Cliffs of Moher, Eason and Son Collection

Timothy O Sullivan, Great Surveys, 1878

Into the West.
Landscape Photography; an ocean apart.

For my project I am creating a series, comprising of photographs taken for the “Great Western Surveys” of the American West in the late nineteenth century and the Eason and Son and Lawrence Collections of photographs of Ireland in the early twentieth century.

The “Great Western Surveys” comprises photos from Timothy O Sullivan, A.J. Russell, Alexander Gardner, William Bell, William Henry Jackson and John K. Hillers. Though these photographs were taken for “recording purposes” they were also used as a predictive medium. They were used to predict the West of the Future, a West where economic investment that would be rewarded and immigrants would meet a prosperous future.

The Lawrence and Eason Collections were produced in the early 20th century for commercial purposes, primarily as postcards. Their intent was to advertise the Irish countryside and villages as places to visit and enjoy. This explains why towns, historic sites, scenic views and tourist attractions were repeatedly photographed while those areas that were sparsely populated and “less attractive” areas were ignored.

The Lawrence and Eason Collection together accumulate approximately 44,000 negatives; consequently to narrow it down I am focusing on photographs of the West of Ireland only. Upon examining the photographic collections I came to a conclusion that though the “Great West” and the West of Ireland though an ocean apart have a number of astonishingly similar landscape photographs. Thus I decided to compare and contrast these collections to find out firstly, why we take photographs and secondly, how that will influence how we take the photographs.

By going through the series of each collection I have picked out a number of photographs and I am juxtaposing the photographs from each continent against each other. I will now analyse the photographs; the intent behind them and also the method of photographing, the content, the framing and so forth. From this I hope to begin to find a methodology or way of thinking behind the similarities of the landscape photographs.

Exhibition proposal:

I would like to place my images around a window which has a view to a landscaped area and also near an exit to give the viewer some food for thought as they exit into their own landscape. Perhaps I would use the inner wall surrounding the large window beside the exit from the eating/exhibition space beside O Brien’s. I would place the images beside each other on an A4 sheet, with a short caption under each. I would include a brief text at the beginning regarding my intent of the project.

Space Framed Week 12

We will meet for individual tutorials on Monday 19 April.
Please post an exhibition proposal plus work outline/update to the blog by Sunday 18 April.

Timetable for tutorials is as follows:
10.30 Caroline
10.45 Su
11.00 Orla
11.15 John
11.30 Break
11.45 Sarah
12.00 Luke
12.15 Stefan
12.30 Brian

We will meet with interior prospect in the staffroom today @11am

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Tête à Tete

Walker Evans

Many Are Called

In the book ’many are called’ photographed by walker evans, are photographs of people who were unaware that they were beeing potographed The series of pictures were taken in the subway of new york. The sitters are sitting in the subways given different unposed expression of their inner, personal feelings.(show them as an individium) Through the  serie you get a sense of a across section of one moment in history the depression of america as expressed through the people feelings who lived there.

In the book ,’Tete a Tete’ photographed by Henri Cartier-Bresson, are shown famous people who were aware that they were beeing photographed. The series of picture were taken in the homes of the people what is a more  formal atmosphare than the subways. Most of the sitter’s work has influenced our time in a spezial way. the obsever is reminded of this history as expressed through the moment as the  pitcure was taken and the sitter’s personality itself. Spite of the important history the sitter is shown as an individium supported by the familiar atmosphare, facial expression and body language.Through  the serie you get a sense of a section of one moment of personal history but regarded alongside a sense of 50 years history.

In both books the sitters staring at the camera to engage with the sitter’s opposite, people are looking away, people are dreaming, people seems to engaged in lively conversation, people are observed in a pensive mood, people have a similiar air of resignation .... 

The people in Walker’s book you can believe that the people present themself. Most of them allow themself to reveal their deep inwards in natrual way and unposed expression. Instead of the people who are shown in Cartier-bresson’s book. you have everytime the impression that the people know they are getting photographed, they try to hold something back what shouldn’t be revealed and they show an expression that they would like to present in a conscious way. 

Space Framed Week 11

Next week, we will be joined by The Interior Prospect for a discussion on European photography, focusing on in particular, the 'Dusseldorf School of Photography'.

We will be looking at the following photographers in detail:
- Bernd & Hilla Becher - Luke & Su
- Andreas Gursky - Orla & Stefan
- Thomas Struth - Brian & Caroline
- Candida Hofer - John & Sarah

In each case, we will be examining how the image works as a photograph and  related ideas about reality, objectivity and the role of a photograph as a cultural record.

