Introduction
At first glance this
assignment should be pretty straightforward; produce 12 photographs in the
style of an established photographer about whom I have already performed
detailed researched. However, applying
the word “style” to the complete oeuvre of an established photographer is not a
simple task. Over a career exceeding 30 years Andreas Gursky’s style has
evolved, he has experimented with techniques, explored concepts, and
occasionally changed direction. His
current style, that for which he is understandably famous, is one of complex
multi-layered composite images, containing dramatic contrast in both shadow and
colour. This is quite different to the
work he did shortly after graduating from the Düsseldorf art academy, the
Pfötner and studies of suburban 1980’s Germany.
Even considering his more recent work; without knowing that the
photograph was a Gursky, would one naturally associate “Rhein II” with “Bergwerk
Ost”, a highly stylistic flat landscape with a deep shadowy image of miners
clothing?. Both images share many
attributes in their size, construction, and reference to modernist abstract
art, but at the same time offer a very different visual experience.
Prior to even
synthesizing a definition of Gursky’s style, a more basic question must be
answered; what does it mean to produce work in the style of? Where is my style in this equation? To what degree should I balance my own
aesthetic to that of my chosen “style guru”?
At a very early stage in the development of this assignment I realized
that I could not and should not attempt to imitate the work of Gursky. So what
was I to do, I was becoming concerned that I had bitten off far more than I
could chew in my selection of Gursky for my essay.
My eventual answer
lay in consideration of my own style rather than that of Gursky. I took a step back and looked at my recent
work and how this has evolved during the past 2 years. I realized that a number of key elements from
the manner in which Gursky constructed his images were beginning to unconsciously
appear in my own photography.
Taking these elements
and combining them with what I have learned from my conscious exploration of
Gursky’s work, I have identified the following aspects of his style or approach
that I want to bring to my own work:
·
Ensuring
that the subject fills the frame, even completely spanning the image space
·
Making
the frame a strong element in the definition of the photograph
·
Imposing
a very clearly defined rectilinear geometry to the photograph
·
Creating
a very distinct image plane that will contain the subject matter
·
Controlling
colour in a very precise and strongly delineated manner
The realization was
not to imitate Gursky’s style, but to channel elements of his image construction
into my own work. My task was to produce
a set of photographs that were distinctly my own work, but at the same time
infused with learning from my study of Andreas Gursky.
Having decided on a
philosophical approach to this assignment, subject matter became the next
question. I needed to continue my study
of the city landscape, but this time get closer. So far I have dealt with monuments, places of
worship, and park land, in essence formal public spaces shared by the citizens
of the city. Now I needed to do
something more intimate. My first
thought was to study heavily used spaces, environments in which I could even
imitate Gursky’s multi-layered composite image building. Initial experiments with this technique were
disappointing and not really me, so something new was needed.
Subject
An accident led to
subject selection. Our cat, Doro,
managed to get herself lost; 3 days before our annual vacation to Borneo. We searched high and low, executed a poster
campaign, even delayed departure by 3 days, but no sign. With very heavy hearts we eventually accepted
the inevitable and drove to Frankfurt to stay a night before catching the 12
hour flight to Malaysia. That morning 3
hours before the flight departed she sauntered back into our house, very
hungry, but otherwise fine. The SMS from
our cat sitting next door neighbour led to a very happy and ultimately boozy
journey.
Looking for a tiny
ginger cat led me into an ever expanding circle of exploration and a very
detailed awareness of the local landscape.
We live in the city grid in an area dominated by apartment blocks. Outwardly these apartment blocks look bland and
faceless but within each there is an interior space of great variety and
contrast. In German these spaces are
called “Innenhof”, inner courtyards.
Ideal places for a small cat to hide in; they are very private spaces normally
only experienced by people who live locally.
They provide space for parking, playgrounds for the kids, areas to relax
in the sun, somewhere to hang the washing, and in the summer a safe spot to
light the barbeque.
