How does my work relate to the photographers I have focused on?

How does my work relate to the photographers I have focused on?

Ed Ruscha

My work

Photographer's work

My work

Photographer's work

 

When focusing on Ed Ruscha I did not gain inspiration from the things that he photographed because he focused on gasoline stations in America. The main ways in which my photos relate to this photographer is the use of a wide depth of field within both of the images. When completing the shot above I ensured that I took the photo looking directly in front of me because this is an element of Ed Ruscha's work that I was very inspired by. He uses a central camera angle and ensures that he has used a wide depth of field. This is what I have done within the photo above and therefore the compositional elements of my work closely relate to those of Ed Ruscha's. I have also been inspired by some of Ed Ruscha's editing techniques and the way in which he has chosen to display the photos from his 'twentysix gasoline stations' series. He used a collaging technique to display multiple images because they all linked together. I took inspiration from this when completing my own edits.

Andre Kertesz

My work

Photographer's work

The first image is a photo that I have taken and the second image is a photo from Andre Kertesz. Although these photos do not immediately look the same, this was not what I wanted to achieve. These two photos link to each other due to the perspective that the images were taken. The photo above by Andre Kertesz is not a typical photo you may see of a train platform, he is looking down from a bridge onto the platform. I was inspired by taking photos from different perspectives therefore I decided to use the idea of photographing on a bridge and looking down however I wanted to go beyond the photographers ideas and do this in a different way. When taking my photo I directly looked down onto the train tracks rather than incorporating any of the platform in my image.

Ben Boswell

My Work

Photographer's work

The first image is a photo that I have taken at Barbican station and the second image is a photo that Ben Boswell has taken at Paddington station. When completing this shoot I did not want to go to the exact same station as Ben Boswell because it would have been easy for me to completely replicate his photos. Instead I did some research and travelled to Barbican station which had the same older and slightly more ancient feel to it. Although Ben Boswell has captured more motion within his photo we have both used the same composition and also both used the idea of framing people within the windows of the train to create a sense of business at the station.

Mike Golding

My work

Photographer's work

The first image is an example of my work and the image below is an example of Mike Golding's work. Both of these photos link due to the fact that they are both of escalators within tube stations. I also took inspiration from the fact that Mike Golding's images were taken whilst he was on the escalator which produced a slight amount of movement. I wanted to try and replicate this and I feel as though I did that successfully.

Shoot 8

Shoot 8

Plans for my shoot

Artist Influence - Ed Ruscha & Andre Kertesz

Andre Kertesz

I have been influenced by Andre Kertesz's work during this shoot but specifically the image above. I like this photo because it incorporates elements of a train station but does it in a very subtle way whilst also focusing on the people that are surrounding the train station. This is something that I would like to do within my shoot and take photos that create a sense of mystery and raise questions as to where the photos have been taken. In order to do this I would like to take photos in a busy station but not capture any photos of the platforms or trains and then use different signs from the station to overlay on top of the image to suggest that I am photographing a train station. I would also like to use the idea of a fairly harsh contrast within my photos. I like the way Andre Kertesz has incorporated a slightly harsher contrast and has made certain elements of the photo very dark. I think that this has been done to draw your eyes to specific parts of the photo like the man in the foreground and the train in the background.

Ed Ruscha

The main inspiration that I will be taking from Ed Ruscha is the composition of his images. Ruscha takes all of his photos directly facing whatever he is photographing. I also like the fact that he uses a wide depth of field and takes his photos quite far away from the petrol station that he wants to capture. This allows you to see the surrounding area and gives you more of an insight as to where the photo has been taken. I would like to incorporate this within my work and ensure that I am taking my photos of a wide area in the train station rather than zooming in or focusing on a specific area.

Contact Sheet

The aim of this shoot was to travel to another station in London that is typically big and has a lot of people. I wanted to capture photos showing the business of the station without necessarily capturing the movement of people. I wanted to mainly freeze action rather than capture movement. I think that this part of the shoot was successful. I then wanted to capture different elements of the train station like signs. This was because I wanted to expand upon the idea of layering closer images with photos that are taken with a wide depth of field. This element of the shoot was not as successful as I hoped because I struggled to take photos of signs with the angles that I desired.

