Research for Aaron Price: Waste

Aaron has been inspired by photographers such as Andreas Gursky, looking into organised landscapes, very repetitive patterns with in incredible large landscapes, showing such a vast amount of production in one area, how we mass produce at such a rate it becomes so full of colour and goings on, it reminds me of a wheres wally book, or from a distance looks like a type of abstract waterfall of colours, really quiet beautiful.

http://c4gallery.com/artist/database/andreas-gursky/andreas-gursky.html

a link with some nice writing about the artists, taking about his systematic aspects in his work.

My first suggestion would be to look into Edward Burtynsky, he has a dvd called ' Manufactured landscapes ' which will help inspire your want to photograph vast scale area's, he shoots a lot of work looking down with repetitive patterns, and is very concerned with oil and consummation.

he was very much inspired by a large mine that made him then start photographing at such a large scale & make fantastic work! he took plenty of time contacting cooperations to gain access to the place he made work in, he try's to challenge the audience into what there see'ing, he makes it look incredible, but when you look at it more and more you begin to realise what a bad thing is happening, and the scale and rate of it happening is very scary.

http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/

Coming away from waste, but staying with the idea of repetitive pattern, Massimo Vitali make some works from beaches and parks which where packed out with people, he shot the images from above creating very colourful pieces of work! I think its really interesting to look at other ways in how ' organised & repetitive patterns work in people as well as materials.

http://www.massimovitali.com/

Nadav Kander made a series called ' Yangtze, The Long river, absolutely stunning series of photographs shot in very surreal looking weather conditions, the colours always appear very daunting & ear, the images below are some thing in the series with a some what vast & repetitive feel to them bringing in. the second image down is by far my favourite, the vibrant colours of the clothes against the strangely lighten landscape looks mad! must be such a nice experience to turn up at such a scenery & have the chance to photograph a really beautiful moment.

http://www.nadavkander.com/

Hopefully that gives you some image refence, can also try http://vimeo.com/daylightmultimedia  has some real good documentrys on it, I prefer to view something visually as I cant really take writing in so well.

oh and not to forget a few images from Jason Koxvold, one of my all time favourite photographers. makes very clean & fresh looking photos looking like neatly organised & made sets, really interesting way of work and really catches the human eye.

Portraits / workers - waste.

With in my Waste series, I want to make a portrait of a worker, someone who has a love for restoration of classic cars, iv'e been looking into inspiration on how to place the person who I will be photographing, forms of lighting, and positions, how to make them look like there comfortable within there work environment, Iv'e made a few photos already which I need to work

on in terms of lighting, Im losing the subject in a few area's, so i'm hoping to use what I learnt in the Metz flash workshop to improve my previous attempts if I get another chance to make a photograph. my subject as a Gentlemen called andy, he owns a classic & retro car garage called Ml motor sport, the garage makes for a very personal workspace with history of all his old cars on the walls, old carports & bonnets decorating the place including his very messy style of working ( which I try to keep tidy ) I work part time with andy when I can, but he is a very busy man & I don't like to get in the way of work, so Im really hoping I get another attempt at the portrait,

Iv'e been taking references from Irvin Penn, who made a beautiful series of workers, shot against a very interesting textured backdrop, and the subjects would portray there work through the objects they where holding, I find it interesting how he's taken from out of the workplace & environment they would usually be in & how the posture plays part in the job with proudness & some almost awkward. few examples

The image on the left, penn seems to of caught quiet a venerable facial expression plus a quiet slouched look, the fact he is positioned to one side casting a large dark shadow down his right side could portray another side, yet the man on the right seems to show proudness in his work within his posture, very straight & stiff. 

I also like this image by Andre Kertesz : really caught in the moment of his work, looks as if he's been quickly asked to put down his knifes for 5 mins & to pose for a quick photograph, but its very strong & shows real workmen ship in those times.

so my plan is to make a colour portrait, including the surroundings of the subjects work to place them in there own habitat of which they have added too & collected along there lifes to make it personal. 

Im hoping to carry on my portrait research with some of charles freger worker portraits which where showed in the metz workshop but unfortunately im having troubles tracing the work, hopefully im able to get the book out from the library.

Recycling creatively - waste

First of a quick apology for the reason of there being no posts from me on our fashion constructed image yet, i'm going to make one large post once I feel comfortable with a piece that makes sense & looks organised.

Iv'e been working a lot on my ' Commission ' piece, Im really enjoying the idea of it being for a client & am trying to put a lot into it.

Iv'e been out & made some work, Im stilling looking in to the love one has for restoration, & recycling objects to play another part in life, the librarian helped me today to try find some nice books on people who made work around this, so far iv'e struggled to find anyone making landscapes in this area. the book I did get is called ' Remake it: Home (Thames&Hudson) it plays with the idea of recycling in the home, looking into what we have learnt about being resourceful, which is very relevant in modern life to help cut down on what we are doing to the world.

it shows photographs of chairs & coffee tables made from old suitcases & a draw simply turned up onto its side to become a bedside table.

