#landscape research

[adventures-in-archaeology]

Pretty sure I’m reading my module page incorrectly, but I think Historic England is teaching one of my classes this term

Regardless, I’m STOKED for Perspectives in Landscape Research

[louisthomsonhnd2a]

Interrupted Landscape - Research

Frank Gohlke

Gohlke is an American landscape photographer, noted for his pioneering work capturing the man-altered landscape in the American south and mid-west in the 70s, ranging from trailer parks to industrial sites. Gohlke was one of only 10 photographers whose work was chosen to be featured in the 1975 exhibition "New Topographics - Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape" held at the George Eastman House's International Museum of Photography. The Exhibition was an outstanding success and permanently changed the aesthetic and conceptual approach to American landscape photography - leaving behind the traditional, fully natural approach for a more modern take.

I would describe Gohlkes photographs as being quite static rather than dynamic - his images are quite deadpan in the fact that they lack any kind of aesthetic beauty. There is also often large amounts of empty space in his compositions which I think is to further emphasise this, with the midwest being a good place to find big open areas to suit this style.

In terms of lighting, the photographer captures only what natural lighting is available in the scene and does not use it in any particular way to attempt to make the scene look more aesthetically sound - which again adds to the deadpan narrative of the images.

Gohlke shoots in square format for a lot of his work, which I think further adds to the simplicity of his compositions and to give equal visual value to all of the objects within the frame, allowing the viewer to view the image in whichever way/order they choose.

In order to capture the immense detail and sense of scale and perspective within his landscape work, Gohlke shoots in large format using black and white film. His use of black and white I think helps consolidate the contrast between the natural landscape which often represents the dark/midtones within his images, and the man made structures usually standing out with their brighter white tones.

[louisthomsonhnd2a]

Lighting up the Dark Research Task

Todd Hido

The American artist Todd Hido isolates the houses from the rest of the composition often by having a key light emerging from a single room, making a clear focal point, as seen in this image here. He has also shot during a foggy night to emphasise the beauty of the light while also creating an almost eerie atmosphere whilst conveying a sense of mystery.

In his projects that feature these houses at night, Hido uses the available ambient lighting present in the scene rather than additional lighting - like how he features the glow from the street light that is behind the house in this image, which I think is important to have as it stops the house from merging with the dark sky in the background which would make the image less dynamic and flat. The glow from the window to on the left side of the house also helps this.

The artist shoots almost all of his late night work on colour negative film, which helps add to the grainier quality that this type of low ambient lighting looks good with. He also deploys the use of longer exposure times so that this ambient lighting can fill more of the scene, while also giving it that nice glowing effect which is present in many of his other works. He uses a tripod for doing this and has said he finds himself driving around in his car for hours on end late at night until he comes across a certain house or scene with the right look and lighting.

Barry Underwood

Underwood is an American Photographer whose use of long exposure techniques coupled with additional lighting and the natural landscapes available natural light, turns ordinary everyday locations into surreal visual experiences. He often uses handheld lighting equipment such as coloured torches to create vivid 'sculptures' of light, that contrast strongly and stand out against the natural surrounding scene, which results in very unique images.

With the above image, it appears he has exposed for the sky in the background, then has used three additional lighting sources to light up the foreground - one being the red string of orbs to act as an immediate focal point, another to light up the edge of the ridge at the top to help it stand out more against the sky in the background, and a third subtle blue light coming from the right hand side to illuminate the darker rocky surface and add a hint of colour variation.

Underwood would have used a tripod as he would have shot at a slightly longer exposure in order to produce the nice glow coming from the red orbs, as well as helping the additional lighting to illuminate the foreground effectively.

[louisthomsonhnd2a]

Landscape Research Notes

[louisthomsonhnd2a]

Considered Landscape Research Task

Historical Photographer - Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984) was a famous landscape photographer. His body of landscape work is heavily populated by photos of mountain ranges and peaks of national parks in the American west, primarily Yosemite - that were always very meticulously well thought out in terms of composition and exposure.

Adams was an advocate for "pure" photography - a photographic style that denotes ultra sharp focus enhanced by the use of very extensive depth of field - even going as far as helping found the movement group "f64", which relates to the very high aperture used on large format cameras the members of said movement used resulting in very sharp focus from foreground to background, while also being against any degree of image manipulation to achieve the photos they wanted - in essence, everything was done in-camera, in one shot. Adams also played a part in creating the Zone System - a technique to ensure the light and dark areas of a photograph are rendered as desired. This was done before the photo was even taken, which is a testament to his meticulous planning approach he undertook to produce his work.

