05: Parks and Gardens
Parks and gardens have provided a rich source of inspiration for photographers throughout history. For her photobook Taken from Memory, Sheron Rupp observed people in their own gardens, often surrounded by personal belongings. Eugene Atget repeatedly visited the park in St. Cloud to record the landscape and architectural features at sunrise. In the documentary photograph Playground with three girls by Chris Killip, children climb on play equipment, which contrasts with the large industrial buildings seen in the background. Investigate appropriate sources and produce your own response to Parks and Gardens.
A Collection of Photographs that drew me to 'Parks and Gardens'
Bruce Boyd - Zero Degrees
In Cape Town, South Africa, Bruce Boyd works as an artist. Boyd grew up surrounded by flowers, his father painted them after his mother had collected and arranged them. These paintings were used to decorate their entire house.
Boyd wanted to discover a unique approach to photograph flowers and show off their beauty in light of his childhood. Flowers fascinated him since they had diverse meanings to different individuals and could be used to express love or grief. After doing some investigation in artists who work with flowers, Boyd discovered the Japanese artist Makoto Azuma, who gave him the idea of freezing flowers in ice. |
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Bruce Boyd created a method in which flower arrangements are frozen in ice over the period of three days. Then he took these blocks and dunked them in lakes, rivers, and swimming pools and photographed them. The ice blocks were able to break as a result, creating intriguing bubbles and patterns. He made unique ice-arrangements that mostly depended on chance, which is consistent with Threshold Concept #6 that 'Photographs rely on chance, more or less'. Boyd was unable to predict how the flowers would behave because every flower responded differently to frigid conditions, even during the freezing process, flowers could move around from their initial desired arrangement.
Boyd later spent a year taking pictures of more than a hundred blocks of ice arrangements. The majority of the time, the conditions weren't ideal or the ice blocks had become cloudy, hiding the flowers and making most of the ice arrangements unsuccessful. However, Boyd managed to gather enough material for an exhibition after a few months of refining his method.
Boyd later spent a year taking pictures of more than a hundred blocks of ice arrangements. The majority of the time, the conditions weren't ideal or the ice blocks had become cloudy, hiding the flowers and making most of the ice arrangements unsuccessful. However, Boyd managed to gather enough material for an exhibition after a few months of refining his method.
I find it fascinating that ice can preserve something and at the same time also enhance or distort the beauty of it. For a few fleeting moments, we are treated to this preserved beauty, the past encapsulated perfectly, before the ice melts and flowers wilt.
-- Bruce Boyd
Bruce Boyd - Image Analysis
The arrangement of South African flowers that Bruce Boyd captured in this image is my favourite of his. The cloudy ice and cracks conceal the majority of the blooms, but two yellow and reddish plants can be made out in the middle, which I believe to be the plant Mimetes. The ice arrangement is photographed against a blue background, giving the impression that it is partially submerged. The warm flowers stand out more against the cool background, giving them a more energetic appearance. The viewer may tell from the composition of this image that it is not a candid shot, both the composition and the surroundings show careful planning, though the marks do not appear to be artificial, giving the image an aspect of chance more or less. A clear view of the entire flower arrangement is made possible by the photograph's overhead angle and direct onward framing making the ice-block the centre piece. This image, in my opinion, captures the anxiety of time passing by freezing the flowers to try to stop them from wilting and photographing them to prevent further loss, the cracks demonstrate the harm that results from holding on.
Bruce Boyd - My Response
Above I have displayed photographs I took in response to my Bruce Boyd research. I took a slightly different approach to photographing the ice-arrangements I created to Boyd. The flowers I used were either taken from Greenwich Park or store bought. Instead of trying to totally submerge the flowers in water at once, I took it step by step, first adding 1 cm of water to the tubs, freezing it, and then submerged the flowers completely. This prevented the flowers from floating to the top and spoiling the flower arrangements.
After three days of freezing, I found the flowers were quite cloudy and I couldn't see the actual blooms. To solve this problem, I ran the flowers under cold water, which caused the block to create cracks and also made the flowers more visible. I set up three layers, paper, glass and ultimately the actual ice block and captured the flower arrangements from a high angle view for the most part. I sometimes switched the paper layer out to photographs I found within magazines that illustrated flowers.
If I were to do this project again, I would photograph the ice blocks in better lighting conditions, maybe use a reflector board as well. I would make the background slightly less visible so the main subject would be the actual flower-ice-arrangements.
After three days of freezing, I found the flowers were quite cloudy and I couldn't see the actual blooms. To solve this problem, I ran the flowers under cold water, which caused the block to create cracks and also made the flowers more visible. I set up three layers, paper, glass and ultimately the actual ice block and captured the flower arrangements from a high angle view for the most part. I sometimes switched the paper layer out to photographs I found within magazines that illustrated flowers.
If I were to do this project again, I would photograph the ice blocks in better lighting conditions, maybe use a reflector board as well. I would make the background slightly less visible so the main subject would be the actual flower-ice-arrangements.
