PHOTOGRAPHERS ANALYSIS by eleanor duke
Hans-Christian Schink
Peenebr端cke Jarmen. 2002
Peenebr端cke Jarmen, 2002
Elbebr端cke bei Magdeburg, 2003
Hans-Christian Schink grew up as a son of an art teacher and a university teacher of Art and Art History. He studied from 1986 to 1991 in photography at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts at Joachim Jansong . From 1991 to 1993 he was a student at the university. In the following years he got more work scholarships, including in 1997 by the Foundation Cultural Fund for the Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf and 2008 from the Else Heiliger Fund of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation . In 2002, he was “artist in residence” at Künstlerhaus Villa Aurora , Los Angeles. He has received several awards; in 2004 the German Photo Book Award in the category photo illustrated books for his book “Transportation Projects” and 2008 worth 50,000 euro international REAL Photography Award. Hans-Christian Schink systematically works on photo series or groups of works with a wide range of photographic subjects and content. The development in 1993 a photographic series “From Leipzig by Günther village”. In the style of documentary photography, he shows buildings and streets such as landscape cutouts along the road from the outskirts of Leipzig Merseburger to a shopping centre outside. This series is reminiscent of Ed Ruscha’s famous work “Every building on the Sunset Strip” of 1966. The photo series describes increasing changes in the (urban) landscape in eastern Germany after reunification. In 1997 he made the series “Flämig” that shows an East German landscape in which the change occurs is delayed, not just individual houses have been renovated and much reminiscent of the GDR era. Hans-Christian Schink is known for his series of photo on the gigantic work of road and rail infrastructure in which Germany was launched after reunification.
background are all dead and falling down showing the natural area has been ruined. This photograph conveys emotions of passion because the area has been destroyed for human use. Although the bridge to benefit humans it has destroyed the environment. This photograph explores the idea of nature and how it is not being looked after and is destroyed by large structures that aren’t pleasing to look at.
Peenebrücke Jarmen. 2002 (Bridge over River) This photograph shows a bridge, which has been built over a river. This is where a natural environment has been destroyed or at least tarnished by a man made feature. I think that this photograph is dull looking because the bridge is a dismal grey colour, which has been put in a place which used to be a light, bright and airy place. The trees in the
I have chosen this photograph because it shows how something looking so beautiful can be destroyed by something looking so ugly. This shows the relationship between the two. The rest of the photograph is filled with the nature area that has been destroyed and build over. This photograph has been taken looking up the show how big the bridge is and shows the impact it gives.
This photograph has been taken at an angle where you are able to see clearly the environment in the background and the large structure that has been built on it. This photograph has got good natural lighting so that the photograph is of a high quality. This photograph wasn’t taken on a sunny day but that is to compliment the mood and atmosphere of the photograph. The large structured bridge spreads across the foreground right back to the background. This shows how large the bridge is and the area of damage and disruption it has caused. The nature environment is mainly in the background of this photograph. This could be because it is showing how non-important it is. The focus is sharp in the foreground but the background is slightly blurred. This could be because again the nature is in the background and it is being portrayed as nonimportant with the bridge dominating. There is only a small range of colours that are dull, no interesting or contrasting bright colours. There are only small patches of green where the natural area is still alive. Most of the photograph is filled with the bridge to show that it is the most important. The rest of the photograph is filled with the natural area that has been destroyed and built over. This photograph has been taken looking up to show how big the bridge is and shows the impact it gives.
photograph. Parts are included as this shows that you can see it is destroyed and the large structure is over the top of it. The focus is sharp on the struture/ bridge because it is the main part of the photograph. This country side area in the background is slightly blurred to show that it is not important. The structure is a light colour which makes it stand out and contrast with the background. The background is made up of very dack and dull colours. Quite a lot of the frame is filled with the object and the rest is empty. The emptiness of the photograph shows how the countryside area has been destroyed and abandoned. This photograph has been taken from a high angle so that you can look across at the structure but down on the countryside environment. This backs up the idea of power and importance of human influence over the natural world.
Bridge over Countryside This photograph shows that a large structure has been placed in an area which has now been destroyed. This photograph has a very dismal mood because the country side has been destroyed and ruined by a structure. This photograph conveys emotions of anger because it disrupts the peacefulness of the environment and the beauty of the landscape. This phtograph explores thoughts of nature and beauty because parts of the area have been destroyed for human use. This photograph has been styled in a way that it is showing the large sturcture as the main part of the photograph. This is aiming to show that the bridge is more inportant than the countryside which is pushed to the background. The light is shining on the large structure making it stand out. It emphasises the structure backing up the point that it is the most important part of the photograph. The structure is stretched across the foreground and the background. The counrtyside area is also in the foreground and background but you are able to mostly see it in the background making it look like it isnt an important part of the photograph. A large part of the countryside has been excluded from the frame because it is a less important aspect of the
I like this photograph because from looking at it once or twice you aren’t able to see the hidden messages that i have explored but when you look further into the photograph you are able to see the relationship between the structure and the countryside. I like that they have made it look like the bridge is the focus point of this photograph and then you are able to see that it is placed onto the natural environment. I like the angle that this photographer has used because it is interesting and looks down on the counrtyside making it look less important to relate to the hidden message. I would say that they are opposites. It’s a juxtapostion.