Some books to look at:
On temporary Reserve:
The Dusseldorf School of Photography - Stefan Gronert
Cruel & Tender - Emma Dexter & Thomas Weski (Ed)
Bernd & Hilla Becher: Life and Work - Susanne Lange
Andreas Gursky - Thomas Weski
Andreas Gursky - Peter Galassi

Architecture Collection:
The Architecture of Absence - Candida Hofer
Basic Forms of Industrial Buildings - Bernd & Hilla Becher
Bernd & Hilla Becher: Life & Work - Susanne Lange
Typologies - Bernd Becher

Interim Review References 09 - Representing Internal Space

Brian is working on how buildings are represented, and the translation of three-dimensional space into two dimensional image..

Gordon Matta-Clark  and his work was mentioned, plus the series 'The Places People Live' by Jonas Bendiksen.

Rene Burri's images of Le Corbusier's work also provide an approach to representing inhabited space.

Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation, 1959 - Rene Burri

Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation, 1959 - Rene Burri

Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation, 1959 - Rene Burri

Interim Review References 08 - Work Spaces

Su is looking at workspaces, and the dynamics behind how people space and arrange themselves in public. Examining the work of Edward T Hall and his theory of proxemics through the work of Garry Winogrand, he's begun looking at how camera can expose or fabricate spatial relations between people, those around them and their environment.

Garry Winogrand - From Arrivals and Departures

- Massimo Vitali's photographs of people at leisure in public spaces also explores this subject.

Picnic Alle - Massimo Vitali

Piombino Jump - Massimo Vitali

Viareggio Polyptych (B) - Massimo Vitali

Interim Review References 07 - Representation of Landscape - The West

Orla's project is heading in an interesting direction...

Comparing Timothy O'Sullivan's photographs taken of the American West for the US Survey Project 'Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel' in the late 1860s 

with 

photographs of the Irish West taken as postcards in the Eason Collection of the National Library of Ireland, looking at the visual language, technological restraints and how these shaped the perception of the landscape...

Ambulance and photographic Wagon, Carson Desert, Nevada, 1867 - Timothy O Sullivan

A fuschia hedge near clifden, Eason Postcard Collection, National Library 1900-1940

Interim Review References 06 - Representation of the Man-Altered Landscape

There were a few references in relation to Luke's project - which touches on how man affects the landscape, and how this is portrayed.

- Bill Owens series 'Suburbia'

Untitled, from the series 'Suburbia', 1972

Untitled, from the series 'Suburbia', 1972

-Ed Ruscha's series '34 parking lots in Los Angeles' 

- From the discussion, a study into Ansel Adams & Robert Adams with an emphasis on continuities rather than contradictions in their bodies of work might prove the most interesting direction to go in.

Interim Review References 05- Paul Graham

Paul Graham's images from the series 'Beyond Caring' were mentioned in relation to Stefan's project.
They were taken with a hidden camera in dole offices in 80s England and are similar to Evans' subway images in catching the subjects unguarded, unaware and within a specific built environment.

Interim Review References 04 - Oliver Boberg

Oliver Boberg was mentioned in relation to Sarah's project.
His work touches on similar themes of the image, illusion & space as Carl Zimmerman, who had been the main point of reference in the project.

Brucke/Bridge

seite IV/page IV

Interim Review References 03

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear window came up in relation to Caroline's project, particularly the opening few minutes. (attached below in bad quality)



References were also made to
-the upper floor of John Gerrard's exhibition in the Gallery of Photography in 2003(a viewing platform presented views onto a landscape)
-Canaletto's images of Venice
-Bosselmann's book - Representation of Places

Interim Review References 02 - Helen Levitt

Exploring Helen Levitt's later work in colour in relation to her earlier work in black and white on the streets of New York may be a good direction for John's project. She captures the city as habitat, its stoops, streets and steps appropriated with a domestic and familiar ease by its inhabitants.

         

Interview with Helen Levitt here

Interim Review References 01

Thank you to Paul Tierney, Ros Kavanagh & Gul Kacmaz Erk for a good series of discussions yesterday..We hope to invite them back again for our exhibition of work later in the semester.
Through the discussions, some really interesting references came up, in relation to each of the 8 assignments. I'm going to post them up in separate posts to follow this one.