Printer Experimentations
For this experimentation I collected flowers I found in Greenwich Park and then scanned them in using a printer, for some of the images I tried moving the flowers whilst scanning them in for a distorted affect. I'd say this experiment turned out well however next time I would use colourful flowers as I feel as if these scans are bit to dull.
Printer Experimentations - Refining
Irina Rozovsky - In Plain Air
Irina Rozovsky's In Plain Air series is the set of images that has me the most captivated. Over the course of nine or ten years, Rozovsky took the collection of pictures in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. She took pictures of people relishing Brooklyn's Prospect Park as a respite from the chaos of the city outside. When Rozovsky was in a motorboat travelling around the park's lake, she looked out onto the shores and saw a variety of different individuals that the park had drawn in... families, lovers, friends, a multitude of cultures and ethnicities, all sharing the same land and moment. She believed the sight was the most "scenic and transcendent" thing she had ever observed, so she decided to develop a project about it. From that moment on, Rozovsky started taking pictures of the individuals she encountered every day in various areas of the park. I was initially drawn to Rozovsky's way of visualising things because she always had a talent for isolating her subjects within her photographs. Each individual seemed to be having their own moments, and even though they were being photographed in a public place, it felt personal. Irina Rozovsky's In Plain Air series holds a constant reminder for me on how beautiful the world is and how each individual leads a unique life.
Irina Rozovsky - Image Analysis
I was instantly drawn to this image from Rozovsky's In Plain Air series. There is a group of three individuals sitting by a lake who appear to have either brought or found furniture. The three individuals are sitting on a pillow, a crate, and a stool. With a book on her lap and a drink in her hand, a girl can be seen to the left side of the image facing the lake. To the lower right side of the image, a man is seated on the floor and is also looking in the same direction as the girl. His eyebrows are raised, his mouth is open slightly, and his hands are spread out in front of him with his thumbs pointing up, which makes me think that he and the girl are speaking to someone outside the frame of the photograph. People’s body language and expression’s can tell a lot within an image. Another guy sits in between the other two, but he is not looking in the same direction as the others. Instead, he is breaking the fourth wall and staring straight into the camera. His expression is quite powerful; it's not just the audience looking at him, he's equally looking back. The subjects' backs, as well as nearby greenery and trees, are being illuminated by a warm golden light source which is presumably the sun.
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Irina Rozovsky - My Response
The images above were taken in Greenwich Park in response to Rozovsky's work. I found it interesting to observe other people and how they utilise the same public space.
Sophie T. Lvoff - Nothing is Stirring
Sophie T. Lvoff's Nothing is Stirring series is the set of images I am most interested in across all her works, I have displayed some of my favourite pieces above this text. Nothing is Stirring became a series because Lvoff took an interest in trees being lit up at night, she would drive around the Northeast searching for the brightest lights and photographing surrounding greenery.
I made this series because I was interested in trees being lit up at night. I would drive around the Northeast and search for the brightest lights and photograph the surrounding foliage. Many times, the plants and trees were the only things lit by these very powerful and carefully placed light sources. I thought it was a strange use of energy, and wondered if it kept the trees awake, while at the same time exposing a latent fear of the dark.
-- Sophie T. Lvoff
Sophie T. Lvoff - Image Analysis
I was immediately drawn to this image from Sophie T. Lvoff's Nothing is Stirring series. A bright yellow bush can be seen stretching along the bottom of the photograph, and far off, darker tree outlines can be made out. A branch is slightly protruding from the top left corner and is aligned with a light source beaming onto the yellow bush can be seen. Between the darker tree outlines and branch is a spot of empty space however the photograph does not look like it is lacking anything. I immediately thought of typical UFO encounters and how a powerful ray of lights descends from above when I noticed the light source beaming onto the yellow bush.
Sophie T. Lvoff - My Response
The images above were taken in a Park in response to Lvoff's work. I ventured out to take photographs when the sun set and used my flash to take these. Some of these turned out okay however most of them were quite blurry and unfocused.
My Favourites
I chose these nine images as my most successful outcomes because of how disorienting they look. The only thing that is visible in these photographs are the trees that are positioned in front of the camera, the rest is dark and you can't really make it out.
Refining
I refined the photographs I took in response to Lvoff's work via Lightroom. Beneath I have added screenshots of how I edited them to get this end result. The reasoning behind this was to create the most abnormal pictures I could. Alternating the colours of the trees changes the meaning of the photographs as a whole, it comes across as more eerie. It shows how daytime versus nighttime changes the atmosphere of the park.
Controlled Assessment Preparation
For my controlled assessment I am going to display a set of my own parks and gardens photographs on a wooden structure that I will build. Above I've taken the time to draw out the way it will look like, and then shown the process of me creating it. The photographs will go in the sections where the cardboard has been placed. I am thinking of presenting my photographs as diptychs showcasing the similarities and differences between a public park and private garden or using my responding pictures to Sophie T. Lvoff.