SAUL LEITER:
Saul Leiter (1923 - 2013) was an American photographer and painter whose early work in the 1940's and 1950's was an important contribution to what came to be recognized as the New York School. Saul received his first camera from his mother when he was only 12 years old and became passionate about the art of taking a photograph with his Detrola camera. Leiter's earliest black and white photographs were very popular and as his interest grew Saul started to experiment with colour in 1948. Saul created abstract forms and innovative compositions that still stand out among the work of other photographers to this day.
"In order to build a career and to be successful, one has to be determined. One has to be ambitious."
This image has been carefully composed with the use of natural framing and particular focus to put the yellow car in the background in focus. The car window acts as a natural frame for the photographer which allows him to draw the viewers attention to the scene that is within this frame. As you can see Leiter has put the background in focus, using the yellow car as the center of focus and adding even more colour to the image by capturing the subject with a bright red umberella as they walk past. There are not many people out on the streets which allows the initial focus of the viewer to see the bright colours of the car and umberalla, allowing them to see the other small elements of the image after that. The small amount of snow that has settled on the window gives the viewer an idea of the weather conditions that are outside, adding another element to the photograph that is accentuated by the large coat that is being worn by the subject. I think that this image is very simple but the composition and framing of the photograph is very effective. I like how Saul has taken these images through windows, capturing a small piece of what is outside from the warm and comforting surroundings of another vehicle, house or shop.
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A very similar technique has been used to take this image: you can tell based on the height that the photograph has been taken from and the reflections in the window of other bus seats that Saul was sitting in another double-decker bus and captured this moment through the window. The slight blur on the window suggests that it had been raining when the image was taken, shown again through the light reflections on the road: this is very effective as it creates a beautiful finish to the image and gives another dimension to the suprisingly slow and empty scene of East London - a sharp contrast to the usually bustling and loud atmosphere the viewer would usually see from this area. The composition of the image is also very clever as Saul has placed the other double-decker bus in the left hand side of the frame, cleverly showing the viewer the transport he is using even though he has taken the photograph from the inside of the vehicle. He has also ensured that there is a reflection of the interior of the bus layered over the top of the other bus to allow the viewer to see the inside and outside of the vehicle. This is in unision to the empty streets outside as you cannot see any other people in the bus with him or on the other bus: heavily accentuating the side to East London that not many people get to see.
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I would like to try and take some images in the style of Saul Leiter, to capture a moment outside through a window to reflect the weather based around what is on the winndow or what the people outside are wearing or doing and to capture a moment that people wouldn't usually be able to see because it is rare based around the circumstances. I think this would be an effective way to show how 'The Built Environment' isn't all about taking pictures of tall and large structures, it is also about using the vehicles and structures that we have built to capture everyday life from a view that people wouldn't normally see or appreciate on a day to day basis.
CHRISTOPHE JACROT:
Christophe Jacrot is a french filmmaker and photographer who has developed an art projecton weather in various major cities. Christophe has been studying photography since adolescence and then went to develop his passion through the art of filmmaking also. His artistic approach is often likened to American street photographers such as Saul Leiter and Elliot Erwitt who also frequently represent rain and snow in their images, capturing the bad weather in an artistic and original way.
"The rain, the snow and the bad weather offer visual universe that usually elude us because we flee trying to put us away. I wanted to capture the subtle lights, highly evocotive and romantic, adopting a deliberately pictorial and emotional approach."
All of Christophes images are breathtakingly beautiful, capturing the bad weather in a way that people wouldn't normally look at it and making it seem a desirable factor of our society when this weather is usually begrudged and frowned upon. It is this view that Christophe brings to the viewer that I find the most inspiring - he is able to change a persons view on what they normally find ugly and horrible to something that they look at as beautiful and that is something which is barely achievable by nothing but pure talent. The addition of vivid skylines and crowded but breathtaking views onto big cities like Hong Kong and London make these images even more magical and creates an astonishing first impression to the viewer of the image.
This particular photograph has been perfectly aligned so that the tallest skyscaper is exactly in the middle of the image to create an illusion of symmetry for the viewer to see even though the buildings on either side are not symmetrical. This is a perfect example of how framing and composition can make an image look even better as without this precise positioning of the buildings it would not have the same effect as it does now. I love the finish to this image also, the heavy contrast creates a very clear outline to every building even though the view is blurred by the raindrops that are on the window and creates an even balance between the highlights that is created around the raindrops and the shadows that are around the buildings.
This particular photograph has been perfectly aligned so that the tallest skyscaper is exactly in the middle of the image to create an illusion of symmetry for the viewer to see even though the buildings on either side are not symmetrical. This is a perfect example of how framing and composition can make an image look even better as without this precise positioning of the buildings it would not have the same effect as it does now. I love the finish to this image also, the heavy contrast creates a very clear outline to every building even though the view is blurred by the raindrops that are on the window and creates an even balance between the highlights that is created around the raindrops and the shadows that are around the buildings.
These images are slightly different to the photograph above: Christophe has used a window that has the rain running down the window rather then in raindrops to give a very different effect to the overall look of the final image. This effect gives the same impression that the image above gives to the viewer but instead of looking as if it has been raining, this conveys that it is raining heavily at this moment in time. This illustrates how Christophe uses images like this to make the bad weather look desirable as he has managed to make an ordinary, dreary, rainy day look beautiful and desirable to a member of society who would view this scene in a negative way on a daily basis. It is this element of Jacrot's photography that I find the most intriguing and I would love to create an image of something ordinary that people look at and see rust, mould or decay and create a beautiful image, just as Christophe does with his images.