Below are some books references sent to us by Paul after the session:
Photographs and Photography in Irish Local History - Liam Kelly
Reconstructing Space: Architecture in Recent German Photography - Gerda Breuer, Rolf Sachsse, Neil Leach and Hubertus von Amelunxen
Building with Light - An International History of Architectural Photography - Robert Elwall
Representation of Places: Reality and Realism in city Design - Peter Bosselmann

Also, some films mentioned by Gul & Ros:
The Belly of an Architect (1987) by Peter Greenway
Things to Come (1936) by directed by William Cameron Menzies and written by HG Wells
Rear Window (1954) by Alfred Hitchcock

Just a note on what I'm looking at for the assignment...

I am interested in the photography of windows, and how it can be used as a means to realistically describe our perception of a space. I was looking at 'Picture Windows' , a series of photographs by John Pfahl, and how each window space is captured in it's individual photograph and translated differently within its series

Space Framed - Interim Review 29 March

On Monday 29 March, we will review the work on the assignment to date with Paul Tierney & Ros Kavanagh at 11am.
Each student has 5 minutes, and should bring books, pictures etc to explain their assignment topic.
Try to address these questions
- What's your subject matter?
- What are you trying to find out?
- How are you trying to find this out?
- How will you know when you have found this out?

Space Framed - Week 7

Fiona Hackett joined us for a discussion on photographic practice-based research in relation to her on-going work in California, entitled Terra Incognita. 
Fiona elaborated on photography and its relation to a mapping/ordering of the world, describing how we can 'never knowingly know anywhere', but how we can use photography to add layers of knowledge to our understanding of the world
This, combined with Hugh's analysis of how he compiled a research paper, relating to the Swarkowski's photographs of Louis Sullivan's work formed an interesting discussion, and one that will inform the work on the assignment over the coming weeks.
Fiona also referred to Taryn Simon, and her book 'An American History of the Hidden and Unfamiliar'
Simon photographed sites and sights in America that underlie the society there, but are unknown, undiscussed and sometimes undisclosed to create this series of  images.

White Tiger (Kenny)Selective Inbreeding, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and Foundation, Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Cryopreservation Unit, Cryonics Institute, Clinton Township, Michigan

Transatlantic Submarine Cables Reaching Land, VSNL International, Avon, N.

Simon discusses this work here:

Island of silence

Donata, Wender

published 2006

The fact i am attracted to and identify with many of Wenders photographs rests to a large extent upon shared feeling that we are looking at ourselves in particular moments of inwardness and reflection.

Wenders photographs capture sitters who are generally fully aware of their own presence or lost in their own thoughts. The potographs show diferent age of people in a familiar subject matter. Each of them are reflected through windows, mirrors, images, water and shadows which implies their figurative meaning.

In addition the photographs seem to exist outside a time because of the reduction of black and white and expressive elements.

All these components leads us in the sitters moment of withdrawal which let us think about ourselve in the past, present and future as well.

All the picture seen together create a meaning simply through their recurrence.

Wenders photographs reminds me of the book from walker evans, it is called "the americians". I could try to relate it to them?!

Space Framed - Assignment

Helene Binet - The Shadow Exhibition - Two Photographic Essays 

Series/Serial Imagery

'The series is what gives the individual photograph its interest, ...tiny details within them become very interesting' 

-Gohlke on Ed Ruscha in New Topographics

'All contempoarary usage of Serial Imagery, whether in painting or sculpture, is without either first of last members. Obciously, at one point there had to be a beginning – the first painting of sculpture made – but its identity becomes subsumed within the whole, within the lacro structure. The same principle applies to the last memeber. At any given point in time one work in a series stands last in order of execution, but its sequential identity isirrelevant and in fact is lost immiediately on the work's completiion. The basic structure of Serial Imagery, then, can be likened to a pack of cards, in which every card is the Ace of Spades; all cards are of equal value and all imprinted with the same emblem, which may or may not vary in size, colour or position'

- John Coplans in Catalog – Serial Imagery – Coplans, John (Pasadena, CA: Pasadena Art Museum and the Art Alliance 1968)

Developing our discussions on photographic series,  produce/curate/analyse a photographic series.

Timeline:

Thurs 18 March: Post your intention for the project to the blog 

Mon 22 March: Space Framed - discussion with Fiona Hackett plus practical demonstration, co-inciding with assignment tutorials

Mon 29 March: Review with Paul Tierney & Ros Kavanagh

Mon 12 April: Presentation of work to 'Interior Prospect' Seminar

Mon 26 April: Completion of Assignment/Preparation for exhibition.

some images from our last session...

Space Framed Week 5

Next week, we will be back to the usual time- 11, and will be looking at the photography of the street.