My Best Images

1/15    F/3.5    ISO 100

I have chosen the image above as one of my best images because I feel as though it clearly shows the business of train stations in London. I like the incorporation of movement within the image as I feel it suggests people are in a rush and are moving quickly.  

1/13    F/3.5    ISO 100

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I like the symmetry of the image. I also like the fact that there are leading lines within the image that are leading up to the platform. I feel as though this draws peoples eyes into the photo. I feel as though this image could have been framed slightly better however this was due to me not using a tripod. If I were to retake this photo I would use a tripod.

1/15     F/3.5     ISO 100

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I like the way the man has been framed within the photo. I feel as though this makes a change from some of the other photos that I have taken because I froze motion rather than capturing movement. I also like the way I captured the person whilst they are walking because movement is still evident within the image.

1/30    F/3.5    ISO 100

I have chosen this as one of my best images due to the composition of the image. I like the way there are two leading lines within the image leading to the station below. I would like the centre of the image to be slightly lighter however this is something that I can edit in photo shop. An element of the photo that I do like is the light at the top of the photo. I feel this gives the photo a slightly happier atmosphere.

1/10    F/3.5     ISO 100

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I like the use of movement within the image. I feel as though the image is framed very well with the woman walking in the centre of the image. I like the way the woman is moving however there are people sitting down in the image. I feel as though this creates a good contrast within the photo.

Images that require improvement

1/10    F/4    ISO 100

The image above requires improvement because I was not using a tripod when taking this image therefore it is not composed the way I would have liked. The camera was slightly tilted to the side when I was capturing this image. If I were to have re taken this image I would have used a tripod and composed the image correctly.

1/10    F/4    ISO 100

The image above requires improvement because of the composition of the image. I wanted to take a photo from a different perspective but due to the camera being on auto focus the camera focused on the rail in the foreground rather than the person walking up the stairs which is what I wanted. If I were to retake this image I would have used manual focus on the camera so that I could determine what was in focus.

Camera Settings and Equipment

To complete this shoot I used a canon eos 400d. I used a tripod to capture photos with a wide depth of field however when taking photos that are closer up I decided not to use a tripod. This was because I needed to take photos from a range of angles and a tripod would not have been practical. Throughout the shoot I used a shutter speed of 1/10 to 1/30. I used a shutter speed of 1/10 when I wanted to capture a slight amount of movement. This shoot was not purely focused on movement however I did like the idea of incorporating it in some of the images. Using this shutter speed allowed me to capture slight movement in people walking by. When using this shutter speed I used a tripod to ensure that the rest of the photo did not turn out blurry. I used the shutter speed of 1/30 for photos that I did not want to capture any movement in. This allowed me to freeze motion within the photo. I also hand held the camera when taking some photos using this shutter speed. The aperture of this shoot ranged from f/3.5 to f/4. I used quite a low aperture because the environment that I was photographing was not very bright. This allowed me to let more light into the camera and result in an even exposure. I used an ISO of 100 when capturing these images. This is because there was natural light at the station I was photographing in and I did not need the camera to be anymore sensitive the lighting.

A03

During this shoot I was inspired by the work of Ed Ruscha and Andre Kertesz. Although I have previously looked at these photographers within my project, I wanted to expand upon my work and focus on some more specific parts of their work rather than just looking at it as a whole. With regards to Andre Kertesz the main thing that I feel I focused on with this shoot was the use of black and white within his work. When editing my photos I aimed to create a slightly harsher contrast in certain areas by using the control panel and increasing the black and white within certain colours that are in the photo. When focusing on Ed Ruscha's work I aimed to use the compositional features of his work and incorporate them into my own. I did this by using a tripod and ensuring that I had the photo framed correctly. When completing the edits for this shoot I was very inspired by the idea of displacement and making something that you see frequently, a train platform, become something that raises questions and makes you focus on the image a lot closer.

Edits

First Experimental Edit

1. The first step that I took in order to create this edit was to open the images that I wanted to use.

2. I then copied and pasted the photo of the closer image onto the other photo I was using. Then I altered the image to black and white. 

3. Next I used the ruler to create a guide with even distances between each of the lines.

4. Once I did this I used the marquee tool to select every other rectangle that I had created using the guide lines. Whilst selecting each of these I ensured that the selection was allowing me to add more.

