The following Rework is based on my tutor (link) – Assignment 6 – Tutor feedback
Updated text based on annotated feedback with a focus on referencing improvements including references to typology and a Paul Davis essay defining it.
Updated ALL site 3 images to ensure tighter alignment
Grid view created for Site 1, 2 & 3 – Research link Suggested Research – Hilla and Bernd Becher
Brief
Produce a series of images that responds to the idea of ‘transitions’ within the landscape.
Introduction
Between the second half of 2019 and the first of 2020 the world has gone through a huge transition in itself. Because of that transition I have had to adapt this assignment according to that change.
In August of last year, I decided to observe the urban landscape from a high-rise building. I had good access and it provided multiple views which would hopefully shed some light on how transitions in an urban landscapes transition. I visited this location around fourteens times in total which was almost every week. The time I visited was fixed between around 12 and 2pm. This led the study to be more regimented resulting in a focus on more on man-made orientated changes as well as atmospheric
Reflective Commentary (300 words)
We watch the world change in front of our eyes yet when we capture that change what are we doing? A Photographic typology study. We identify using a distinct approach images which have both consistent elements as well as differences all for a distinct reason. In his essay Can the Photographic typology be defined? Paul Davis said the following:
Arguably, the primary reasons to create a photographic typology would be to either create a connection between subjects that share no obvious visual relationship. Or to compare and highlight differences and/or similarities between subjects that do share a visual relationship.
Paul Davis 2017.
Consistency is a vital factor which enables the differences in objects and structures to shine through. In my work the location and framing being fixed as well as the majority of the landscape enables the changes going on within the landscape more noticeable. These included both man made changes such as traffic and construction to more environmental changes and how they altered the visual aspect of the landscape. I realised as a study the long term benefits were the most important.
A good example is this is the work of Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe who have put together in The Third View (thirdview.org,2020) an astonishing collection of comparative shots which span nearly 130 years. (davidleverettlpe. 2020) While my work can reveal the speed of development and construction of a city, theirs reveals a bigger picture and demonstrates the drastic changes which are occurring to our environment (byronwolfe.com,2020). With further time though of course my view could do the same.
Jem Southam is another photographer who has proven the longer we record the more we can learn. In an interview with Brad Feuerhelm for the AmericaSuburbsx.com website he said the following:
These stories go back and back, some are specific to a family, some specific to a culture and some are part of our human heritage. A single picture, if one allows it, can provoke an extraordinary wealth of thoughts and associations, put two together and then place them in sequence of others’
Jem Southam. 2019
Once we are in Southam’s mindset, these images can tell us stories of our culture and heritage they become much more than flashy time lapses we see so often online. (davidleverettlpe, 2020) .One example that was a halt in construction around the first week of October. For two weeks the construction didn’t move. The reason was that workers had stopped for the national holiday. Quite simply when you know, but it makes you realise how much more you can learn from landscape.
Presentation method
I explored various methods of presenting for this digital submission and after researching about the work of Hilla and Bernd Bechers typology approach I was inspired to follow in their footsteps. By strictly lining up the images and places them in a grid format the viewer is forced to perceive the images as a collection. This ultimately means we visual play a game of spot the difference. Instead of seeing what is the same we see what is different. Th)s is exactly the mentally the pair wanted as even though their work was influential in making typographic studies seen as art, they saw it as a science. (Tate, 2020. / DavidLeverett,V. 2020.)
Location 1 – A combination of 14 images
Images
Combination image (3 images)
Grid view
Location 2 – A combination of 13 images
Images
Combination image (3 images)
Grid view
Alternate transitions
Out of necessity I have adapted into attempting a few alternate transitions. These were taken once I refocused on this assignment. This currently consists of three days work in which I did day time shots from the same window roughly every hour. I will continue to build on this part of the assignment but doing a short term transitional exercise has taught me several things which didn’t come to my attention in the longer-term project. Subtle changes such as shifting shadows and changes in sharpness of light based on the position of the sun probably being the biggest thing I noticed. Time of year of course is also vital and doing this exercise in spring time when the weather is in state of flux compared to the first two locations proves that when deciding how you want your landscape to appear will be driven by everything from time of year, to month or even hour of the day as they all affect the scene as this proves.
Images （ A selection of the 41 created – See contact sheet)
Grid view
Technical information
All images were taken with my Canon 750D cropped sensor. I ensured each shot was taken at 18mm as well as making sure I had the optimum focal length buy using F11. On some of the over cased this changed to F13 as it depended on the light. Due to the location, I didn’t always have my tripod with me but I marked a position in the window to ensure consistency. The final images for the videos below have been aligned and cropped to give a more fluid transition. This also involved creation of a youtube channel to host the videos and keep track. I consistently used the Av mode so that I could keep the F stop fixed but this also enabled me to observe how the light would affect the shutter speed. This small detailed improved my knowledge on how the camera see’s the world and how it adjusts to different conditions. In the last set of images I did more shots at dusk and without a tripod and still using the Av setting I was exposed to how my camera would at times over compensate for a lack of light and as a result the final image was not representing reality. This practice was vital to furthering my experience in how the camera see the world, replicating it and ultimately then deciding how I want it to look. (davidleverettlpe, Day posts 1,2 &3. 2020)
Bibliography
Davis. P. 2017. Can the Photographic typology be defined?. [online] At https://medium.com/@pdtv/can-the-photographic-typology-be-defined-bfa38d5699f3 Accessed 16 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Research – The third view online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at:https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/research-the-third-view/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Klett.M and Wolfe B. The Third View. [online] At http://www.thirdview.org/3v/home/index.html Accessed 19 April 2020.
Byronwolfe.com. 2020. Byronwolfe.Com. [online] At: https://www.byronwolfe.com/yosemite-in-time/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Tate. (2020). Who are Hilla and Bernd Becher? [online] At https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/bernd-becher-andhilla-becher-718/who-are-bechers Accessed 15 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Suggested Research – Hilla and Bernd Becher [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. At: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/suggested-research-hilla-and-bernd-becher/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Southam. J Interview: The Pastoral Moth. 2019. By Brad Feuerhelm. [online interview] At https://americansuburbx.com/2019/03/jem-southam-interview-the-pastoral-moth.html Accessed 18 April 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Research – Jem Southam [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/research-jem-southam/> Accessed 15 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Day 1 post [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/17/daily-transitions-part-1/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Day 2 post [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/daily-transitions-part-2/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Day 3 post [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/daily-transitions-part-3/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
OCA Core Posts
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Contact sheets – Sites 1 & 2 [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/contact-sheets-sites-1-2/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Contact sheets – Sites 3 [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/contact-sheets-site-3/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Assessment Criteria [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/assignment-6-assessment-criteria/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Technical practice
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Technical research – Auto Blend / Auto Align [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2020/01/10/technical-research-auto-blend-auto-align/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Davidleverettlpe, V., 2020. Location update – 6 – Two added and youtube video set up [online] Photography 2 – Landscape, Place and Environment. Available at: https://david271289517.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/location-update-6-two-added-and-youtube-video-set-up/ Accessed 15 May 2020.
Photography 2 - Landscape, Place and Environment 
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