Final photos – Evaluation

After planning my photos, I got my equipment together and went and took my photos. I made sure to stick to my plan as closely as possible but I did change a few things where I felt it would work better. Here are my final photos and how I feel they turned out:

 

For my first photo, I took a close up of one of the visible windows and a corner of the building. I felt this showed how much the building is vanishing into the floor/sand and how battered the bricks are too. This building has been through a lot and this really is shown on the corner bricks as they have been rounded off due to the sea passing over it every day. The bricks are no longer set shapes but are more uneven and jagged. The sand is flowing in through the window and filling the building up meaning that the building is inaccessible. In editing I made the outside darker due to Schreck’s work but I kept the building light and unedited as I like that side of Feijen’s work as it means you appreciate the natural look of the building. I did take them on an over cast day which helped get a bright look to the photos and also meant that the sky was completely grey. I like how your eye gets lead to the window and how dark and gloomy it is in there.

 

For my second photo, I tried to concentrate on the slant of the building and how much the building is falling into the sand. I also took it on the side with the door to show how there is no way in and to also show that you wouldn’t possibly know that that is the door way due to how covered up it is. I took the photo from a little away so I could include the beach going into the distance on the left and to have the sea on the right. This shows the surrounds and how out of place the building is. The slant of the building is facing the sea due to the backwash from the waves when it’s high tide. I like how this photo gives you a feel for how much this building is vanishing under the floor and will soon be completely gone.

 

For the third photo I wanted to show the same as the last photo but show more of the sea to make the viewer feel the threat of it and to understand the power of it and what it can do to a building. The picture also shows a window which is pretty much completely covered and part of another window which is like Schreck’s work where he only showed part of the second bed as it makes you feel like it could go on for ever. You can also see parts of the building where the bricks have come away due to it being battered by the sea. This building isn’t just disappearing; it’s also falling apart. I like this photo due to the feeling of helplessness that the sea makes the viewer feel towards the building.

 

For my fourth photo, I wanted to show the roof of the building being eaten by the floor. The way the sand is creeping up the roof shows the feeling that this building is being swallowed up by the floor/sand and every day it will be more gone and this is actually true as from the time I took my test shots to the point I took my final shoots I couldn’t take a photo through one window and out of the opposite window. It was only a little bit over a week between each shoots and there was already a massive difference in the amount of coverage. I like this photo as it gives a personality to the sand and makes it seem scary.

 

For my fifth photo, I took a faraway shot of the building to show how unimportant it is on the beach and how it could easily be walked past and not noticed. The beach is so big and vast that the building just isn’t noticed easily and can be walked past. For this photo I included a lot of sky and darkened it to make the photo darker and scary. I would have liked it more if the clouds would have had more texture just like in my test shots as it gives more emotion to the location.

 

 

For my last photo I took a closer photo from the same angle as the last but the purpose of this is to show how the importance of the building is stolen due to the pier being more important to most holiday guests and anyone on the beach due to the building not being fun or an activity which can be done. This means that the building is not important anymore and this photo really shows why. I also feel having all the people in the background helps prove my point as it shows that they are all walking towards the pier and are not interested in the building. I like how this photo came out and really helps show the viewers that this building doesn’t matter anymore.

 

Overall I feel that these photos show how buried and forgotten this building has become. The building went from being something that looked after our country to protect us from oncoming enemy boats to an unloved pile of bricks. This is also shown due to it once being on the top of the cliff and now being on the beach demonstrating its importance falling just like it did. I do feel that the clouds could have looked a bit more moody and had more shading but I’m overall happy with the way it shows the story of this building and it’s life on the beach.

