Charlotte Edwards Commission Unit Part 1

8/13/2019 Charlotte Edwards Commission Unit Part 1

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Charlotte Edwards

The Nature

WithinThe Commission: Component One



Environments

The critical consideration ofenvironments represents animportant aspect in Contemporary

practice

• Sites of dispute

• Boundaries• Romanticised Ideals

• Social Control

• Economic Exploitation

• Conservation

• History

• Memory• Archeology

• National and Cultural Meaning

• Leisure and Social Activity

Understand the relationship betweenConcept, Space, Form, Nature andthe man made

What my Project Fits IntoBoundaries

Economy

Nature



Ideas

“Used beauty”/ “Used Elegance”

“Unused beauty”/ “Unused Elegance”

“Abandoned Beauty”/ “Abandoned Elegance”

Wonderland

Concept – abandoned buildings with elegant architecturethat will hopefully raise awareness of beautiful buildingand ask questions like why is it abandoned and why arewe not using these buildings with such beauty.

Why I Chose this idea : I have always been inspired andcaptivated by this certain type of architecture, it has aelegance and feel and when its sad when mistreated



Updated Idea And Names

I plan to shoot and document how even though a buildingis not being used it can be home to wildlife. This wasinspired by my contextual research article, it stood outto me and was a original and different take on

photographing a abandoned building. I also plan todocument how plants can still grow within this type ofenvironment and adapt.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2407836/Remarkable-pictures-abandoned-house-woods-adopted-wild-animals-own.html



• Unexpected Environments Reclaiming

• Wildlife

•

The Nature Within

I like the theme of ‘The Nature Within’ For thetitle of my project.







• How I plan to shoot.

• It will be hard to shoot actual animals within this

environment especially with analogue so i planon using fake animals or props to suggest there iswildlife within the building

• I also want to document the environment around

the pub how it can become overgrown and thenbecome a home to nature.

• Techniques I plan to use

• Shooting low ‘like a animal’ An animals viewpoint

• Shoot environments with evidence of animals.



Red foxes thrive particularly well in urban environments.Throughout the twentieth century, they establishedthemselves in many Australian, European, Japanese,

and North American cities. The species first colonisedBritish cities during the 1930s, entering Bristol andLondon during the 1940s, and later establishedthemselves in Cambridge.

Urban red foxes are most common in residential suburbsconsisting of privately owned, low-density housing, butare rare in areas where industry, commerce or council-

rented houses predominate (be the strongest or mainelement; be greater in number or amount.)



Other Contextual Influences

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316987/Photographer-Niki-Feijens-eerie-images-abandoned-farm-houses.html

The idea of things being left behind but still remaining the

same over a long period of time

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2408624/Baltimores-houses-standing-The-beautiful-

row-houses-sprawling-tenements.html

Abandoned Houses in Baltimore I like how this article ismore directed towards urban decay




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2408624/Baltimores-houses-standing-The-beautiful-row-houses-sprawling-tenements.html









































Ghostly Painted Figures in an Abandoned Building in Leipzig

Danish Artist Daan

Botlek

Leipzig, Germany. The paintings were part of

the exhibition “If paradise is half as nice part

2”

Stood out to me as a

way of using

abandoned buildings

which fit my project of

buildings being usedonce they have been

abandoned.



Ongoing studio work: Paintings of buildings in

the UK and USA inspired by my old travel

photographs of desolate desert landscapes

and interesting building facades. Celebrating

the death of many once loved high street

shops.

Abandoned Buildings Series

http://jenny-leonard.com/myartwork/abandoned-buildings-series/





Edward Weston

Cypress Point Lobos, 1940

Influential to my project.

I wanted to also look at the environment around the building like overgrown

gardens etc and this most inspired me.

Overgrown, Chaotic, Abandoned, Alone themes.



William Henry Jackson

Williams Pictures showed adventure and

exploration.This linked in with my theme of exploring

somewhere id never been.

Images look sublime but also have a theme

of abandonments to them for example no

man made objects everything has been leftuntouched by humans.



JOEL STERNFELD, ‘McLean Virginia,

December 4, 1978’



Joel Sternfeld

Walking The Highline

“good argument for preserving this iron-girder structure” -

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/28/arts/art-in-review-joel-sternfeld-walking-the-high-

line.html

Mr. Sternfeld's big, eerie photographs capture much of the High Line's stark formal power, as

well as the Surrealist frisson between wildness of its plant life and the surrounding buildings.



David Plowden

David Plowden was the most influential Photographer to me through out this project his

images of disappearing America really appealed to me and I instantly connected with his

reason behind the images and I feel this has influenced my contextual influences for

example the economy.





Economy Contextual References

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article

-2238338/Business-growth-set-remain-

sluggish-years.html

The UK is facing another two years of sluggish

growth in business investment, sapping

strength from the wider economy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2238338/Business-growth-set-remain-sluggish-years.html


















I decided that within my project I wanted to shootabandoned / shut down pubs this was inspired bya personal interest and also due to personalfamily experience with running a pub.