Adams was known for using a vast array of film cameras during his career - using different kinds and formats depending on his subject. His equipment became more advanced as his career progressed, often shooting with a different camera with each visit he made to Yosemite, but his most notable works were taken on large and medium format cameras. One of these is the Deardorf 8x10 field view camera, a large format camera that is collapsable for easier transportation which would have made transporting it around the mountain ranges that bit easier for Adams (and the mules he used from time to time when shooting in Yosemite). Large format cameras have the largest frame of all cameras, allowing the photographer to capture their subject in extreme detail due to the size of the negatives these cameras produce. Making them an ideal piece of equipment for the type of landscapes Adams was taking.

Another notable camera he used was the medium format Hasselblad 500c. The Hasselblad is much more compact and portable than large format while still being able to produce great image quality, this paired with the high-quality zeiss lenses they came with also resulted in very detailed, tonally accurate final results which would explain why Adams also used this on his shoots. It is also worth mentioning that Adams would frequently shoot using infrared film to achieve a high level of contrast in his photos by darkening skies and bringing out highlights on mountains to bring out their texture.

Contemporary Photographer - Jungjin Lee

Jungjin Lee (1961-) is a Korean artist and photographer who is presently best known for her black and white landscape featuring the barren American desert after they have been altered by tumultuous weather conditions along with decaying structures and refuse. And with the help of her own unique post-production process, results in images with a uniquely extreme stillness and calm feel.

Jungjin's body of work is highly symbolic in a spiritual sense, her focus on the desert, rather than other types of landscape is due to it helping her to see her inner-self clearly, the openness of the desert is a direct representation of her state of mind when she visits it. Many of the images in Opening, like the one above, are narrow verticals which are reminiscent of the shape of hanging scrolls, which hint at Eastern philosophies and the pursuit of inner peace.

To capture these abstract photographs, Lee uses a medium format panoramic camera, which is essentially a medium format camera that produces negatives that can record more of the scene horizontally than vertically, and in amazing detail. This panoramic format allows her to capture the expansiveness of the desert landscape, which would possibly be harder to do with a standard medium format camera.

The unique and specific way in which Lee treats her photos during post production is also a key part of how she achieves the high contrast, textured black and white style. First, she prints onto traditional Korean paper and sensitises with liquid light. The print is then scanned and Lee further manipulates the image in Photoshop. The resulting image is a high contrast, almost dream-like black and white print, in which the brush marks are still visible. Lee skilfully uses the technological capability of her camera to communicate her emotional state of mind at the time she takes the photograph to the viewer.

[studiosunbeam]

[pacabooks]

SI TIENES UNA BIBLIOTECA CON JARDÍN LO TIENES TODO

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INAUGURADO EL #ARCHIVOCUBOVERDE en la Biblioteca de la Facultad de Bellas Artes. UCM 

gracias infinitas a Javier Perez Iglesias y Amelia por acoger esta iniciativa y hacer que siga creciendo!!  

Hasta ahora los ya entregados y catalogados disponibles para su consulta y préstamo: 

👉web: http://cisne.sim.ucm.es/search*spi~S/X?SEARCH=cubo+verde  

** Un archivo en continuo crecimiento que se irá nutriendo a lo largo de los años de: publicaciones editadas por los centros, artistas e investigadores que forman parte de la red EL CUBO VERDE (catálogos, proyectos de investigación, ediciones especiales, libros de artista, material audiovisual, fanzines, revistas de autor) así como reseñas o artículos en revistas especializadas. Este archivo tiene entre sus objetivos: Estrechar lazos entre el ámbito académico, institucional y de investigación y la práctica artística desarrollada en el marco de la red. Generar un espacio de documentación estable, físico, unificado y de referencia para su consulta por parte de estudiantes, docentes e investigadores, que de esta manera acceden a proyectos, convocatorias, procesos y metodologías desarrolladas en espacios geográficamente dispersos por toda España. Visibilizar artistas, proyectos e investigaciones recientes en los que la práctica artística se vincula con la ecología social, ambiental y subjetiva. Generar relaciones armónicas no duales (centro-periferia, campo-ciudad) de transmisión e intercambio de conocimiento.

@javibiblio  @ Biblioteca de la Facultad de Bellas Artes. UCM

[pacabooks]

Muy contentos de que Creadores de Paisajes n.1 esté en Zines of the Zone,  siempre en movimiento, los podremos encontrar  en Madrid durante el PICNIC FANZINERO

Zines of the Zone   Desde enero de 2014 el colectivo Zines of The Zone se desplaza por Europa en furgoneta con el fin de mostrar su colección de más de 1.500 libros autoeditados al público en diferentes eventos efímeros, llegando a pasar por el Museo Reina Sofía el año pasado.