5. I then pressed the backspace key on the keyboard which removed the overlayed image from the selected sections.

Second Experimental Edit

1. Firstly I uploaded the images that I wanted to use to create this edit.

2. I then copied and pasted one image over the top of the other and made each of the images black and white.

3. I then enlarged the canvas size of the photo. This meant that there was a white space around the edge of the image. This was done so that I could displace parts of the photo.

4. I used the ruler to mark out 1cm sections within the image. I then used the marquee tool to select every other section. After each selection I used the move tool to slightly displace that part of the image. I ensured that this part was deselected (cmd+D) before moving onto the next section.

5. Once each of the sections were altered I then created a new layer and placed it underneath the background layer. I then filled this in white. I did this because when I moved the photos there was nothing beneath it therefore it looked unnatural.

My Final Images

Progression

In order to progress onto the next shoot I would like to re visit the idea of movement within train stations as I feel the images that I produced were strong. I would like to continue to use black and white photos however I would like to use the grain effect when editing photos for my next shoot. I did not use this when editing the photos in this shoot.

Shoot 7

Shoot 7

Plans for my shoot

Artist Influence - Mike Golding

I have been influenced by Mike Golding's London tube photography when completing this shoot. Mike Golding takes a wide range of photos using many different camera angles and perspectives. For this shoot I have been specifically inspired by the two images above. These two photos involve the actual train station itself rather than the train or the people within the station. For a lot of my project I have captured photos of the business of London stations however I feel as though it would be interesting to take some photos of the actual station itself. In the photos above I like the fact that the images are in colour. I think that this is interesting because it draws your attention to certain elements of the photo for example in the second image that is located above the green fire exit sign draws you into that specific part of the photo. When using black and white this is something that you cannot do. 

Contact Sheet

The aim for this shoot was to capture an underground station. For a lot of my shoots I have focused on the business of stations however I thought it would be interesting to focus on the station itself and  the different elements that an underground station has, I feel as though these images will contrast very well with photos of stations with a lot of people because in these images you are able to see the architecture itself. An unsuccessful element of this shoot for me was the camera settings. Due to photographing in quite dark and dull environments I used the flash in order to capture some of my images and I feel as though this made some of the photo over exposed in certain areas. This was something that I did not realise until I was able to look at them on a slightly larger scale. 

My Best Images

1/6     F/4     ISO 200

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I like the symmetry that has been created from the escalator and the signs that are on each side. I also like the way in which the photo adds an element of mystery as you cannot see below the escalator.

1/6    F/4    ISO 200

I have chosen this as one of my best images because when taking this photo I was on the escalator. I then decided to use a slightly longer shutter speed to make the image slightly out of focus. I like the effect that this gave because I feel as though it represented the quick movements of people rushing through train stations. I think that this photo reflects Mike Golding's photo of an escalator because they both involve leading lines.

1/4    f/4    ISO 200

I have chosen the above image as one of my best because I like the incorporation of movement from the train. I like the way there is no movement on the platforms however the train is going by. I also like the composition of this image because I feel as though the arch frames the train and the people standing on the platform. I feel as though this focuses your attention to this areas of the photo.

1/60    f/4    ISO 200

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I like the way the photo almost creates an illusion. The curved walls focuses your eyes to the centre of the image. I also like the use of colour on the posters that are on the wall because I feel as though this compliments the dull interior of the station.

Images that require improvement

1/60    F/4    ISO 200

The image above requires improvement because I feel as though the foreground of the image is slightly too light. This is because when taking this photo I used the flash. This made the background of the image too dark. Although this is something that could be altered in photo shop I feel as though the composition is not as I would have wanted it. This is because I was not exactly in the centre of the doorway.

1/60     F/4     ISO 200

This photo requires improvement because I used a flash when taking this. The area that I was taking photos was very dark and did not have any natural light. When using the flash this made the foreground of the photo slightly too bright and washed out the background of the photo making it very dark.