I knew how hard it was for a pub to make businessand how easy it was for pubs to go out ofbusiness due to high bills and the economy.

All this inspired me along with the right locationwhich I later found and I could also gain accessinside too.







Karen Knor

Karen Knor was a big influence into myresearch of placing animals within a

environment





Over growth

Messy

Wild

How this could be a mess to a person

passing by but could be a home to

wildlife and animals.



I also chose to look at the negative side to abandoned buildings like people not caring for that

environment anymore. This then becomes a problem for the wildlife with rubbish and litter thatcan cause harm.

1st Test Shoot



1 Test Shoot

2nd Test Shoot – from point of view of a animal



2 Test Shoot from point of view of a animal



3RD shoot found my location.



35mm test into the nature of the environment- close up on plants etc



4th shoot in colour same location went back on different day



5th

shoot with colour working with placing fake props to suggest animals in theenvironment.



Why I Decided to reshoot

After finalizing my idea and theme I decided to do one last reshoot with a clear intention

to get the best images I could out of the shoot.

The previous shoot I had tried to shoot without a tripod for time and it was less

equipment to carry round but I found this when come to shooting a problem.

So to correct this on the third shoot I took a tripod along.

For the final shoot I also took out another lens that would zoom into my subjects moreand also a macro lens.

For the reshoot I had a clear theme within my head that I didn’t have before and this

helped me when shooting the two final rolls of film.

I also decided that I wanted my final images in black and white, I decided this because Ifelt they suited the project better I wanted it to have a documentary photography feel and

I also wanted images with a lot of contrast to suit the mood of the building.

With my final prints I wanted to find away to link them together so it would be like a

continuous print but with different areas of the environment that linked all together.







The Printing Process

When printing my final prints I knew I wanted

prints with a lot of contrast this is why with

each negative/ Print I did a standard grade 3

print and another print with added 20 secondsof grade 5 I then compared the two to decide

what I wanted for my final prints.





Why I chose this image for my

final prints

I chose this image because I liked

the composition of the image and

also the texture with the image.

It shows the growth of the

environment around theabandoned building even though

it is not in function anymore.

Proof that even though building is

not in use it still is being used byplants and animals.

Puts my themes of overgrown,

chaotic and abandoned theme

across well.



Why I chose this image for my final

prints

I like this print because it shows and

says the message I wanted to say

through the image That even when

a building is abandoned naturedoesn't stop.

I like how the nature around has

taken over the pub sign completely

covered.

I chose to focus purposely on the

wildlife to emphasize the theme of

wildlife taking over.



Why I chose this image for my

final prints

This is my favorite print out of all

my finals, I was extremely lucky

that I found this on the day of myfinal shoot in my environment. It

was real and I think it fits my

theme really well. Real evidence

of animals existing within this

environment. I also think it

demonstrates a kind of life cycle

of nature.



Why I chose this image for a final prints

I chose this image because I felt it gavethe viewer a look into this type of

abandoned building by including the door

in the shot.

The door has evidence of animals existing

within the environment.

I purposely chose to focus on the door

with the evidence and let the rest of the

building be out of focus to put emphasis

on the door and the evidence of animal

existence within this type of building.





Shots I didn’t chose for final prints and why.



Images I didn’t include in my final prints and

why

One of my ideas was to use props to make the

environment look like it had been inhabited by

animals.

I included this image to show why I changed my

idea to using evidence of animal existence

instead.

I felt the image wasn’t realistic and I found it

hard to incorporate these style of props within

the building/ environment.

Self Evaluation



Self Evaluation

When first starting this project I struggled to find a theme and idea that I could work with and I didn’treally have a understanding of what we were asked to do however after my first tutorial I discussedmy interests and how I could fit it within this project, I feel the tutorial was really important to myprogression of the project. I would personally place my work within Boundaries, AbandonedBuildings, and Nature context.

Throughout this project I have tested a wide range of visual methods for example using the camera froma animals perspective to create the feel of “looking through animals eyes”, I think its evident that allthe visual testing I have done has shaped my final images.

Within this project my most crucial research was the research into contextual information this hasdefinitely had an effect on my work and shaped the project.

The part of the project that I struggled to accomplish the most was using the light metre and getting theright reading, I had one film come out really thin, I also struggled finding wildlife within theenvironment I was working in and when I used props I felt they looked fake and “cheesy” so I thendecided to then look for evidence of animals and wildlife instead.

The most challenging experience of this project has been trying to find an ideal location to shoot that fitall my criteria and that I could gain access to easily. When I found the location I liked I thenstruggled to take images inside due to the very dark conditions I then decided to use theenvironment outside of the building only using details of the building like the door and garden etc.

This project was a challenge for me being used to shooting portraits it certainly pushed me out of mycomfort zone but after all my work and research I feel I have learnt a new technique and I am proudof the work I have produced.

Documents

Charlotte Edwards Commission Unit Part 1