A sense of place – Risk assessment

I’m taking my photos on the beach between East Runton and Cromer of an old war building that has now been buried in the sand. Here are the safety precautions I need to think about:

>make sure the tide is going out

>make sure not to get sand on the lens

>make sure the camera doesn’t go near the water

>look where you’re going whilst taking photos so not to fall over

>don’t take photos of people that don’t want their photos to be taken

>don’t go too close to the cliff edge

>plan a date with no rain or get water proof equipment

 

It is easy to access and isn’t too far away from an exit off the beach if a quick exit is needed. I will take another person with me to hold any equipment so not to get sand in anything. The location is very safe as it’s a public beach with lifeguards and is used all year round by members of the public.

 

The equipment I will take with me:

>Canon 5d mark 1

>Reflector (in case the sun doesn’t reach specific areas)

>Lens hood (in case the sun is too bright/to stop sun glare)

>Something to lay on to get low profile shots

>Micro fibre cloth (to clean the lens if it gets dirty)

>Coat/bag (in case it rains so that the camera doesn’t get wet)

Final photos – Planning

After researching different artists work and doing test shots this gave me enough time to experiment and find out enough information on what I want to do for my final photos. After looking at the different styles and using them in my own work, I found that the dark editing but not giving the photos a creepy feel worked best for my final location. After doing all my research I finally decided that I was going to take my final photos at the beach building in Norfolk. I’ve come to this conclusion due to the story behind the building and how forgotten it has become. I also feel that the way it completely vanishes when the tide comes in is crazy and more interesting than the other places I came up with. The thought that at least once a day the building cannot be accessed or seen from land makes the building distinctive as not many things get covered by the sea and stay complete. The building is also inaccessible due to it being mostly under the sand and full of pebbles too. The building is also at a slant due to the sea pulling it under on one side just like pebbles being pulled into the sea due to the backwash.

For my photos I would like to keep the focus on the building so I’m going to do this by trying to take close up photos but I also want to give a size representation and show how insignificant it is compared to everything else around it. I would also like to take them when the sea is pretty far out as I don’t want there to be any danger of getting stuck or splashed when taking the photos. I would also like to take them with natural bright light but not necessarily a sunny day. I like the idea of taking them on a stormy day or even just on an overcast day to give the photos a moody feel.

I would overall like to make the viewer see the beauty of this building once again and to give time to think about its history. I also want people to be intrigued by this photo and to want to find out the history of other places and to open their eyes to see things that they wouldn’t normally look at. I want to make people love the history of places again and to make people consider the story of run down locations.

Second test shots and evaluation

After looking more into my options for locations to take my second test shots I decided that the building on the beach fitted my specification the best as it had so much history and was so helpful but now is sinking into the sand and not being noticed at all by people walking by. I couldn’t take photos from inside the building as it’s full of sand so I mainly focused on the outside and the sand surrounding it. I took the photos at midday whilst the sun was out just like my other test shots as to not add any unnatural shadows or lighting. Here are my test shots and my thoughts on how they turned out.

 

For my first photo, I took a photo of the building from a side profile and from a low angle meaning you are viewing the building close to the floor so that you can see how much this building is disappearing into the sand. I also really tried to include the clouds as they give a moody feel to the photo due to the way I edited the photo. I edited the photo to make it darker and to give more definition to the clouds. I feel this works like pathetic fallacy as the clouds show that the weather is bad which gives the viewers a negative feeling towards the location. The weather is being shown as bad meaning they are more likely to be scared. I chose to include both the window and the door as it truly shows how covered up this building is and that there is no way you could enter this building. I like the outcome of this photo and think the mood created is perfect for the scary and moody feel I was wanting.

 

For my second photo, I took a photo of the building from far off as to show the size of it and to give a representation of how it could easily be missed. It isn’t the most important thing either and this is shown by having the pier in the background. I did this to show that when you are walking down the beach you are more likely to look at the pier than the building that’s disappearing into the sand as you go to the beach to have fun and the pier is a key part of holiday life. From this view you can see that one side of the building is completely under the sand and can hardly be seen from the sea edge. This once very important building used to view oncoming ships and protect our country is now forgotten and will one day not exist due to sand continuing to cover it. I feel this photo works really well as it shows how unimportant the building is and how small it seems compared to the beach. I also made this photo darker and created the moody clouds for the same feeling as my last photo.