Walking-the-High-Line
Joel Sternfeld
Joel Sternfeld was born in 1944 and is a fine-art colour photographer. He is noted for his largeformat documentary pictures of the United States and helping establish colour photography as a respected artistic medium. Sternfeld has a number of pieces of work in the permanent collections of the MOMA in New York City and the Getty Centre in Los Angeles. He has influenced a generation of colour photographers, including Andreas Gursky, who borrows many of Sternfeld’s techniques and approaches. Joel Sternfeld has exposed a strip of land running through the heart of one of the world’s densest cities which has somehow escaped the clutches of the real-estate developers for the last 25 years. Raised 30 feet in the air, cutting through converted factories and dividing city blocks, the “High Line” runs from Manhattan’s West Village up to 34th Street. It was built in the 1930s to accommodate the traffic from ships docking at the piers on the Hudson River. The line saw its last train in 1980 and has since languished in a state of sublime oblivion. Sternfeld was part of a group of local residents who formed an advocacy group called ‘Friends of the High Line’ who campaigned for the preservation and re-use of the line. They succeeded and work has now started on creating an innovative public space of urban parkland designed by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Sternfeld earned a BA from Dartmouth College and teaches photography at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. He began taking colour photographs in 1970 after learning the colour theory of Johannes Itten and Josef Albers. Colour is an important element of his photographs. American Prospects is Sternfeld’s most known book and explores the irony of human-altered landscapes in the United States. To make the book, Sternfeld photographed ordinary things, including unsuccessful towns and barrenlooking landscapes. Walking the High Line(photograph with rail tracks) This photograph is taken of an odd railway in a city with nature and plants growing over it. This photograph has a rather muted and drab atmosphere as there are not any bright colours in it. This photograph explores the ideas of nature.
This is because this piece of nature/green land was covered up and destroyed by a railway track and after a period of time it has grown its way up again. An area of perfect land has been destroyed by something imperfect. The lighting on this photograph is making the nature area stand out. This is because it is emphasising the fact it has grown back up and shouldn’t have been destroyed in the first place. You are able to see the city in the background which shows that this photograph was taken in a rural place. In the foreground you are able to see the nature which has grown up and the tracks which look old. This photograph has been stylised so that you are able to see the nature and environment growing over the tracks of the railway. This shows that it has been destroyed but making its way back to life. You are able to see the city faintly in the background of this photograph which shows that it has been built over the natural environment which was there at the beginning. The lighting of this photograph is mainly focusing on the natural and emphasising these areas. This is because it is showing it has almost come back to life. The lighting is not focused on the city buildings as there is a slight mist. A large part of the nature/plants have been included in this photograph and not so much of the city. There isn’t a large range of colours used in this photograph. The lighter colours are in the foreground in the nature area of this photograph this is because this is the main focus. The colour engages you to look closely into the photograph and look at the detail. The angle of this photograph is very centred and looking across the nature area. I have chosen this photograph because it shows that nature environments are being destroyed by big structures or bricked buildings. It shows that beautiful landscapes and environmental areas are getting damaged and cleared for man-made use. I like this photograph because the photographer has used an angle which shows the nature area is more important then the city. I also like that you are able to see that there was once a railway track which destroyed the nature area. Now it is abandoned the plants are able to grow again. Walking the High Line (photograph including buildings) This photograph shows that a path or road was once built over the natural area and destroyed the beauty
of the environment. The road was then ripped up and collapsed through and the natural environment is now able to regrow. This photograph coveys a hidden message as you can see that the buildings are imperfect and don’t look the nicest of buildings. Then the natural plants and trees, although they have been destroyed, are brightly coloured and healthy. I would say that there is a rather happy and light mood because most of the photograph uses colours which are light. This isn’t the whole photograph but the main focus backs that up. I think that there are emotions of joy because the natural environment is allowed to live again. This photograph definitely explores the ideas of nature. This is because there are plants and trees included in the photograph. The photographer has used natural lighting to produce this photograph. This is because it is taken outside so that they are able to get a high quality photograph. The focus is very sharp on this photograph. No parts of the photograph are blurred because the whole piece is important to understand. The natural area is mainly in the foreground of this photograph. This is because I feel it is the most important part of the photograph. The buildings are in the background of the photograph. This is because they were once an important aspect to the city/town but now they are run-down the nature is the most important/in power. Although the buildings are in the background of this photograph, you are still able to see that the road or path has collapsed in some way. A lot of the nature area has been included in the frame of this photograph but not much of the buildings have been used. This is because the nature is making a come back and
starting to grow and live again. The colours in this photograph are very limited. The plants and trees are a light green colour which stands out in front of the buildings. The buildings in the background are a brown colour which is old looking. The buildings has lines which point towards the middle of the photograph. This then focuses on the nature area and makes your eye look at that the most. This photograph is very jam packed and doesn’t look empty. There is only a small section of this photograph which is sky but the rest is filled with either the buildings or the natural environment. The use of the green coloured plants exaggerates the fact that although it has been destroyed it is coming back and living again. I have chosen this photograph because it shows how nature has been destroyed by large buildings. I like this photograph because if you look closely at the detail you can actually see that the nature was covered up and destroyed by a path or road. It shows the beauty and perfectness of the nature environment then the not so nice looking and imperfectness of the buildings. I also like this photograph because of the contrast of colours that are used. The green contrasted with the brown coloured buildings in the background making the nature area stand out. It shows that although man-made structures once destroyed the environment, the natural environment will eventually overcome and is more powerful than the harsh strutcures created by humans.