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Pilot Project introduction:

Title: Significant Span

Span - ‘The interval, space, or distance between two points, such as the ends of a bridge or arch’

This series is crafted to showcase how bridges are more than just functional structures. As they are in fact pieces of art, a sculpture if you like, just ones that are on a very large scale and hold a significant span giving them both purpose and an interesting aesthetic.The six images you see are made up of two bridges in London. Tower Bridge ( 240 metres long) which was constructed on the 21st June 1886 and The Millennium Bridge (320 metres long) being the younger of the two as it had finished construction and opened on the 10th June 2000, with tweaks made to it to help with stability a few years after. Being made mostly out of metal we are projected with more of a modern and/or minimalist piece of art, compared to Tower Bridge being made up of steel clad in granite and stone masonry, this definitely gives it the older aesthetic but with its design around the two towers, there is a large sense of royalty, which gives it a unique appearance.

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Pilot Project - Image Layout

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Image retouching:

Before:

After:

I think retouching always helps to make your image the best that it can possible be. I have been able to drastically improve the lower third of this image by using both the spot healing brush and the clone stamp which is much better at retouching the more complex and clustered areas of your image. However, for this lower section I only had to use the spot healing brush since it was just getting rid of dust marks and murky spots in the water, so it isn’t a very complex part of the image.

Images from first test shoot at the beginning of the year:

With the change of my project, I think I am going to revive these two images which I shot during my first test shoot at the start of the year. The reason being is that I. believe they would go very well with the images which I captured during my latest shoot that I am going to create my pilot project out of. I think this is a great thing since I do really like both of the photos but before they just didn’t suit the old vision of my project, but it’s the complete opposite as they are exactly what I was looking for!

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Straight away I am instantly happier with how these images have come out compared to the previous images for the project. They are all showcasing the bridges in a way that emphasises their physical aspects rather than their functionality. I also think that I have been able to capture the subject in a way that represents a sculpture. I find this aspect, especially apparent within the first image on the top left which is of the Millennium Bridge, as the main support of the bridge is a very elegant shape which really reminds me of a ballerina, jumping across the stage.

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Further test shoots - London

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Fresh idea on my bridge project

What my project is about:

My photographic project in its most basic form is architectural photography. From this I. Have chosen to focus on a specific form of architecture/ structure, being bridges. These are of course a very ordinary thing for most people and used by thousands each day, since a bridge in its fundamental form was built with functionality in mind. To create a create a path, road or rail within a span of free space. However, I want to highlight these structures for what they are to the human eye. A piece of art. I often think that bridges can be seen as large-scale sculptures, since they are created to be on display, otherwise why put any artist flare/ design into them at all. The Architects want to create something both functional and beautiful. So, for this project I will be exposing the beauty of these structures.

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Changes to my project due to Covid and not being happy with where it is going

Due to the increase dangers of Covid and the fact that we have now been put into a tier 4 lockdown, with rumours that we will eventually be going back into a full lockdown, I have made the decision to alter my project in the hopes that it can be more maintainable since I have to be realistic and not just sit and hope that everything will instantly get better as soon as I need it to.

For a start I will no longer be travelling throughout the UK to a variety of bridges in all different locations. Instead, I will just stick to photographing the bridges which are in London as it is close enough for me to access the area with little contact to others as I can drive or just take an early train and it will virtually be empty as the majority of people will still be working from home. I feel confident that the bridges which London can supply are still interesting designs, so I know that I am able to get some interesting images from shooting them. Another thing to add is that I will also be moving away from using my drone to capture images simply because it is very difficult to use one within London. Even though I think the images you are able to get with a drone are great it just wouldn’t fit with a series if I were to have most of my images at ground level, to then all of a sudden have the sequence thrown off with random arial photographs.