 

For my third photo I took a picture through the small gap that is left at the top of the door where it is just possible to see through to the other window. The room left inside the building is very small and not possible to get into. I felt that this photo would be good to make the viewer feel claustrophobic and to see there isn’t much chance of this being cleaned out and used again. I focused on the insides and the rubbish that had been places into the building and I like how you can see how much the building is falling to the right due to the way the sand is consuming it. It also makes me think about how when the tide is up this building is submerged and the insides will be completely underwater. This means that at points in a day the building is completely gone and can’t be seen. I think that the tight feeling of this photo works really well and I would like to include a photo like this into one of my final photos.

 

For my last photo, I focused on just the roof of the building and the section where the sand takes over and starts to consume the building. I like how it seems that its sucking it under like water and that the sand is creeping up it just like something being submerged in a bath before it sinks. I kept this photo a bit lighter than the others as it doesn’t include clouds so I tried making the viewers feel a negative feeling from just the thought that the building is sinking. It’s as if the sand is quick sand and the building has no hope to get out. I kept the rest of the building out of the photo as I wanted the focus to all be on the intersect of sand and roof. I do feel this photo works but would have worked better if it included a darker surrounding and scary weather.

 

Overall I feel these photos turned out super well and gave the impression of something being forgotten and unloved. I feel this is just like Feijen’s photo of the bus being taken over by undergrowth and never to be used again. I think that the dark setting which I was inspired by Schreck’s photos, works really well with the building on the beach and I would like to use this for my final photos. I feel that doing all this research and figuring out the right setting and editing style has made me know what I want and understand what I’m going to do for my final project.

A sense of place – Test shot ideas 2

Having just finished my first set of test shots where I looked at dilapidated buildings, I decided I would now move on to take pictures of places that are more forgotten than dilapidated. What I mean by this is taking photos of places that are in locations that make them very easy to see, but people often just don’t look at them or think about the importance that they would have had in the past. This will hopefully allow me to show the story of these places to help bring them back to life.

Similarly, to Feijen’s second image of the bus which has been overgrown, I want my locations to be in plain sight but be overgrown by greenery or taken over in some other way, such as covered over by water or by sand on a beach for example. This would most likely mean that the location is often overlooked, and although it may once have been important, it is now forgotten to the point that people walking by it take no notice of it even being there anymore. Within these test shots, I will once again use both Schreck and Feijen’s styles of gloomy and scary as well as natural and unedited to see which I like the best.

The first location that I am considering taking my second test shots, is a beach building located on the beach between East Runton and Cromer in Norfolk. This is a small building that was once used as a lookout for the army, but has now fallen from the cliff and is sinking into the sand to the point where people may not even notice it’s there anymore. This building is now so far into the sand that you can no longer access it, and only a small part is visible from the sand. The thing that I thought was unique about this location is that none of the other chosen locations has been covered by sand. I haven’t really seen any images like this before, so I thought it would put a unique spin on the forgotten and dilapidated place images.

My second location idea for this theme is an old and potentially no longer used graveyard. This would be overgrown by greenery and forgotten to the point that you may no longer be able to access it easily, despite the fact that it was once used regularly to visit people that had unfortunately been lost. It would be very unique to take images of a forgotten location like this because very special days would have once been made there due to funerals, and finding a forgotten location like this would show that a lot of time has passed and even those that are buried can even be forgotten.

My third location idea is a block of houses that has been closed off within Northampton that is near to Vue and the antique shop that has the elephant on the roof. This building got blocked off by fences due to them becoming too run down and dangerous for the people to continue living there in a safe environment. These buildings are once again in plain sight as they are on a normal road, however, people often overlook them and don’t think about them existing at all. The unique thing about this location is that people may have lived in these buildings not so long ago, and, similarly to the last theme, there may still be belongings and furniture within the building that was left by the people that used to live there. This would give the place a sense of being forgotten and abandoned, giving it its own unique story.

