House for an Art Lover

Series

This Isn’t Home Depot and No Smoking
These three by three typologies of architecture features of homes were shot within the city of Stirling, Scotland. One typology is of all doors and was shot at approximately seven feet away and straight on. The other typology is of chimney tops and was shot at about the same upwards angle and varying distances.
I decided to focus on the architecture of a city after being influenced by the work of Charles Marville. His photograph PortalPrincipal de la Cathedrale d’Amiens (1853), along with many of his other photographs of doors, is what motivated me to take photos of the doors within Stirling. Much of Marville’s work focused on areas of cities that were likely to be destroyed so that a newer city could develop in these districts (Getty). This is my reasoning for focusing on the chimney tops of the homes in the Stirling area. I am afraid that many homes no longer use their chimney if they have some other way of heating their home and these beautiful pieces of architecture will be someday be forgotten, reducing to rubble. This is why as the typology is read from left to right and top to bottom the viewer stops on the final bottom left photograph where there are no longer any chimney caps sitting on the chimney.
I chose to take the doors into a more humorous subject by not focusing on the soon to be destruction that Marville did, but instead focus on the wit of Keith Arnatt. The typology done by Arnatt is not what interested me about his work, it was his use of the written word within his photographs. Trouser-Word Piece (1972) is a prime example of the humor and written word photograph that Arnatt is famous for and I tried to parallel with my door typology (Photographers’ Gallery). My door typology is slightly humorous due to having the writing “This isn’t Home Depot,” instead of having just another photograph of a door in the final spot. This is exactly my reason for choosing to photograph these doors in the first place because none of these doors as is could ever be purchased straight from a Home Depot, at least at Home Depots in the United States of America. All of the doors seem to have something uncommon about them, whether it is the color, glasswork, or age.
The typologies done by Bernd and Hilla Becher are the ones that actually fascinated me into produce some typologies of my own. This husband and wife photographing team have produced many urban typologies usually shooting in black and white, and capturing the simplicity of their subjects (MoMA). Their typology that contains all of these elements is Winding Towers, Belgium, Germany (1971-91). The most intriguing part of this typology is the way in which each photograph could be set on top of each other and the top, flat portion and legs of the winding towers would line up almost perfectly. The slight differences in each photograph keep the viewer intrigued in what the series is about. I tried to do this exact same thing with the tops of the doors and chimney stacks in which caps sit on.
Understandably both of these typologies may be looked at and seen as just a repetitive series of similar images that mean nothing. When viewing the typology of doors one must realize the individuality that each door has compared not to just doors that are sold in mass production, but also the other doors within the typology. For people who still use their fireplace and chimney for producing their home with heat may not understand that due to technological advancements many fireplaces have just become decorations and their chimneys no longer puff smoke. This is why the chimney typology has to be viewed as a social statement to danger in which many functional architectural features face as technological advances are made.
Doors can be more than just a portal to a new place. They can be a beautiful piece of art or an individual standing up against monotony. Chimneys have been stopping their smoking habit, not by choice, but due to more practical and efficient forms of home heating systems being introduced into older homes. Both occurring simultaneous within the city of Stirling.


Bibliography
Arnatt, Keith. Trouser-World Piece. 1972. Photograph. Jan Estep. Web. 1 July 2010.
Becher, Bernd, and Hilla Becher. Winding Towers, Belgium, Germany. 1971–91. Photograph. Sonnabend Gallery, New York. MoMA: Bernd and Hilla Becher: Landscape/Typology. Museum of Modern Art. Web. 1 July 2010.
"Charles Marville (Getty Museum)." The Getty. The J. Paul Getty Trust. Web. 01 July 2010.
Marville, Charles. Portal Principal De La Cathedrale D'Amiens. 1853. Photograph. I Photo Central. Web. 1 July 2010.
"MoMA Bernd and Hilla Becher: Landscape/Typology." MoMA The Museum of Modern Art. Web. 01 July 2010.
"The Photographers' Gallery Keith Arnatt: I'm a Real Photographer." The Photographers' Gallery. Arts Council England. Web. 01 July 2010.

