Mittwoch, 26. Dezember 2012
Minigolf
'tis the season. Family, food, more family, more food. To get some distraction today I used some rare hours without rain and took some images of an abandoned minigolf course in the woods I have discovered the other day. Lighting conditions were a bit tricky but the hardest part was to keep two mad as hatter boxer dogs off the lens and motive. I quite like the outcome.
Donnerstag, 13. Dezember 2012
Brief #2 - Interior - Trafford Centre
Moments To Give
Pre x-mas craze
After successfully completing my exterior brief of bridges I struggled with ideas for my interior brief. For whatever reason the thought of catching all the busy shoppers and atmosphere in Trafford Centre (TC) seemed to be a very interesting and rewarding topic. Had I but known...
The minute I got the idea and talked it through with my tutor Richard I called the press office of TC and got instantly the permission of taking photographs there. I guess, the point that the pictures won't be used commercially did the trick. I chose the Trafford Centre since it is a true temple of consumption, worshipping the gods of shopping and spending, optically vast and opulent. I don't want to be negative about the centre, it serves its purpose perfectly and actually it could have been any mall or busy city centre in the western world for similar scenes, I'm sure.
The first Saturday in December was my day for hunting. I started to take photographs in TC at about 11.00 and stayed 5 hours to catch the pictures I wanted. I must stress the point I only had two pictures in my head I tried to achieve, one actually worked out. In my head is an image I have once seen (any hint of the name of image and more importantly the photographer is highly appreciated): it was taken straight from above, picturing half of a round coffee table, two people sitting at it with coffee cups. I wanted to catch something similar but unfortunately I wasn't lucky with this one. The other idea was not inspired by any image just in my head: I wanted moving feet and got quite a few good shots of them connected with my images. I have intentionally not researched on photographers (obvious candidates would have been Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyerowitz, Garry Winogrand or other street photographers) since I wanted to be free in viewing 'my' scenes.
The shoot in TC was the hardest I ever did. I really am not a shopping girl and actually loath shopping centres - especially around christmas when adverts, shops, signs, and everyone tells us to buy, buy, buy. When I saw the slogan Moments To Give it appeared to me as a joke since we're giving everything at christmas but moments and time are the last and least things on most of the gift lists. Showing my final images to John, the tutor who is assessing them, his first reaction to the pictures was that they are in fact quite depressing. He is right though. It was so hard to spend hours amongst the crowd. Mothers struggling with children, shopping lists and nerves; children crying being totally overwhelmed by the sheer mass of people, noise, toys, and their stressed out mothers; men desperately in search for the perfect christmas gift for the loved ones (remember, moments to give blah, blah, blah) or waiting bored outside stores for their wifes or girlfriends to return from the depths of any random store. When finished with shooting I was so exhausted as if had just finished a 12 hr shift in a steel factory. Due to pretty tricky light condition I had to use longer exposure times wich naturally leads to 'blurry' moving people. I do like this effect because it does reflect perfectly the hasty, busy crowd moving around. I didn't use a tripod on purpuse because I wanted to blend in as much as possible and not attract peoples attention. Catching them in their natural habitat might describe it best. It sometimes seemed as if I was the only person moving slowly, observing, eyeing for scenes and motives and not be in a hurry.
The results are definitely worth the effort!
Pre x-mas craze
After successfully completing my exterior brief of bridges I struggled with ideas for my interior brief. For whatever reason the thought of catching all the busy shoppers and atmosphere in Trafford Centre (TC) seemed to be a very interesting and rewarding topic. Had I but known...
The minute I got the idea and talked it through with my tutor Richard I called the press office of TC and got instantly the permission of taking photographs there. I guess, the point that the pictures won't be used commercially did the trick. I chose the Trafford Centre since it is a true temple of consumption, worshipping the gods of shopping and spending, optically vast and opulent. I don't want to be negative about the centre, it serves its purpose perfectly and actually it could have been any mall or busy city centre in the western world for similar scenes, I'm sure.
The first Saturday in December was my day for hunting. I started to take photographs in TC at about 11.00 and stayed 5 hours to catch the pictures I wanted. I must stress the point I only had two pictures in my head I tried to achieve, one actually worked out. In my head is an image I have once seen (any hint of the name of image and more importantly the photographer is highly appreciated): it was taken straight from above, picturing half of a round coffee table, two people sitting at it with coffee cups. I wanted to catch something similar but unfortunately I wasn't lucky with this one. The other idea was not inspired by any image just in my head: I wanted moving feet and got quite a few good shots of them connected with my images. I have intentionally not researched on photographers (obvious candidates would have been Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyerowitz, Garry Winogrand or other street photographers) since I wanted to be free in viewing 'my' scenes.