Both of these images capture a usually busy and hectic city that is bustling full of people in a rush to get around but due to the bad weather, Christophe has managed to capture an image without any people in the view and a minimal amount of vehicles. This adds to the magic of the images as I feel that the viewer concentrates more on the buildings and the environment without subjects to focus on and as this is the theme of my exam project I want to capture images that portray the same kind of atmosphere. Unfortunately, I do not live in or near a big city like this so I will not be able to capture images that are exactly like this but I will be able to take inspiration from the type of images that he takes and put my own interpretation on it to create equally beautiful images in my more rustic and natural environment.
Both of these images capture a usually busy and hectic city that is bustling full of people in a rush to get around but due to the bad weather, Christophe has managed to capture an image without any people in the view and a minimal amount of vehicles. This adds to the magic of the images as I feel that the viewer concentrates more on the buildings and the environment without subjects to focus on and as this is the theme of my exam project I want to capture images that portray the same kind of atmosphere. Unfortunately, I do not live in or near a big city like this so I will not be able to capture images that are exactly like this but I will be able to take inspiration from the type of images that he takes and put my own interpretation on it to create equally beautiful images in my more rustic and natural environment.
NICHOLAS GOODDEN:
Nicholas Goodden is a 36 year old urban photographer that is based in London, with French and English heritage from his parents. Nicholas was raised in France and moved back to London in 1999 to explore his passion for street photography and focused on the detail and composition of each of his images. He is driven by his passion for photography, remaining focused on his work and keeping true to his own style.
What do you try to express through your photography?
That beauty is all around but people are too busy or don't care enough to notice it.
This simple quote from Nicholas shows how he loves to look at things in an ordinary cirmcumstance and how he has the ability to turn it into something beautiful. He does this by looking at simple scenes and objects but taking a photograph from an unusual viewpoint or angle and allowing the viewer to see these everyday things in a different way. I want to incorporate this idea into my own work by looking at very simple things that people see everyday but take a photograph of it in an interesting way and make it seem very different from the usual way people look at it.
This is a beautiful example of the type of work that the photographers above have experimented with: taking an image through a rainy window with the lens focused on the rain drops to give the un-focused and blurry effect to the image. I think that this technique makes an interesting image as the patterns and textures that are created by the rain in the foreground become the initial focus but the detail of the scene in the background gives the photograph depth and draws the viewers attention to another dimension of the image.
The black and white editing of the image allows the photographer to build up a sad and drained atmosphere, reflected by the bad weather that always puts a drain on the mood of the viewer. In this image the black and white tones work really well, highlighting the rain drops and streaks on the window and allowing the photographer to put this element as the main focus of the image. The saturation of all the colour has also simplified the image: the background with all the cars, lights and colours could have made the image too complicated and the black, white and greys makes this image a simple yet beautiful image.
Nicholas Goodden has created a leading line with the traffic in the background, starting from the centre of the image and leading towards the top right hand side corner of the image. This has created a natural line for the viewers eye to follow and allows the image to flow easily; creating a simple yet effective composition within the image. The reflections of light on the wet road accentuate the composition of the image as it highlights the line of the cars in the centre of the image and draw the viewers focus towards this area even more. This has been done very cleverly to help create this simple but very effective image that has been inspired by the two photographers above.
I would like to replicate this style of image within my own project as it is a very beautiful way to reflect 'The Built Environment' through an abstract way of looking at an everyday scene. This paticular technique means that I will experiment with taking photographs through windows either whilst it is raining which will cause long, streaky lines or just after it has finished which will cause the rain drop effects. I will focus my camera lense onto the rain drops to allow the background to be blurred and to create a set of images in the style of the photographs above. I will also use a range of editing techniques to cause effect; the black and white editing will allow me to create a sad atmosphere whereas the colourful edited images would create the more cheerful atmosphere.
The black and white editing of the image allows the photographer to build up a sad and drained atmosphere, reflected by the bad weather that always puts a drain on the mood of the viewer. In this image the black and white tones work really well, highlighting the rain drops and streaks on the window and allowing the photographer to put this element as the main focus of the image. The saturation of all the colour has also simplified the image: the background with all the cars, lights and colours could have made the image too complicated and the black, white and greys makes this image a simple yet beautiful image.
Nicholas Goodden has created a leading line with the traffic in the background, starting from the centre of the image and leading towards the top right hand side corner of the image. This has created a natural line for the viewers eye to follow and allows the image to flow easily; creating a simple yet effective composition within the image. The reflections of light on the wet road accentuate the composition of the image as it highlights the line of the cars in the centre of the image and draw the viewers focus towards this area even more. This has been done very cleverly to help create this simple but very effective image that has been inspired by the two photographers above.
I would like to replicate this style of image within my own project as it is a very beautiful way to reflect 'The Built Environment' through an abstract way of looking at an everyday scene. This paticular technique means that I will experiment with taking photographs through windows either whilst it is raining which will cause long, streaky lines or just after it has finished which will cause the rain drop effects. I will focus my camera lense onto the rain drops to allow the background to be blurred and to create a set of images in the style of the photographs above. I will also use a range of editing techniques to cause effect; the black and white editing will allow me to create a sad atmosphere whereas the colourful edited images would create the more cheerful atmosphere.