On returning from
vacation I set out to create a photographic study of the Innenhof’s in my
immediate neighbourhood. This required a
considerable amount of exploration and also discretion, these are shared but at
the same time private spaces. I resolved
to pretend to be looking for a new apartment if challenged, using my camera to
record the area for later reflection when choosing my new home. I did not set any limit on distance; however,
I was able to complete the study to my satisfaction traveling no further than a
quarter mile from where I live. The
number of possible spaces to explore essentially grew with the square of my
distance from home. In all I probably
explored around 40-50 different Innenhof.
The spaces I
discovered varied dramatically, each reflecting the lives and wealth of the
people living in the surrounding buildings.
Some spaces were virtually derelict, others pristinely groomed. On the whole they reflected the orderliness
that Germans are justifiably stereotyped with.
What also became clear was that these were transient places, I found
many under redevelopment, and during shooting one local space was completely
demolished, my photo now becoming a record of a lost landscape.
Practice
The greatest challenge with this assignment was my need
to respect the privacy of the residents of the places I was photographing. The subject matter, buildings and gardens,
would have ideally suited my Canon DSLR coupled with a wide angle tilt-shift
lens, all mounted on a sturdy tripod. This
would also have attracted immediate attention and most likely led to some
uncomfortable discussions about what I was doing and why. Germany is truly a difficult place in which
to work on public photography projects.
I opted, instead, to use a small handheld fixed lens compact camera, a
Fujifilm X100, a very nice Christmas present from my wife. The fixed 35mm viewpoint of the lens worked
very well for this subject. It enabled
me to create the frame edge to frame edge aesthetic I wanted and the high ISO abilities
of the sensor meant I could work handheld in poor light.
Technically I had to contend with two principal problems,
light and architecture. Inside the courtyards
I was working at the foot of 5 or 6 story buildings, on sunny days the contrast
between sunlit areas and shadows completely obscured the detail of what I was
trying to capture. Subsequently I could
only shoot when the sky was overcast, limiting the number of days on which I
could work. Fortunately, my choice of a
local subject meant that I could rapidly react to good light and run out with
my camera.
The second problem, architecture, required care both when
taking the images and in post processing.
If I had been able to use my DSLR I could have emulated Gursky’s very
precise large format camera framing approach, ensuring that verticals remained
vertical and parallel lines did not converge unless I wanted them to. With a handheld camera I did not have this
precision, but still had to be very conscious of my position relative to the
building and of not tilting the camera up or down. An Innenhof is dominated by straight lines,
any perspective error would be immediately visible in the final print. The hardest problem was ensuring that I
maintained the image sensor plane exactly parallel to the wall of the building
facing the camera. At time of shooting
converging vertical lines are quite easy to see, horizontal ones are a much greater
challenge. With care I was able to limit
the amount of work needed in post processing and keep any perspective
adjustments within limits consistent with not badly degrading image quality.
Learning
As I write this I am
currently in the bay area, South of San Francisco, on an extended business
trip. I have a camera with me, but so
far have struggled to take any photographs.
All around me is the sprawling US suburban landscape, so redolent of
Stephen Shore, Lee Friedlander, or Robert Adams. This is something I have dreamed of
photographing many times, walking in the photographic footsteps of people I
greatly admire. The problem is that I
have no connection to it; I have no relationship with what I am seeing. The landscape appears as a random
kaleidoscope of picture potential, but with no connections.
I realize is that my
photographs are not individual standalone expressions of art; they are always
part of extended studies. I can no
longer simply take a photograph or even admire a single photograph; I want to
see a book, a series, a set of images that exist with context and
narrative. Frequently I reject a photo,
individually more pleasing/impressive/structured/meaningful (pick an adjective)
than the others in my submissions, because it is not part of the story or does
not align graphically with the others in the set. During my studies for this course I have
developed a strong sense of the relationships that exists within series’ of photographs.
This is the single most
important thing I have learned so far and I believe it has taken me to a new
place in the creation and contemplation of photographs.
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