My fourth and final location idea for this theme is old boats that have been abandoned at harbours or potentially in old boating salvage yards. I like this idea because nobody would be paying attention to these any more but they would be more unique than any of the other images I have seen, due to their unique story of being out at sea and once being used to make money and provide people with jobs. Due to the way they have aged, people will once again most likely not think about the story that these boats have had and the many years of time that they will have spent at sea, making them another forgotten location. There may also be some fishing gear still on these boats, enhancing their story more and giving more depth to the images.

First test shots and evaluation

After researching the different locations that I could take my first test shots I came to the conclusion that taking them at the old farm building would work the best. I felt the other locations wouldn’t have worked as well and also I didn’t hear back from anyone I contacted to see if I could take photos in these locations meaning I could only use the farm building. For my test shots I took them at midday when the sun was out so that I could get natural but strong lighting. I tried to focus on the outside of the building due to it potentially being dangerous and also to capture the state of the surrounds too. Here are my test shots and my thoughts of how they turned out.

 

For my first photo, I took a shot of the side of the barn with the main focus being the smashed window hiding in the undergrowth. I wanted to include the undergrowth in this photo to show how overgrown and unused this building is and that it’s hard to even see that there is a property on this land. In editing I tried to make it more like Schreck’s work by darkening the corners and creating a scary feel to the location. I even attempted to give the photo an older feel by lowering the saturation to lose most of the high pigmentation from the plants. I feel that this photo turned out how I was expecting and gives the spooky feeling to the viewers. I do think it’s sad that the inside isn’t visible as I felt this was the most important part of the photos I researched and told most of the story. I do think that maybe it’s a little too dark and could do with one area that is brighter as to make the eye travel across the photo.

 

For my second photo, I took a close up of the window and the inside of the farm building. I wanted this to be more about the inside and the details in the smashed glass. For this photo I tried to use Feijen’s style and make it unedited and natural. I felt that the way the bushes were creeping in from the sides gave the feeling that it’s being attacked and will soon be completely gone. I also think that the way the sun is shining on the contents of the barn makes it seem inviting which is completely opposite to the feeling the last photo made you have. I left this photo a lot lighter and the saturation up which helps make the bushes look healthier and the location look sunny. I do think I prefer my first editing style though.

 

For my third photo, I took a shot from either side of the barn wall through an empty window. This means you can see inside the barns and the contents and also a passage way which runs down the side of the barn to a door which is sat out in the wildlife with no purpose.  I made this photo slightly darker than it naturally was but left the outside area more light towards the end of the ‘tunnel’ as this shows possibly an open space at the end of it. I made the inside darker to give a spookier and more dangerous feel to the remnants of the barn and what’s been left behind. I like how this photo shows both inside and outside the barn and the different feelings they create.

 

For my last photo I took a photo of the sign which was on the wall of the barn which tells you to stay out of the building due to the danger of being electrocuted which is scary and unexpected as it’s not being used anymore but also is why I didn’t enter the building in the first case. I tried to make this photo unsaturated and dark as to make it seem spooky and to tell a story of the location. I feel this wasn’t one of the best photos as it doesn’t have any of the building in it meaning there isn’t much to look at.

 

Overall, I feel these photos were successful and out of the two different styles I liked the spooky and dark photo as it makes the viewers have a fear for this location and know it’s a dangerous place. I do want to try a different location for my next test shots but I feel the style will be the same. I want to look more into things being swallowed by their surroundings just like this barn with the trees looming over it and making it difficult to see it.

A sense of place – test shot ideas 1

Now that I have done my initial research of different photographers, I am now going to come up with my first idea of a potential theme and locations where they could be taken. Here is my first idea and the different locations that they could potentially be taken in.