Spotted this piece in the book by Uhuru, a table made from reclaimed & recycled materials, the wood is Heart pine which is nearly 

extinct due to over harvesting a century ago. These pieces where taken from houses that have been demolished, and the Rim around the outside

is of course from a bicycle. It really is inspiring to see what some people do & its nice to know that its in there head to use what we have already

sacrificed again to turn it into something different and unique to be used once again instead of being burnt or left in the garden to rot in a pile of rubbish, I also see it as a beautiful piece of art, I can imagine it looks quiet interesting taken from a direct above view.

Iv'e always had a fascination with wood, I find myself photographing at any chance people who have logs in there garden

or outside there front door, ready for the winter months when they would use it on there open fire or log burner. the textures in the bark & when cleanly cut the rings of the log look incredible. & how we use it these day in so many different ways, in my still life photograph I would like to maybe photograph an item or tool custom made by a set of creative hands, I think it could be really interesting. 

" ones mans junk, is another mans treasure " 

This may not seem crucial to my research,( photographically ) but its helping me look into area's of how people go about recycling as a type of arm form or sculpture, hopefully this will help with the still life I want to make.

Artist statement - Waste.

My final approach in the brief given on waste, is to explore the infatuation a person 

has to bring an object or material from the dead back to life, to play its part for what it
was first created for or re-created into something different to be put on a new path in
exsistance.

Peter Watkins - how images link.

I made contact with a photographer named Peter Watkins who was very kind enough to reply to my email & help me with a few queries. Peter Watkins made a collaboration with Tereza Telenkova called ' Index of time ' A series of images exploring some caves off boundaries to the public but they was lucky enough to get the chance to spend some time with some cave explorers and make there way into the caves to make some images.

As from my previous post, my research is based around how images from different area's of photography link together cleverly, for the viewer to be able to act upon there first impressions and understand it. i'm mostly looking at the link between still life, landscape & portrait, usually involved in documentary pieces, maybe a travel piece including places they stayed, items purchased, food ate & people they met, which is what I really enjoy, to see a story form in photographs in very up bringing in spirits and makes you want to be involved in such happenings.

in this series, Peter Watkins and Tereza Telenkova photographed still life images of recreations from the bronze age which where discovered in the cave, swell as beautifully made black & white landscapes within and without the cave both natural with natural & un-natural light. for now I would like to concentrate on the still life pieces within the series.

in Peters words:

" A local blacksmith crafted these for an annual exposition they have in the first cavern of the cave, they all lend themselves to an idea of truth and concrete history of the cave "

The items found, photographed with a studio style environment give the idea of truth, and story, the thought of how these items got in such a place, and create a feeling of exploration, retrieved items found by intrigued minds.

Here are the 3 images included in the series:

I love the feeling of craftsmanship within the items, Peter told me in the strange shaped box is a Large ceremonial necklace,  but says things are more intriguing kept hidden. and the axe with a very custom feel, how the blade is connected to the handle, Im not sure on the last item.

Im hoping I can create one of my images from the series similar to this.

Waste - Update on research & idea's.

I previously mentioned in one of my earlier posts, referring back to alec Soth that I would like to try & mix different concepts of imagery, for example, a series of three images complying of a Landscape, portrait & still life. This is something Alec Soth does incredibly well, some people sometimes struggle to find a connection, but sometimes I feel thats the idea of it, gets you into a much deeper mind set to exploring his imagery, maybe a little game he has created. 

Im currently exploring into other photographers using big jumps in making series linking with great distance.

here are 3 images from the series ' Broken manual ' by Alec Soth, I do realise Iv'e used him previously, but he is a big inspiration for me in trying to create something new, Im using him this time in a different way of researching.

These images explore the escape from society, a  completely different way of living from a ' normal ' everyday life, the

camouflage man in the woods, showing how he is at one with his surroundings, blending with every part of the life he choses to live.

The table placed with cooking implements & food, the bread wrapped in its packaging throws everything off a bit, he most be quiet close to a food store, but the way everything is treated, very unclean & messy, no attempt to wipe the table down, the burn marks on the table underneath the gas stove giving signs on how long he's been there, everything feels very uneatable. 

The knife, home made with what looks like the end of a spatular, and a sharp knife held on with wire, this kind of thing to me in incredible, I love the idea of survival & how people use enervation to help make things easier for themselves in necessary times.

I would very much like to make a still life photograph like this, showing the recycling of waste to create something completely new and to be used in everyday situations, maybe some sort of tool or something to help with a process.

Edward Burtynsky - Manufactured landscapes

Got a dvd out from the library today called  ( Manufactured landscapes ) by Edward Burtynsky, to try and get some inspiration towards my waste project, im still finding it very difficult to come up with a strong individual idea, so just trying to push research together to help me produce something with a bit more concept to it than just waste.

notes from the film.

- Large scale

- Harming nature / We are part of it.

- Destroying nature is to destroy ourselfs.

- Mecury films / Foundry films.

- Our scraps go to China ( e-waste ) to be recoiled.

- Water is now shipped to other countries due to the contamination of rivers & soil due to harmful leds & other chemicals from the materials.

- Oil / oil / oil / so much concern with oil!