Composition Glasgow: Final

This photograph was taken in the House of an Art Lover, a house designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Mackintosh in 1901. The house was designed in order to win a competition that was brought forth by a German magazine.1 This specific room is the Music Room which has a simple design revolving around repetition and its main purpose is for recitals even though it is not like any recital hall ever seen before. The table and chairs in the Music Room are photographed in black and white so that the composition would be focused on instead of the color. The main compositional component in this photograph is the repetition of the chairs and the egg like shapes that are cut into the backs of the chairs. Even the simple repetition of the box shaped windows helps keep the viewer interested. Not only does this repetition keep the eye constrained in the photo but the repetition also done in odd numbers. The odd number of chairs keeps the viewer interested in the photograph because there is normally an even number of chairs surrounding a table and having only three makes the viewer wonder. As this photograph is read from left to right we follow the leading line formed from the tops of the chairs, but the viewer are blocked by the flower that sits on the table. The eye is then drawn back to the left and the viewer is still consumed in the photograph.

1 Glasgow City Council. Bellahouston Park. [Glasgow]: Glasgow City Council. Print.



The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum contains everything from real Egyptian mummy to extremely contemporary pieces of art. Some of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s work is even held in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. These are the lights that hang above the main hall of this building. Though this photograph is not in black and white the composition is still very good. As the viewer reads from left to right his or her eyes are drawn to each of the bright glowing lamps. This brightness is a normal part of composition since the human eye is naturally drawn to the brightest or highest point. Once again the repetition of the lamps plays a big role in keeping the viewer invested in the photograph. The eye is drawn to the lamp that is closest to the viewer then they naturally read left to right. After reaching the last lamp the viewer realize that they have missed the lamp to the left of the one that first grabbed the viewer’s attention. The odd number of lamps keeps the viewer interested in the photograph just as in the previous photograph. The angle at which the photograph was taken allows for the actual boarder of the photograph to keep the eye from trailing off. The viewer hits the last lamp on the far right and then the darkness that is below and to the right of it creates that blocker along with the actual edge of the photograph.

2 Glasgow City Council. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. [Glasgow]: Glasgow City Council, 2006. Print.



This photograph was also taken in the House of an Art Lover but this time on the outside of one of the doorways. These lamps are very similar in style to some Japanese style lamps. Wisconsin architect Frank Lloyd Wright also used this same style in many of his buildings. Sticking with repetition, the eye is drawn from one lamp to the next but is stopped prior to reaching the final lamp. The side of the House of an Art Lover creates a blocker so that the eye is brought back into the picture instead of trailing off to the right since most people read left to right. The leading lines created by the tree line actually draw the eyes to the right as well but is once again stopped by the massive side of the house. The lamps in the photograph are not actually exactly the same, they are similar. The bulbs of some of the lamps are tilted and some of the posts are not centered underneath the canopies. These slight differences in lamps keeps the viewer engaged while the similarities create comfort. Just as in the other two photographs, the odd number of the repeated subject makes the viewer more interested in the photograph.

New Objectivity: Final

New Objectivity, also known as New Photography, was started in the 1920s when photographers decided to stop focusing on nature and start focusing on civilization and its advancements (Jeffery 110). This new movement in photography gave way to many great photographers such as Alexander Rodchenko, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Lucia Moholy. Rodchenko was one of the fist Russian photographers to start shooting in this New Objective style. He photographs usually consisted of abnormal angles where he would take them from a super low angle or an extra high angle to see things from a different perspective (112). Since the point of New Objectivity was to capture an image that was hard, clear, and cold most photographs were taken during the day time so that lines and shadows could appear in their purest form (119). Moholy-Nagy was one of the most well-known photographers of New Objectivity. He took high angle shots of subjects that are very impersonal and industrialized, which is a staple of New Objectivity photography (125). Moholy-Nagy was also a professor at Bauhaus, a German art school that was formed during the World Wars, and taught some New Objective photography (Auckland). Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s wife, Lucia Moholy, attended Bauhaus and became one of the great New Objectivity photographers due to her ability to photograph the reality of many urban structures (Auckland). The point of this series of photographs is to capture the essence of the New Objectivity movement by using acute angles and extreme clarity on the advancements in society.
I was inspired by Rodchenko’s use of almost extreme angles, especially in his Fire Escape (1925). The camera shooting from almost directly below the subject and person in this photograph parallels with the first photograph in my series. Both of the people are made into universal figures by having the bright sky behind them cause them to almost silhouette while they both use manmade objects to keep themselves from falling. Although this one was not done on purpose, my photograph containing the two male waiters shares similarities with Rodchenko’s At Myasnitskie Gate (1932). In both urban settings the eye is drawn to the two men wearing white shirts but then is blocked by on object to the right. Even though both photographs have lamps in them Rodchecko uses his as a block while mine is not. Opposites occur in comparing these photographs; Rodchecko chose to use more tilt than I did, but I chose to shoot from a higher elevation to my subject matter.
The large difference between photographing New Objectivity today and when it first started is that in the 1920s photographers were intrigued by new taller buildings and the ability to shoot a subject from above that could never be done before. Now if we were going to be taking photos from the highest height we could we would be getting a photograph of Earth from space. Nevertheless things do not have to be taken to their extremes so just altering the angle or tilt of a shot a little bit brings back feeling of the New Objectivity movement, and that movement is what this series of photographs is truly all about.

