PH2004 Flatten, Survey, Play, Elevate

Launderette, Preston, Lancs.

The mundane can be elevated to imbue rich characteristics beyond basic features such as function and place. The image of the vintage washing machine above is an example of this style. The wear and tear as well as graffiti (who was JR?) connote the lonely waiting hours and unexpressed thoughts of the many and diverse customers that frequented this launderette over its 60 years of operation.

Colour and form conflated

Further development of ideas for images around washing machines led to an attempt to see if the washing machine drum would pass for an airplane window. An LED light was inserted into the drum and floodlight diffuser material used to soften it.

  • En route to nowhere 2020

This image is homage to William Eggleston’s ‘En route to New Orleans 1971’. The main feature of Eggleston’s famous image is the quality of the light. An LED light was placed behind the drink in an attempt to replicate it, a blue light in the washing machine drum would have improved this image, but would still have not come close to the light at 29000 feet.

Preliminary attempts at staging the shot

The door had to be removed and replaced with a chair, the brandy glass replaced with something more similar and a cardboard box cut to give the right height of the tray next to the ‘aeroplane’ window.

Nest Box, Cumbria, UK.

All still images are flattened from three dimensions to two, by their very nature. The bark camouflage deliberately creates a further level of flattening in this image, to disguise the appearance of this nest box.

Ordnance Survey Map of Preston (1988)

This image represents a literal interpretation of survey, by incoroparating an Ordnance Survey map into this staged image.

Avenham Park, Preston.

This image represents a play on perspective. The low angle at which this image was captured creates the playful illusion that the chimneys are part of the park walls.

Daft as a Brush

Inspired by Meret Openheim’s cup and saucer in fur, the image of a rope handled sweeping brush was created to visualise a similar subversion of functionality.

Crystallise your Spoons

George Perec famously said, ‘question your spoons’. This work in progress is homage to the unique genius of George Perec.

PH2004 Street

Taking advantage of the great light provided the opportunity to capture the following images;

The first image is a cropped version of the third. On reviewing the images here it is clear that a literal interpretation of the brief has been taken. Influenced by Brassai’s images, I made a note to re take this image in similar lighting conditions but after rain, in order to enhance the atmosphere and mood. This quickly became impossible due to ‘improvement’ work destroying this street surface. This image is now an historical record of urban street architecture in 2020.

PH2004 Street

Taking advantage of the great light today, I specifically wanted to capture a street image which includes a characterful object. This derelict building on Jutland st fitted the bill nicely.

Thinking in black and white from the start helped to visualise the final outcome.

Close cropped
All attempts to herd this cat into the main image failed.

PH2004, Street theme

This blog will be used to document and capture the approach, techniques and development processes used in persuit of each of the given photographic topics. The first is street photography.

My initial interpretation of this task is to find interesting/ quirky activity on the street and capture an arresting image.

The images above were created with a narrative in mind, I wanted to create an image that included an image maker, ie the photographers on the roof of the building and balance it with people on the street. I also wanted a record of the media facory displaying what is now the legacy logo. After reviewing these images it is clear that the flat light lets them down.

Further research resulted in the following images being captured. I had to decide what I wanted in the frame, whether it was to be people, vehicles or the unusual, I decided that the billboards showcasing the investment in the university reflected the future which is in stark contrast to the skeleton which lets us know that the future is limited….

The uncluttered simplicity of the image above is my final choice.

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Everyday, gumball machine.

This is the 44th and final consecutive daily image captured for the Everyday, Every day assignment.

On reflection, the discipline of producing an image on a daily basis has been demanding but creatively stimulating. The main lesson learnt from this task is that good content can be created from the mundane and familiar but to achieve this, a shift in perception of the everyday is required. Marcel Duchamp has been an influence on how I approached some of the subject material. Duchamp (im)famously exhibited a urinal as art. Similarly, this inspired me to create images I would have previously never considered suitable, my image of a pub toilet mirror and a kitchen cupboard containing cleaning materials being just two examples.

After critically evaluating these images from start to finish, I can see how they have improved over time, especially in terms of the quality of subject matter and composition. If I was to repeat this task, I would like to be more creatively adventurous, e.g. I would like to experiment with depth of field and also capture images at night as well as shooting in black and white using an analogue camera.