For my first test shots I would like to touch on the theme of dilapidation which both Schreck and Feijen’s work revolved around. I’d like to try and take photos of places which, similarly to theirs, are not often seen or visited by the public, such as dilapidated, overgrown, forgotten buildings in potentially run down areas. One important thing that I am aware of is that I may not be able to get access to the places that would best fit my theme best, so I will try and find a variety of locations that could work well with this theme.

I’d like to be able to take my photos without a flash as to get a natural feel to the photos and a true representation of the locations. I would also like to try both styles that I learnt from Schreck and Feijen and see which one I think looks better at the end. That means one photo edited to be gloomy and scary and the other to be natural and unedited.

The first potential location that I could take these test photos at is the old military barracks in Weedon. A lot of them are still in use and are rented out to businesses, but one of them seems quite dilapidated and as if it is completely unused. This is the one that I could potentially take my photos in, due to it fitting the theme well and having a lot of history. One of the things that I thought was quite unique about this location is that it could have old military equipment that was left behind such as tools and potentially old broken down machinery. These kinds of items would make for some good unique photos, allowing them to illustrate the story behind the building itself.

My second location idea for this theme is an old farm building that I found whilst I was on holiday in Norfolk. This location is easy to access and doesn’t pose any danger to me as you can’t actually access the inside of the building, but you can see the dilapidated inside through holes and windows in the buildings walls. This location fits my theme as it is clearly abandoned, and there are lots of things such as crates, containers and potentially other farming equipment that has been left inside. It also has the overgrown and forgotten kind of look that I would like within my images. What makes this location unique is that it’s a lot more hidden away than my other location ideas, and even the people that live in the area wouldn’t know that the place existed due to the area being very overgrown.

My third location idea for this theme is the abandoned hospital in Northampton that is awaiting refurbishment. This building is most definitely dilapidated and dangerous, so I like the idea of telling its story and allowing people to see the story through dramatic and moody photos from inside the hospital. The hospital is quite unique as hundreds of people see this location daily, but most likely never think about it as it sinks into the background. There could also be hospital equipment left in there, giving my photos an eerie and creepy look just like Schreck liked to make his photos. Although I like this idea, it’s highly unlikely that I will get permission to take photos here due to the condition of the building and who it’s owned by.

My fourth and final location idea was a windmill which is located near Staverton. Although this location isn’t as dilapidated as my other location ideas, this one is quite unique because it dates back a long way and it’s likely that most people don’t pay any attention to it, even though they may see it. I also believe that the windmill isn’t used any more, making it an old, forgotten building that not many people pay attention to. This made me feel that the windmill has a lot of history and its own story, but nobody really wants to listen to it. What I find unique about this location is that it’s in the middle of nowhere, making it one of the more secluded location ideas.

Sense of Place – research

For my concluding assignment I’ve been tasked to take photographs in a location that has significance and character. I’m first beginning my journey by exploring others work and gathering tips and tricks which I feel useful, and which I feel will impact my own images.

Ben Schreck

One of the first photographers work that I have found is Ben Schreck. He takes a variety of different images of various things, but one of his sets of images that really caught my eye was ‘Lost Places’ within the Urban Exploration section of his website, which you can see here: http://www.explorerviews.de/lost-places/. The reason I chose this photographer as my first inspiration is due to the way he captures images of buildings which are ruined and decaying, but still seem to have their own beauty about them. This is due to the way Schreck sees and captures the unique look of each place.

Here is one of the photos that stood out to me the most out of Schreck’s ‘Lost Places’ collection, which is called ‘Urbex Acedia’. I found the lighting mysterious and slightly foggy, giving the viewer an insight into how dusty and old the room is. Another thing I like about this photograph is that the furniture from when the building was still inhabited, still exists in the room and remains untouched, making it seem as if the building was just abandoned and forgotten about a long time ago. The window is smashed and the walls are grimy and cracked, making the building seem treacherous and uninhabitable.

