Mind Maps filled with different photographers work, and what they specialise
in. The themes focused on are Urban abstract photography, Urban abstract and
Urban repetition. Throughout this project of 'Urban photography' I will be focusing
on street photography, which is taking photos of graffiti and street art. Also, 'Capturing
the moment' which is taking photos at a certain unexpected time, to create effects.
Finally, the last topic is Urban abstract which is the taking of photos of big, busy cities
and city life.
in. The themes focused on are Urban abstract photography, Urban abstract and
Urban repetition. Throughout this project of 'Urban photography' I will be focusing
on street photography, which is taking photos of graffiti and street art. Also, 'Capturing
the moment' which is taking photos at a certain unexpected time, to create effects.
Finally, the last topic is Urban abstract which is the taking of photos of big, busy cities
and city life.
First response
Paul Gonella
Paul Gonella originally started taking photos when he was a young teenager. In 1987, Gonella was 14 and took his first photos on a school trip to Russia. Paul claimed he long held on to a dream of visiting the still communist USSR, and that eventually was coming true and he passionately wanted to document it. From this point onwards Paul Gonella decided that he wanted to document his life back home, and in response to this he took photos of his friends skateboarding to capture great motion photos. Over the past years like any photographer, PauI moved on from one cheap compact camera to one of the most highest quality cameras available. Until he took a long a trip to San Francisco in 1997, where he decided he wanted more control over the cameras he owned. In result to this, he began to experiment massively with his cameras. Paul also mentioned in one of his interviews,that he wanted to set his own shutter speeds, to capture more quicker motion photos. As well as experimenting on improving exposure, depth of field and focus.
For this topic in response to Urban Photography, our first tasks where to base photographs on Urban city life, and to capture photographs that reveal what its like to have busy life in the city. The 3 themes in this topic are... abstract and close up shapes, graffiti and street art, and finally capturing the moment. All three of these themes each have a massive input in the genuine city life, which is why they are all key points in this photography topic.
Street ART & GRAFF1T1
Street art and graffiti is usually found in high crime and poverty stricken locations, this is why some people have different opinions of it, Some see street art as a form of friendly and creative artwork which tell interesting stories. However, some disagree with this because they feel it is an eyesore in the community and unnecessary. Both street art and graffiti have both positive and negative views in the personal opinion of the general public. Regardless to these views, both of these arts are apart of urban life and culture and can be found all around the world, and in result to this they are also a key part of urban photography and character.
I took the majority of these photos in my home city of Southampton, however during a trip to Brighton I captured a collection of street art which the community pay artists to do on some of the electricity boxes around the coastal city. Some of which included birds and characters from popular tv programmes.
I took the majority of these photos in my home city of Southampton, however during a trip to Brighton I captured a collection of street art which the community pay artists to do on some of the electricity boxes around the coastal city. Some of which included birds and characters from popular tv programmes.
ABSTRACT AND CLOSE UP SHAPE
Abstract and close up, this theme is based on taking photographs of close up shapes around the city such as fences around buildings and secure metal containers that are usually found in more urban areas than rural and less densely populated areas. Also this theme is based on abstract photographs. Abstract is the capturing of something in a way in which it would not usually be seen. for example looking for key details, looking for patterns, lines and colors that complete a subject with its key features to make the image engaging to its viewer.
Capturing the moment
Urban Landscape
This is one of my favourite images so far in this project. The subject of this image is urban landscape. My purpose of taking this photo was to capture the urban atmosphere and the intense and vibrant artificial lights against the gentle and exciting, sunset background. I originally took this photograph in Brighton, I found it very apealing because its coastline is filled with bright and exciting lamps and string lights all around its hotels and restaurants so it appeals and attracts many tourists from around the world. I believe my photograph focuses on the urban culture and how lively the cities can be both day and night. I have digitally manipulated this image with Photoshop by using tools such as; brightness and contrast, curves tool and hue and saturation. I found that the curves tool provided me with a more light and colourful background where as it also balanced out the contrast on the buildings to give them a nice suttle amber tone.
IMAGE MANIPULATING
Step by step on how to simply create mirrored and an conjoined image by selecting a particular photo or a handful and flipping and merging them together to get reflected building effects and interesting patterns and view points of photographs. Here is an example of a photo I took and how I achieved a merged and diverse image.
Moholy-Nagy
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy is a Hungarian-American Designer, Filmmaker, Painter, Photographer and Sculptor who lived from the early 1900's to the late 1940's. Moholy-Nagy was born in a small farming town in southern Hungary; his father abandoned his family when he was young, and his mother took Laszlo and his younger brother to live with their grandma until he left to study law elsewhere. He discovered a passion for drawing, and though he finished his law degree he moved from law to painting were he mainly painted in a cubism style. Although Moholy-Nagy considered himself as a painter throughout much of his life and career, he also produced a great deal of photography and his first wife he met in Berlin in 1920 was a talented photographer and went on to record the Bauhaus years with her camera also helped him with the artistic discovery of photography. Together the couple experimented with photograms (camera-less photographs in which light-sensitive paper is exposed directly to light), which allowed Moholy to explore light and shade, transparency, and form. His personal experiments in light and shadow reinforced photography's value as a subjective medium; recent passing years have brought more international attention to Moholy-Nagy's achievements with around several major museums organizing retrospectives, including the Tate Modern in London.
City life- #London
Old Northam
We visited Old Northam in Southampton by the outskirts of the city centre in response to Urban photography. Old Northam is a worn down place filled with a variety of people from different cultures and beliefs. because of its unique characteristics its perfect to capture vintage and old century buildings. I enjoyed taking photos at old Northam because of its history and old layout, during my project I plan to visit old Northam again to capture some more ghostly images and run down areas for the exam.
Living the city life, wild and free
In these photographs you may've noticed how blurred they are and unclear they may appear. I have deliberately created this effect on my photos by blowing on my camera lens to create condensation, this is a new technique I found out about and thought about trying, and in response to this experiment I really enjoyed the outcome of these particular photos and would like to try it again for my final pieces.