In regard to the project itself, I shall also be changing my original idea slightly as I am moving away from focusing on the historic side of the bridges since from talking in our group sessions that aspect seemed to just create a much smaller bubble with regards to target audience which I am not a fan of as I would prefer it to be displayed as an architectural project rather than a history project. I shall explain my new vision for my project in the next post.

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Initial look at Pilot project:

Even though I have a selection of both portrait and landscape images for my pilot project I think that by displaying them as grid which you can see above, helps to make the series of images flow better when viewing them.

I will say that I am not sure if I like the look of the project as a whole though. I feel that even though the images separately look visually appealing I just don’t know if it is something that will captivate an audience.

On top of this I am finding it very difficult to think of how I can incorporate the history behind the bridges in a way that interacts with the viewer. When doing my presentation, I had thoughts of attaching the history/ facts about each bridge to the backs of the frames as I said I was thinking of having them presented in a way which is removable so the viewers can interact with the work. But this ended up not being the way to go as Gavin and the others thankfully informed me of the fact that even when there are signs saying to interact with work, not many people actually do so.

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Managed to visit another Viaduct which happened to be pretty local to me which was located in Eynsford. I was once again very happy with these images as I think that the use of the drone really helps to show the scale of the bridge in relation to its surrounding landscape. My favourite image out of my edits has to be the second to last image where you can see a train travelling across the viaduct. I like the fact that it shows the structure is still very much in use as during the time we were there, around 5 trains crossed over it. I think that these would fit perfectly with some of the images which I captured during my visit to the Ouse Valley Viaduct located in Balcombe. Since they are both the same type of bridge, they are a clear set! And this is what I shall be looking to include within my pilot project.

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Shoot 6: Eynsford Viaduct

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Ouse Valley Viaduct: Alternative edits

Quick Black and White edits. Inspired by Bernd and Hilla Becher’s documentary style of work.

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Who is my project for?

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Old images from the archieve! Interesting to look at these architectural shots which where focused purley on the beauty of the structure rather than the form and functionality.

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Chosen lactation so far...

Clifton Suspension Bridge:

Glenfinnan Viaduct:

Pont Britannia Bridge:

Bennerley Viaduct:

Queensferry Crossing:

Ouse Valley Viaduct:

Dartford Bridge/Crossing:

Above you can see that I ha have attached a number of bridges along with their rough location of where they are positioned within the UK. The reason for choosing some bridges, like the Glenfinnan Viaduct, is because the area of which it is situated in up in Scotland has a landscape which is drastically different to the one we would see down in the south east, especially when comparing it to ones in London as they are surrounded by a cluster of architecture and the Glenfinnan Viaduct is by itself, just surrounded by lakes and big sweeping hills, making for a completely different composition all together.

Although I have selected these 7 locations I am yet to confirm if I would prefer to have more or less of them, as this is all dependant on how I want the project to end up when it comes to my submission. I can certainly say that I am more inclined to photograph, the Clifton Suspension bridge, Glenfinnan and Ouse Vally viaduct (I would go back to re shoot in order to improve the images that I currently have), because I feel that these are some of the more visually stimulating structures compared to the rest. Although the Queensferry Crossing does look amazing I feel that it might not fit in as well with the others because of the large differences in materials used but my opinion could very much change as I always have the option to add more bridges like this, even ones situated within London.

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Project update:

After having my first initial feedback session and continuing to shoot up in London to keep my creativity mind turning. I have come to the decision to no longer make the video alongside the photographic piece. As I no longer think that it will add to my project, but in fact would almost create a distraction/confusion for its existence within the project. It would cause a break in the flow since for the one part you will be studying a selection of images, to then start viewing something completely different, which is also viewed at a much faster pace, as with an image you can study it with all the time in the world, but since a video is constantly moving you have to be even more alert and try to take in as much detail from each scene as possible. Even though I was excited to create a video piece in the beginning of the semester, I do feel more comfortable knowing that this will end up being a good decision as it will allow my finished product of pure photographic images to thrive.

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