The shoot in TC was the hardest I ever did. I really am not a shopping girl and actually loath shopping centres - especially around christmas when adverts, shops, signs, and everyone tells us to buy, buy, buy. When I saw the slogan Moments To Give it appeared to me as a joke since we're giving everything at christmas but moments and time are the last and least things on most of the gift lists. Showing my final images to John, the tutor who is assessing them, his first reaction to the pictures was that they are in fact quite depressing. He is right though. It was so hard to spend hours amongst the crowd. Mothers struggling with children, shopping lists and nerves; children crying being totally overwhelmed by the sheer mass of people, noise, toys, and their stressed out mothers; men desperately in search for the perfect christmas gift for the loved ones (remember, moments to give blah, blah, blah) or waiting bored outside stores for their wifes or girlfriends to return from the depths of any random store. When finished with shooting I was so exhausted as if had just finished a 12 hr shift in a steel factory. Due to pretty tricky light condition I had to use longer exposure times wich naturally leads to 'blurry' moving people. I do like this effect because it does reflect perfectly the hasty, busy crowd moving around. I didn't use a tripod on purpuse because I wanted to blend in as much as possible and not attract peoples attention. Catching them in their natural habitat might describe it best. It sometimes seemed as if I was the only person moving slowly, observing, eyeing for scenes and motives and not be in a hurry.
The results are definitely worth the effort!
Donnerstag, 29. November 2012
My new passion: Trays
One day in college I came across my new photographic passion rather accidentially and spontaneously. When talking about typology in photography we were asked by our tutor to work on a little exercise on that topic.
It came immediately to my mind that the returned trays with their empty plates, packaging and dirty cutlery would be perfect for that. The tray as a formal uniform frame placed on a very bland background and the actual image is very informal and chaotic.
These trays reflected so much on how we look at food in modern society but also is highly estetic. Never thought, trays could tell so much. In the long run I plan to visit canteens and start a series with pictures/collages similar to this:
It came immediately to my mind that the returned trays with their empty plates, packaging and dirty cutlery would be perfect for that. The tray as a formal uniform frame placed on a very bland background and the actual image is very informal and chaotic.
These trays reflected so much on how we look at food in modern society but also is highly estetic. Never thought, trays could tell so much. In the long run I plan to visit canteens and start a series with pictures/collages similar to this:
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| Treys, Andrea Anneser, 2012 |
Shutter speed - Photographers - Jim Rakete
Jim Rakete (born 1951) is as influential in the German music scene as he is with his photograpy. Starting with Photography as young as 4 years old, and working professionally at the early age of 17 for magazines such as Rolling Stones, he was running a photography agency in Berlin 1977 - 1987 he was in the epicentre of the upcoming Neue Deutsche Welle (at that time a revolutionary way to perform German music in German) portraying many of its musicians and later managing them (who doesn't remember Nena's 99 Red Balloons?) He concentrated on photography again and refuses to date to work digitally because for him enhancing and photoshopping pictures corrupts the integrity of the medium plus he doesn't want to loose his darkroom skills. He mainly works with medium format cameras and also occasionally large format cameras. In 2009 he worked on a portraits of German celebrities and strictly used a shutter speed on 1/8 sec. Here are some samples of that project:
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| Jim Rakete, Selfportrait |
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| Markus Luepertz, Painter |
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| Nicolai Valuev, Boxer |
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| Juergen Vogel, Actor |
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| Christiane Paul, Actress |
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| Jana Pallaske, Actress |
Samstag, 10. November 2012
Shutter speed - Photographers - Ellen von Unwerth
Or as I call her 'Queen of Shutter Speed'. The model-turned-photographer started after a successful career in runway and photomodelling photography - as she claims - just for the fun and being bored while working as a model for a photoshoot in Africa 1986. She quickly worked for Elle, Vogue and Vanity Fair. When looking for a model for the legendary Guess Jeans campaign she discovered 17-year-old Claudia Schiffer. Ellen von Unwerth is strongly inspired by Helmut Newton so naturally her work reflects cool erotic and celebrates beauty of women. By using long shutter speeds in her portraits she adds an air of mystery which I like a lot.
Dienstag, 23. Oktober 2012
Thoughts on my brief of bridges
Having started with capturing bridges of Manchester I get more and more confident with the topic which I have switched to literally the very last minute. It is such an interesting subject, showing the differences in architecture, objective, connection, style and their environment. Having gone crazy on bridges in Castlefield in Manchester city centre I am very happy with the results. It is a knotpoint of different railway bridges crossing canals so a lot of graphic structure in there. Since it is in the centre of Manchester - although a bit remote from the buzzing Deansgate - there are the occasional pedestrians bringing a personal element to the pictures. One of my favorite pictures is a bit out of focus so I need to get back again to take the perfectly focused shot and I'd be content with that part of town.