Bibliography
Auckland Art Gallery. "Bauhaus Photography: An Educational Resource." Auckland Art Gallery. Web. 23 June 2010.

Jeffrey, Ian. "Looking to the Future." Photography a Concise History. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Print.

Rodchenko, Alexander. At Myasnitskie Gate. 1932. Photograph. Moscow House of Photography. Web. 23 June 2010.

Rodchenko, Alexander. Fire-escape. 1925. Photograph. Moscow House of Photography. 2001. Web. 23 June 2010.

Pictorialism: Final

Pictorialism started in the late 19th century when photos were becoming too realistic and many photographers wanted to soften and alter their photos to give them the ambiance of paintings (Kingsley). These pictorialist photos focused on light, shadow, air, water and most importantly emotion, rather than the subject or subjects contained within the shot. The point of this series of photos is to hold true the same pictorialist ideals that photographers had during the late 19th century without using computer editing software, just the camera and physical, hands on ways of changing just a photo into a feeling. Many pictorialist photographers formed groups in which they could be among peers with similar artistic visions, such as The Linked Ring (Jeffery 88). Many members of The Linked Ring took artistic nude photographs, as did many other pictorialist photographers of the time (96). These photos were done in good taste and with an amazing pictorialist eye, but I did not subject someone to posing nude for this assignment.
Instead I was inspired by the feeling of Hugo Henneberg’s Osteestrand (1898), the first two photos have a color tint to them which was done by using a blue folder and a candy wrapper. Henneberg used a gum-bichromate process to add color to his photos instead covering his lens with various objects, though many other photographers did use lens covers to alter their photographs (Jeffery 92, 94). Other photos in this series have a foggy appearance that extenuates any light being casted was done by breathing on the camera lens. During the late 19th and early 20th century this effect was obtained by having the camera slightly out of focus, due to new technology most cameras have auto focus so the easiest way to obtain the soft look is by breathing on the lens. The delicate clouds that can be seen in some of the less fogged photos draw upon Henneberg’s ability to capture the pictorialist idea of atmosphere in such photos as Osteestrand (1898) and Italienische Villa Im Herbst (1898). Henneberg was a member of The Linked Ring (Kingsely 2009), a group of both European and American amateur photographers created in 1892 (Jeffery 88).
Another member of The Linked Ring inspired all of my photos and that man is Alvin Langdon Coburn (Kingsley). Coburn produced many photos with street lamps in them, such as Westminster Abbey (1909) and Broadway at Night (1909). I looked upon his From Westminister Bridge (1909) where there almost seems to be a silhouette of the street lamp and background, and his Broadway at Night (1909) where the street lamps cast their own light producing glowing orbs, powerful shadows, and stunning reflections. These beautiful urban images are truly awe inspiring and encompass one of the most common shots of pictorialists.
I tried to capture both sides of what was most commonly shot in pictorialist photos by drawing inspiration from two photographers with photos with both influences. In the 1890s photographers focused more on nature, leaves, forests, and landscapes which is why all of my photos have some form of nature contained within them (Jeffery 101). In the 1900’s pictorialism focused more on the urban side of the world by taking photos of streets, buildings, and anything else that was industrial (101). This is just another reason why I chose to have the urban street lamp set within my photos. The combining of two main themes of the pictorialist movement together while taking photos in a way that is similar to many pictorialist photographers embodies pictorialism as a whole and that is what I did with this series of photos.

Original

Items used to alter image

Bibliography

Coburn, Alvin L. Broadway at Night. 1909. Photograph. Masters of Photography. Web. 20 June 2010.
Coburn, Alvin L. Westminster Abbey. 1909. Photograph. Morehouse Gallery. Web. 20 June 2010.
Henneberg, Hugo. Italienische Villa Im Herbst. 1898. Photograph. The Art of Photogravure. Web. 20 June 2010.
Henneberg, Hugo. Ostseestrand. 1898. Photograph. The Art of Photogravure. Web. 20 June 2010.
Jeffrey, Ian. "Truths Beyond Appearance." Photography a Concise History. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Print.
Kingsley, Hope. "Pictorial Photography." The Museum of Modern Art. Oxford University Press, 2009. Web. 20 June 2010.