Camera Settings and Equipment

In order to complete this shoot I used a canon eos 400d. I did not use a tripod to capture this shoot because I wanted to take photos from a range of angles and I felt as though it would be more beneficial to me to use the camera freehand. Whilst shooting my camera settings slightly ranged. I used a shutter speed of 1/4 to 1/60. The shutter speed altered depending on the location I was in when taking the photo. When I was in slightly darker environments I had to slightly increase the shutter speed to let slightly more light into the camera. I used an aperture of f/4 throughout the shoot. In some situations this was slightly lowered to f/3.5 in order to increase the size of the lens opening. Throughout this shoot I struggled to take photos that had an even exposure due to the dark areas that I was photographing in. This was why I used a flash in some of my images however due to the environment being so dark this overexposed the foreground of the photo and made the background too dark. I used ISO 200 throughout the shoot . This was because the area was dark. Although I could have increased this slightly, this would have decreased the quality of the photos and I felt as though I did not need to increase this.

A03

My main inspiration for this shoot has been Mike Golding's London tube photography. He takes a wide range of photos from many different perspectives however some of his images mainly focus on certain elements of a train station. An example of this is his image of escalators in a tube station. I liked this idea because I though this would be an interesting shoot as a lot of my shoots have consisted of focusing on the business of London train stations. I wanted to focus on the actual stations themselves. I have also been influenced by the colour within his photos. He does not use black and white photos which I think is interesting because by using colour the photographer can draw your attention to specific areas of the photo. I did some research on photography editing using black and white and colour and I found the image below. I thought that this was very interesting because the photographer wants your eyes to be drawn to the flowers and bringing out the colour makes you immediately focus on this element of the photo. I like the idea of popping out on colour within the image therefore this is something that I have tried to do within my edits. I wanted to contrast the black and white images with some colour.  

Edits

The first edits that I created I only overlayed two images and added a grain to the images. I then decided that I wanted to go beyond this idea and add an extra element.

1. Firstly I overlayed the image of the fire exit sign over the top of the other image. I then lowered the opacity to about 35%.

2. I then selected the background layer and altered it to black and white.

3. In order to create this edit I selected 'edit' then 'transform'. I then ensured that I selected 'warp'. I then dragged the image to the desired position that I wanted.

My Final Images

Progression

To progress further I would like to expand upon this editing idea. I feel as though I want to take some photos in a busy station and then also take some photos close up to different signs within the station. Rather than just overlaying the photos I would like to experiment slightly more with photo shop and add in some different ideas and techniques that I have not yet tried.

Shoot 6

Shoot 6

Plans for my Shoot

Artist Influence - Ben Boswell & Alexey Titarenko

Ben Boswell

This shoot was heavily influenced by Ben Boswell's photos of London Underground stations. I have completed a previous shoot in relation to his work and I focused on quite a small platform. I would like to use his ideas and compositional features in order to capture photos involving the movement of people. Although Ben Boswell doesn't specifically look at the movement of people I like the composition of his images. I specifically like the photo above because I like the way the camera is looking down the platform as this shows you more of the station itself. I would also like to involve an element of movement of trains because I think that this has connotations of the consistency and constant public transport in London.

Alexey Titarenko

Throughout this shoot I have been  influenced by Alexey Titarenko's use of movement within his work. I like the way he has used movement to make a train station seem very busy and crowded however he has just captured the movement of a select few people. I like the way you can see the progress of someone's movement through the image above. This is something that I would like to focus on but I want to do this in a different way. I would like to capture this movement by taking photos of the same location multiple times as people are moving. This will show the movement of different people but rather than being in one photo, like Titarenko has done, I would like to show this through multiple images.

Contact Sheet

The aim of my shoot was to capture movement on train platforms rather than in large stations like I had done previously. I wanted to show the business of the underground stations themselves rather than just the station in general. I feel as though this was successfully captured because I was able to take photos that included a lot of movement and also from a range of angles that I feel were very effective. An unsuccessful element of the shoot was that one of the platforms I visited was not very busy. This was due to the station not being a well known station and also I completed this shoot on a Sunday. Although one of the stations was not busy I did manage to capture some busier stations and get some very interesting photos.

My Best Images

2.5 S     F/25    ISO 200

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I feel as though the angle that the photo has been taken from resembles the composition of some of Ben Boswell's images. I also like the movement that has been portrayed. I feel as though this image could have connotations of the chaos of London train stations.