Another bridge I like a lot is the one leading from the Lowry Hotel to Deansgate. A very contemporary bridge, symbolizing for me the new English self-confidence that came with the economic boom in the 1990s and 2000s. I have tried to capture this bridge in daylight but if just wouldn't work out the way I hope. I think, I want to photograph this bridge in the blue hour to catch all it's aspects. The modern architecture, people using the bridge to cross the canal, the lights flanking it and the lights of the buildings in the background, showing its urbanity.
Last week I took pictures of another modern bridge crossing M60 from the Trafford Water Park. I started at the early beginning of sunset till it was dark and caught some very good images using long shutter speed and catching the lights of the cars crossing under it. The pictures turned out really well although the setting of the bridge itself is rather dull and grey - well, what do you expect from a motorway?
A friend of mine who knows about this brief showed me a snapshot of a bridge leading from Picadilly station to a parking garage. The bridge itself is a very bland concrete bridge leading to a rather spectacular parking garage that is covered with what appears to be rusted iron plates. Giving a strong contrast of textures and colors. I want to get round there within the next days to figure out the right angle, right time of day for the right light to capture this image. I hope I can capture the textures the way I have in mind.
In my brief I also want to add an image of an abandoned bridge and asked the same friend wether he had any idea. Him being a dedicated train driver for over 30 years now, he certainly knows his way around all tracks in the north. He suggested one to me and I am going to check it out this weekend, although I don't have a clue where exactly it is.
I hope to finish my brief next week latest the week after to be able to concentrate on my second interior brief. But this is worth a seperate post in this blog.
Another bridge I like a lot is the one leading from the Lowry Hotel to Deansgate. A very contemporary bridge, symbolizing for me the new English self-confidence that came with the economic boom in the 1990s and 2000s. I have tried to capture this bridge in daylight but if just wouldn't work out the way I hope. I think, I want to photograph this bridge in the blue hour to catch all it's aspects. The modern architecture, people using the bridge to cross the canal, the lights flanking it and the lights of the buildings in the background, showing its urbanity.
Last week I took pictures of another modern bridge crossing M60 from the Trafford Water Park. I started at the early beginning of sunset till it was dark and caught some very good images using long shutter speed and catching the lights of the cars crossing under it. The pictures turned out really well although the setting of the bridge itself is rather dull and grey - well, what do you expect from a motorway?
A friend of mine who knows about this brief showed me a snapshot of a bridge leading from Picadilly station to a parking garage. The bridge itself is a very bland concrete bridge leading to a rather spectacular parking garage that is covered with what appears to be rusted iron plates. Giving a strong contrast of textures and colors. I want to get round there within the next days to figure out the right angle, right time of day for the right light to capture this image. I hope I can capture the textures the way I have in mind.
In my brief I also want to add an image of an abandoned bridge and asked the same friend wether he had any idea. Him being a dedicated train driver for over 30 years now, he certainly knows his way around all tracks in the north. He suggested one to me and I am going to check it out this weekend, although I don't have a clue where exactly it is.
I hope to finish my brief next week latest the week after to be able to concentrate on my second interior brief. But this is worth a seperate post in this blog.
Freitag, 19. Oktober 2012
Topography Photography
Having been introduced to the idea of Topographic Photography today our assignment was to take images that will be arranged in a collage. This particular kind of photography is strongly influenced by the 'Neue Sachlichkeit' a movement from the Duesseldorfer Schule and their main protagonists Hilla & Bernd Becher.
This kind of photography is highly polarising. Many view it as being banal, clinical, bland, dull or sterile. Others - as myself - consider it as highly observant and analytical stating a social issue. Make up your mind yourself. My favorite photographer of this genre is Frank Gohlke. His images of American landscapes reflect the soul of contemporary American society. Beautiful and disturbing to me.
This kind of photography is highly polarising. Many view it as being banal, clinical, bland, dull or sterile. Others - as myself - consider it as highly observant and analytical stating a social issue. Make up your mind yourself. My favorite photographer of this genre is Frank Gohlke. His images of American landscapes reflect the soul of contemporary American society. Beautiful and disturbing to me.
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| Frank Gohlke |
Coming to todays assignmend. I have decided to photograph the empty plates, cups, packages on the trays in the college canteen. Reflecting the eating habits, waste, messiness, transformation of food and our way of dealing with it. I plan on keeping up with this topic and following it as a long term project. What do you think of it?
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| Trays, Andrea Anneser, 2012 |
Mittwoch, 17. Oktober 2012
Brief 1 - Outdoor - Manchester Bridges, (Test-)shoot 2
Here some of todays captures from the pedestrian bridge crossing the M 60. They are not edited at all yet, just giving an idea of what I tried to achieve. Again, some I think are quite good.
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