulfed in darkness. I was shooting on a Canon D500 with a standard 70-300 lens, I also regularly used a small portable tripod.
As the project progressed I continued to develop on both collections of work, as both collections were very different and the shoot took place at different times they wouldn't interfere and I could continue with both equally. I had hoped to present both collections of work as one. I tried this idea out, placing one image from each project onto a sheet and presenting them together. I produced 6 sheets in total as my final images. I had my doubts about this and when the work was critiqued I found out that other people shared them. People expressed that they thought the theme was unclear, the layout was inconsistent and there was to many final images.
After thinking about the feedback and discussing the work further I decide to completely
remove the images look at man made light and only go with my first idea for the whole project. It was a real shame to cut this collection as there are some really strong images that I really appreciate but I will be able to use them in further projects and possibly add them to my portfolio. The original final images are bellow, these include the man made light images.
I then only had the architectural photography to work with. I went back and edited two new images to add to the collection. I chose to add an image that had clouds in the sky as all but one of my images featured a totally clear sky and I wanted to address the inconsistencies within the architectural images. By adding an extra image with an atmospheric sky it made the solo atmospheric image more consistent. I also added another landscape image making there 7 final images this makes the collection easier to display in the Format exhibition. There are 3 portrait images and 4 landscape. I would make one landscape image (The one with the large building and atmospheric sky) larger and keep all of the other images smaller.
Overall this has been a very good project in my eyes. I have produced two collections of work I am proud, admittedly one better than the other but with progression the man made light project will be extremely interesting and visually impressive.
I think this could possibly be one of my most consistently strong projects to date.
I really enjoyed both of the projects I undertook and will be continuing them both in the future I am now constantly looking for interesting light and the patterns in architecture. I am happy with the work I have produced and even though it changed from my original idea it has turned out really well.
The official final images are bellow.
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