When Schreck took this photograph, he would have used only natural light, as you can see that all of the shadows in the image are casted from the light coming through the window of the room. This helps the dilapidated room feel more untouched as the light would fall in the same way if you were in the room in person. I feel that Schreck chose to have the chair as the main focus of the image as it can lead the viewer to feel that, although the chair was used in the past, it was just abandoned in a hurry, making the viewer intrigued as to what may have caused the abandonment to happen in the first place. The last physical thing that Schreck has done in this photo is only including half of the bed on the right within it. This makes the viewer feel as if the room could go on, and there could be many more beds within the same room.

When editing the image, Schreck seems to have lowered the saturation of the image. I think this as the image seems black and white at first, but looking closer you can see some of the paler colours such as on the bedside cupboard and the window frame. This makes the room look older, as old things seem to fade and lose all of their significant colour, becoming dull and grey. Another way that Schreck has made this photograph look old is by putting a dark gradient on the edges, as old photos can fade this way over time, and it makes the room feel darker as a whole.

Overall, I feel that this image ‘Urbex Acedia’ has made me understand that it’s important to tell a places story through the way the photo is taken and edited. Instead of having to explain a story through words, you should make the viewer feel the way that you want them to through the way the photo is taken and the editing the photo is put through. This could simply be what the main focus is, or it could be something as simple as where the light is coming from within the photo.

Niki Feijen

The second person that caught my eye was photographer, Niki Feijen who also takes photos of dilapidated buildings and appreciating that they still have beauty just like Schreck’s work. This section of her work is called Urbex which means Urban Exploration, as her work revolves around places that tell the story of something that used to be grand but now is in a state of no repair. She uses her photos to tell the story of the buildings and what they went through to get to this state. You can see her work on her website at: http://www.nikifeijen.com/gallery.  I chose Feijen as my inspiration due to the way she captures buildings that have a lot of history and lets others enjoy the remnants of them before they are fully gone. This means that she finds herself in very dangerous areas, potentially risking her life in order to take these photos for others to then enjoy.

Here is one of Feijen’s photos that stood out to me the most due to the polar opposites of the beautiful furniture and the dilapidated building. This specific photograph is called Quake, due to the condition of the building being caused by an earthquake that did so much damage to the castle that it was even too dangerous to go back and retrieve the furniture. Within her description of the image, she even says that the castle is “A pretty dangerous place to move around as it could collapse any second”. You can find this quote on her online gallery (linked above) under image number 71. In the photo you can see a room with expensive sofas which have been abandoned due to a large hole in the wall and the floor which has appeared due to the power of the earth moving. The walls are brightly coloured but are covered in cracks that multiply as they move along.

To me it seems as if Feijen has taken the photo without flash as to keep it natural and not to adapt the environment with her presence. The light is all natural and streaming in through the large holes that cover the buildings walls and also telling us that it’s open to the elements making it more dangerous due to rain rotting the supports. The image doesn’t look highly edited and looks natural and bright. She might have used a reflector to bounce the existing light around the room better and light up any possible dark spots.

Overall I feel the natural style that Feijen uses is very easy to look at and pleasing to the eye. I like that when you look at the photos that it’s how you’d see it if you were there and it’s not highly edited to make you feel scared so you can just enjoy the buildings for what they are. I also like how she picked up on the bright colours and made the hole to all the different rooms the main focus as it shows more than the story of the one room that we are in. I would like to try and use these methods in my own photos.
I also really like this photo by Feijen called ‘Jungle Bus’ as it’s a similar style but it shows something that could soon be gone and has been forgotten about. In the photo, you see an old bus being covered by undergrowth and the door is the only thing possible to see. I really like the idea of something that would have been used every day is now vanishing into the wild and never to be used again. I would really like to use this idea in my own photos as it’s showing love to something that is forgotten and soon will be gone forever. Just like the vegetation in Feijen’s photo but instead sand as it always gets blown over items and burying them.