William Klein, St Patrick's Day, fifth avenue 1954-55

Caroline and Stefan will be looking at William Klein, in particular his book 'Life is Good and Good For You in New York Trance Witness Revels' and reading Chapter 17 in 'Bystander' by Joel Meyerowitz and Colin Westerbeck.

Garry Winogrand

Luke, Orla and Su will be tackling Garry Winogrand;his book 'The Man in the Crowd' will be put on temporary reserve in the library, plus the last chapter of 'Bystander' contains some more context.

Stephen Shore, Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California, June 21 1975.

John, Brian and Sarah will be examining Stephen Shore's work, in particular 'Uncommon Places' but also delving into later aspects of his work and how it has developed over time.




Also, New Topographics is still on temporary reserve. The introductory essay by Britt Salvesen is worth a read, especially in light of our discussion today.

Some thoughts on serial imagery from the New Topographics.
'The whole notion of series allows you to see that a fairly coherent formal position was being worked out...The series is what gives the individual photograph its interest...'
Frank Gohlke, quoted in New Topographics, essay by Britt Salvesen, as introduction to the book New Topographics, 2009.


'There are sufficient indications in the emergence of Serial Imagery over the past decade in the United States that the rhythms attendant upon the Serial style ritually celebrate, if only obliquely or subliminally, overtones of American life...Serial Imagery is particularly fitted to reflect its contemporary environment, because of the open and unplanned nature of its internal dialogue, its highly systematic yet flexible process of production, its high degree of specialization, and its narrow deep focus on a single issue.'
John Coplan, Ibid

new topographics - photographs of a man-altered landscape

Here's a link to a guardian article on the issue of the book 'New Topographics'.

Also, as a background, I came across a photograph by William Garnett in the essay by Britt Salvesen at the start of the book.
He was hired by a developer to photograph the construction of new housing at Lakewood, on the outskirts of LA. Lakewood was the second major postwar housing development built in the US. 17,500 tract houses were built using mass production methods on 3,500 acres of cleared farmland.

Grading Lakewood, California 1950

Trenching Lakewood, California 1950

Foundations & Slabs, Lakewood, California 1950

Framing Lakewood, California 1950

The resulting photographs were useful, but they are captured in a way that communicates Garnett's sentiment on his assignment:

'I was hired commercially to illustrate the growth of that housing project. I didn't approve

of what they were doing. Seventeen thousand houses with five floor plans, and they all

looked alike, and there was not a tree in sight when they got through.'

—William A. Garnett

They also bring to mind some of the work of David Maisel or Edward Burtynsky documenting man's effect on the landscape from the air.

As a start to this week's research, here Robert Adams discusses photograph selection and presentation.

Space Framed Week 4

Next Week, we will discuss the journey in the work of 3 photographers: Robert Frank, Walker Evans & Robert Adams.
Sarah & Orla will be takingWalker Evans' book 'American Photographs', plus essays on it.
Brian, Su & John will be looking at Robert Frank's 'The Americans', plus 'Looking in: Robert Frank's the Americans', ed by Sarah Greenough (esp first essay by Sarah Greenough: Zurich to NY)
Stefan, Caroline & Luke have opted for Robert Adams 'New Topographics' (esp main essay by Britt Salvesen)
All of the books are on temporary reserve in the library until next week.

When looking at the books, try to address two issues:
-How are the photographers observing and recording the relationships between people and their surroundings; how are they framing inhabited space and what reading does this give us?
- How are these photographs presented to us, how are they selected, edited, ordered and printed, and what do these further processes tell us?

During the week, try to post any extra information you find on the blog, to aid the discussion next Monday @ 11.

Stefan Storz

Henri Carier-Bresson

Children playing in Ruins

Seville, Spain, 1933

The reason i chose this picture is because it affected my emotion in a different way.

When i started to consider the picture i got the feeling that the time stands still, nothing happens. The ruins are  lying around, there is no evidence of rebuilding them. The children are standing around, waiting or playing with the ruins but there is no evidence  of an atmosphere of departure.

Afterwards i started to consider  the expression of the children faces. In some faces you can see a sadness and a desperation that appears to reflect  the devastation of past happenings. I myself can could feel the hopelessness and sadness.

When i considered the expression of the children in the forground. i get the impression that these children are curious, looking into the camera  without fear of what is to come. Because of that i started to think about the future of these children and this situation. I realized that only young boys are shown in the photograpy, no adults and no girls. These children are young, they are able to start a fresh and to rebuild their lives. Because of this i feel hopeful for these children and i also begin to think i would like to help them and further understand their situation.