2 S   F/22   ISO 200

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I like the way the photo captures the movement of only one person. I think that this shows someone's individual experience at a station rather than a large group of people. I also like the way the camera is directly facing the woman because I feel as though this focuses your attention onto the woman. The composition of this image resembles Ed Ruscha's photos. This is because he takes his photos directly facing the object he is photographing and also uses a wide depth of field which I have done within this photo.

 2 S    F/29    ISO 100

I have chosen this as one of my best images because I like the way the consistent movement of a select few people has been captured. This reflects Alexey Titarenko's work because he has captured movement in train stations using a few people but made it look as though there is a lot of people there.

Images That Require Improvement

1 second    f/29     ISO 100

This photo requires improvement because it is under exposed. When taking this photo I used a shutter speed of 1 second. Due to the photo being taken on a train platform there was no natural light. This meant that when using this shutter speed not enough light could be let into the camera. This was also due to the fact that I was using a high aperture. If I were to retake this photo using a shutter speed of 1 second I would decrease the aperture. 

2 seconds    f/22     ISO 200

I have chosen this as an image that requires improvement because there is no movement within the photo which was what I wanted to portray within this shoot. There is slight elements of movement but it is not obvious when looking at the image. I think that this was partly because there was not enough people on the platform in order to capture enough movement. If I were to retake this photo I would use a longer exposure time to clearly capture the small amount of movement that was happening whilst I was taking the photo.

Camera Settings and Equipment

Throughout this shoot I used a canon eos 400d and I also used a tripod in order to capture movement. The reason I used a tripod was because I wanted the entire image to be still whilst I captured the movement of the people walking. Due to using a long shutter speed I needed to use a high aperture. This was because I did not want to let too much light into the camera as this would have resulted in over exposed images. When I was at the first station I used a shutter speed of 2.5 seconds, an aperture of f/25 and ISO 200. I used this aperture due to the shutter speed being so long. There was some artificial lighting within the photo therefore I was cautious as to what aperture I used because I did not want the images to be over exposed. In the second station that I went to I used a slightly lower shutter speed of 2 seconds. I also used an aperture of f/22. The reason I slightly lowered the aperture when taking these photos was because there was less light at this station. This meant that if I had kept the aperture at f/25 the images would have been under exposed. I continued to use ISO 200 at both of these stations due to not being in natural lighting. When I was at the third station I was on an outside platform. This meant that the environment was slightly lighter and so I needed to use a lower ISO and a higher aperture. This was because a higher aperture means the lens opening of the camera is smaller and therefore will let in slightly less light. This was why I used an f-stop of 29.  

A03

When creating ideas for this shoot I was looking at my previous shoot and I wanted to incorporate elements from multiple shoots that I had created. I decided to focus on the work of Alexey Titarenko because this was the photographer that I previously focused on and I liked his work with movement. I also liked how my previous photos looked and I wanted to expand upon this idea. I then took elements from Ben Boswell's work. He photographed London train stations and some of his images looked at the train platforms. This inspired me to include this within my work and to incorporate some of his compositional elements within my work. I feel as though this worked and made my photos very effective. I also feel as though this shoot works very well with my previous shoot to show the business of London train stations as it allows you to see the different areas of a train station and the business of these areas. A lot of inspiration for my edits within this shoot came from research into different kinds of diptych techniques within photography. When looking online many photos using this technique incorporated only two images that were similar to each other however I wanted to use more than one image so I was inspired by the photo below. I wanted to use this technique but use four pictures rather than three. I felt as though this would be very effective for this shoot because I captured photos in the same locations but with different elements of movement in them and I wanted to be able to edit them so that this could be seen.

Edits

Firstly I copied and pasted each photo onto a blank canvas that I created. 

I then used cmd+T to resize the photos and move them into the desired position. During these edits I wanted to created a square of photos.

I then used the crop tool to alter the size of the entire canvas, ensuring that there was an even border around the edge of the photo.

Once all of the photos were in the desired position I merged all of the layers together so that I could edit the image as a whole. I then altered the image to black and white and used the curves tool to further deepen he contrast within the image. I then added a grain to the photo. 

My Final Images

Progression

In order to progress onto my next shoot I would like to move away from capturing movement and focus on photographing elements of underground stations. I would like to do this because I feel as though it would be interesting to have some photos taken in a station that is not busy so I can capture the train station itself.