Surreal Cities
Ted Van Cleave Ted van cleave has set the scene of tall, towering buildings, By doing so the image portrays a sense of tranquility. This is surprising as looking up to towering buildings could feel daun=ng. However the composi=on and mixture of colours within the photo calms the mood and gives the viewer a sense of s=llness. This is because the colours flow from the building through to the sky and reflect each other, this strengthens the sense of tranquility. This image is very visually striking because whilst reflec=ng each other and emana=ng each others colours; the building is s=ll dis=nct from the sky. This allows the viewer to see a clear difference and see the subject maDer simultaneously. I think a though this image does not capture a city it does capture the sense of one, this is because the shapes we see in the image is immersed in a city style a feel. Van Cleave uses a limited range of colours in this piece, although it calms the mood, it makes the image itself look very flat. The dominant colour I see is turquoise. This is a muted, s=ll colour adding to the sense. There is an emphasis on the glass in this image reflec=ng the surroundings. This could make the image very personal to the viewer as it calls for reflec=on through the physical reflec=on we see. Studying Ted Van Cleave I feel very influenced by his work and more over, this par=cular piece. I hope to refer back to the elements he uses and apply them to my photos.
Jonny Goodboy Goodboy has created a sense of enclosure in his work. He has done this through the composi=on of the photograph. The buildings in the foreground are the key factors of this enclosure, their features give shape to the composi=on, which in turn close in on us. However I do not think this was Goodboys original inten=on. The typical London scene has been captured in nice weather; reflec=ng mood. There is also a blend of reasonably calm and bright colours. I believe the =me of day has been implemented inten=onally to portray the calm London scene, during ‘working hours’ it is however a very subtle feature. This is so the audience no=ce it slowly and possibly, not realize its presence at all. The main focal point would be the two buildings leaning over. Maybe how the =tle has been generated. ‘The towering spirit of London’. But to oppose this and possibly balance the composi=on, a red bus has been captured in the middle background They bring us back to the uninten=onal subject maDer of enclosure, and maybe bring the audience to the idea of London's height in authen=city; if the old buildings have been purposely chosen. I believe these photos to be a combina=on of the old and the new, through the visual balance of building and bus It appears goodboy is almost trying to show off London. This is clarified through the iconic loca=on of ST.Pauls and, again the red bus.
The collabora=on of these two and the main focal point sends the message of London's ‘surealness’. This becomes the sole message being connoted to the audience. I intend to use key features of Goodboys work in my own. However I do not intend to keep the same =me of day, and I will be trying to see if the fish eye lens effect works with other loca=ons in London. I do hope to relate to the calm sense amongst a busy loca=on and possibly the enclosed sense. The composi=on of the buildings is a feature that I will find difficulty with but I hope to achieve It in a similar way.
My first idea was to take pictures of London in prominent loca=ons and then developing them in a way that changes the viewers perspec=ve, and view on the loca=on. I started with my ini=al photographs by edi=ng colours dras=cally. I have used strong, bright colours so that it highlights the scurrility of the reality of London. I then went on to use the ‘warp’ tool in Photoshop to manipulate the shape of the objects captured in the photo. This tool allowed me to do so whilst maintaining the shape of the frame. This was in the hope of crea=ng a fish eye lens effect without the actual lens. I have tried to avoid the typical view of any famous city; a landscape that follows a horizontal flow. I have taken photos up close to portray the towering sense of enclosure and height that I have seen in the work of Jonny Goodboy and Ted Van Cleave.
Nicholas Kennedy SiDon
Thomas Birke Thomas Birke sets a sense of quietness. This is a surprising feature as the loca=on would suggest otherwise. I believe the colours lead to this sense and the =me of day. These features also lead to an atmospheric feel capturing surility along the way. Birke uses a wide range of strong colours. These are mixed with lights and dark shadows throughout the city, these support the colours and increase the boldness and define them. I have come to like this feature. There is a opposi=onal feel to these images aswell that I see, there is very busy imagery but the colours suggest a different sense, one of quietness which I noted earlier. I hope to have a clear rela=on to the work of Thomas Birke in my third idea as I really like his ideas and find his images interes=ng to study. I would like to look more at how he has an elevated angle and shoots above what he is trying to capture.
1st Final outcome
2nd Final outcome
3rd Final outcome
4th Final outcome
5th Final outcome
Evalua=on The project ‘Surreal ci=es’ considering all aspects, overall went well. For idea 1 I did not know what to expect, however I think the ini=al photos came out nice; this led to an interes=ng development of idea 1 following the concepts put forward by an ar=st I found online. Using the warp tool to manipulate the shapes and buildings within the image was very effec=ve in capturing a surreal city. This development implemented the surility that the project requires in a very strong and obvious way. I believe this was the best approach to to it. Shoo=ng idea 1 was a mixture of new and old experiences, I kept the loca=ons the same within reason of my first project but I looked into taking images from different angles and subject maDers. Idea 2 took a liDle longer to take off as I couldn't’t find an adequate way of portraying a surreal nature within a city. However a]er considera=on I produces the images shown in idea 2. I was originally unsure whether they were of good standard but with the development they turned out well and I think have captured the surreal sense more effec=vely than idea 1. Idea 3 was lastly an effort to increase the quality of the project as a whole. I took these from the top of the sharde in London. These were not originally taken for the project, however I believed they would be able to suffice for a surreal effect. I see that this sense is mainly focusing on the angle of the shots and the height. I then used a blur technique on top of this feature to increase this surreal factor during the development. I believe these turned ok, however comparing them to the other two ideas I would conclude that they are the weaker of the three. I chose to look at Ted Van Cleave and Jonny Goodboy, these two ar=st have influenced my work in a strong way and have inspired me. The aspects put forward within their work has helped to a good extent in development of ini=al photos mostly. I believe the angles in Ted Van Cleaves work led to some of my images, finally Jonny Goodboys imagery of London led to my developments which allowed me to capture the surility of the project. I believe I have implemented these features in a strong way tweaking and changing some aspects to make the work clearly my own. With some complica=ons in genera=ng ideas I think my outcomes for each idea work well.