Something stopped me going futher in. I realized that i have had this impression the whole time, but i couldn’t find out what caused this. The wall is a barrier stopping me from entering into the story captured by the photographer. The hole in the wall has created a distance between the contemplator and the picture. It is also responsible  for the deepness in the picture and it gives the picture a better and stronger focus of the story.

And  i also think that the children are devided in three different groups of character by the wall.

The children in the foreground seem curious and more open, the children in the middle ground appear afraid, hanging around and don’t no what to do and the children in the backround - they are playing with stones against each other and two of them are standing there with a stone in their hand and looking directly in the camera as if they want to warn the photographer.

Even though i knew that the picture was taken in the 1933s, I get the feeling that this picture is timeless, it could also has been taken yesterday.

Joel Sternfeld

McLean, Virginia, December 1978

At first glance I found this photograph beguiling. A fireman buying a pumpkin while a house blazes in the backround - in December. This image appears in Sternfeld's most known book, American Prospects (1978). The book explores the irony of human-altered landscapes in the United States.

It was later revealed that the fire in this image was no accident but part of a practical training exercise carried out by the local MVFD. What is important is that there was no prior arrangement between the MVFD and Sternfeld to have this photograph taken. Sternfeld came upon the scene mid-afternoon, set up the 8x10 he had stored in his car and captured the image. Chance favours the prepared mind and Sternfeld in this case happened to be in the right place at the right time. The setting, season and time of day are all important aspects of this images's formation.

Garry Winogrand

Texas state fair, Dallas, 1964.

A photographers eye captures something that no one else sees, composed or a split second, a message is translated and highlighted on film. Significance is unfortunately commonly related to the scale of events, however capturing it in the reality of everyday is something far more profound. Being able to identify those fleeting moments but more importantly capturing and being able to share them requires a eye that is rooted in the celebration of the habitual.

With the eyes of the fair focused on the main event Garry Winogrand notices the significance of a man holding his steer. The steer swinging his head and tongue at the handler statson, a split second of symmetry is created and captured on a static piece of film. As quickly as the moment arose it dissolves back into the chaos of the fair. The steer gazes at the camera, like a model posing, capturing the limelight. Its youth and energy frustrating it’s exhausted but experienced handler, but like a father and child the issue of control is firm established.

"I like to think of photographing as a two-way act of respect. Respect for the medium, by letting it do what it does best, describe. And respect for the subject, by describing as it is. A photograph must be responsible to both."

Garry Winogrand

Broadway Convertible, New York, by Louis Faurer c.1949

Out of all of the photographs in the "Picturing New York"exhibition portraying the city in so many different ways, this photograph stood out to me because it portrays the city in a way that I have personally experienced it. Like the many people who go to New York for the first time, the feeling of excitement and awe is captured in this image. It, for me has a nostalgic dimension, very similar to a song you hear which reminds you of an event, a person or an experience in your past. In that way, a photograph, any photograph for that matter, can have so many unforeseeable and unimaginable effects on the viewer in addition to anything the photographer is trying to portray.

Louis Fraurer moved from Philadelphia to New York in 1947 where he met Robert Frank, a Swiss photographer. They quickly discovered a shared alienation from postwar America, along with a disdain for the cutthroat monde de mode. Frauer worked at a fashion photographer for more then twenty years but its his personal work from the '40s, '50s, and '60s for which he is best remembered. He photographed the streets of New York and Philadelphia, capturing the restless energy of urban life. Faurer experimented with blur, grain, double exposures, sandwiched negatives, reflections, slow film speeds, and low lighting to achieve the effects he was seeking. As exacting in the darkroom as he was in the field, he was notorious for being a tireless perfectionist when it came to cropping and printing his work.

Just to add to Alice's note, I think of the six episodes of Genius, the two most useful to watch would be Paper Movies and Documents for Artists, although it is all very good. Someone might check if there is already a dvd copy on reserve in the library as I remember putting it on reserve at some point..

Hugh

Space Framed Week 3

To aid and abet our proposed group discussion on the history of Photography on 8 Feb @ 11, the assignment this week is to watch 'The Genius of Photography', a BBC documentary. Most of this can be found online, and we will post some links to particularly relevant parts on the blog. It is a good idea to watch as much of this as possible, as it gives a good, broad introduction to the subject.

Also, following on from the posts last week, post your chosen image from 'Picturing New York' to the blog, plus a brief verbal description in time for the discussion next week.