Rut Blees Luxemburg is included in this part of my research due to her project Liebeslied (which translates to “love song”).  The exploration in this series is the usage of artificial light.

Whilst reviewing her project, I came to see that she has used two distinct styles of framing.

Urban Landscape

First there is the isolation of a selected piece of urban landscpace, an example is shown in Fig 1.

Image made of Light

And secondly there are even closer isolations where light reflecting off water is the main attention grabber in the scene.  An example is shown in Fig 2.

I especially like the way in which she has used the lit up water to create the image.  Whether the image is about the light, or the water, or the whole scene is not entirely clear but the dark background leaves the viewer focussed almost exclusively on the lit water.

Regardless of the differences in framing, the common theme, and the theme across the whole series is the beautiful golden light.

Urban Aesthetics

Researching Luxemburg’s technique, in an interview (Union Gallery, n.d.) she says:

“Well the 5 x 4 camera is the opposite of what the street photographer would use. It requires slowness and concentration and the exposures are long. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes.”

It is clear from this that her pictures are taken very deliberately and over an extended period of time.  When I carried out Exercise 4.3 for this part of the course, I took around 30 images in the space of an hour, Luxemburg would have managed just two or three.

Looking at Luxemburg’s urban landscape-style images it is clear that she has a strong interest in the urban scenes themselves, she manages to isolate scenes in a very intimate way.  Researching her further, I discovered that she studies Urban Aesthetics at the Royal College of Art (Royal College of Art, n.d.).

Although this research was triggered because of the artificial lighting aspect, for me, the way in which she has captured urban scenes with a deep intimacy is far more interesting.  In her interview mentioned earlier, it is this intimacy that has also drawn her attention the most, she has gone on to create a new project called “London Dust” which is shown here in Figure 3 at Somerset House.

Learning Points

I have learnt two main points in this research

• Luxemburg’s interests in both photography and urban landscapes are combined in her images. This is interesting from the perspective of expression.  Over this course, I have started my journey to shift from a focus of pure aesthetics and onto expression.  But it has left me thinking, express what?  I find it interesting to see he way two passions are brought together in this series.
• The image “Viewing the Ocean” is a great image to show how something can be made of nothing if one takes the time to really look at what is around you. Slowing down is a useful technique.

Bibliography

Union Gallery, L. (n.d.). A CONVERSATION BETWEEN RUT BLEES LUXEMBURG AND DAVID CAMPANY 1999. [online] Union-gallery.com. Available at: http://www.union-gallery.com/content.php?page_id=653 [Accessed 26 Jul. 2017].

Royal College of Art. (n.d.). Rut Blees Luxemburg. [online] Available at: https://www.rca.ac.uk/more/staff/rut-blees-luxemburg/ [Accessed 26 Jul. 2017].

Contemporary Art Society. (n.d.). Rut Blees Luxemburg – Contemporary Art Society. [online] Available at: http://www.contemporaryartsociety.org/artist-members/rut-blees-luxemburg/ [Accessed 26 Jul. 2017].

Figures

Figure 1. Blees Luxemburg, R. (1999). In Deeper. [image] Available at: http://www.union-gallery.com/content.php?page_id=653 [Accessed 26 Jul. 2017].

Figure 2. Blees Luxemburg, R. (1999). Viewing The Open. [image] Available at: http://www.union-gallery.com/content.php?page_id=653 [Accessed 26 Jul. 2017].

Figure 3. The Teaser. (2015). [image] Available at: http://www.contemporaryartsociety.org/artist-members/rut-blees-luxemburg/ [Accessed 26 Jul. 2017].

Sato Shintaro is a Japanese photographer who has created a number of series of images that capture Tokyo at night.  A screen shot from his sight is shown in the image below (Shintaro, 1999)

The set of images linked to in the course materials are focussed exclusively on the neon signage within the city.  Whilst at first glance they look much like a set of images I would have expected of a night time Tokyo, a second look reveals that there are no people – this is certainly something that one would not expect to see in Tokyo.  In his personal statement for the project (ibid) , Shintaro himself says:

Take a brightly-lit busy street bustling with people and remove the people: the purpose of the lighting is lost and only the glow remains – providing a glimpse of the streets we know well from a less familiar perspective.

The statement says everything.  By removing the people, one is left studying the lights themselves, not distracted by the people.  Figure 2 below is one of my favourite images, the street is deserted but is full of bikes.   One is left to wonder where have all the people gone but once you get past that, one of left studying the scene itself.  This effect is what I was aiming for when I captured the surrounding areas of Camden in Assignment 3 although my tutor felt it might have been better with people in it, I am not so sure.

In an interview (Japanexposures.com, 2009), Shintaro reveals how he manged to capture the shots without showing any people in them.

This series is special, because each shot needs just 30 seconds, but I have to cover up my lens when people show up in the frame. So sometimes I have to cover up my lens and wait for several minutes until people dissapear from the frame. So to make a 30 seconds exposure, I have to be shooting in this place for about 30 minutes. It could be very frustrating, when someone shows up and starts using his cell phone. I want to say, “Get out of here!”

This reminds me of my Waterloo station images and the very long exposures that made the people disappear.  Here though, Shinatro’s 30 second exposures are made up of fragments of many shorter exposures, an interesting and clever technique.

Tokyo Twighlight Zone

In a different series of work entitled Tokyo Twilight Zone (Shintaro, 2007), Shintaro has created an interesting set of images that portray the city sky line from views that one would not often see.  Figure 3 below shows one of my favorurite images in the series. I like the image because it does not show any particular landmark that would perhaps capture all of one’s attention, instead it is simply a scene of the city and helps the viewer gain an appreciation of what the city in normal life feels like.

Shantaro himself says the following about his images in this series

I photograph Tokyo from fire escapes .The view from a fire escape is different from either the kind of view afforded by observation decks constructed at sightseeing spots or the vertical perspective of satellite images that are readily available to anyone with a computer .It’s a very personal perspective that I obtain only at the expense of a good deal of physical exercise walking all over town to find just the right place

This approach to capturing his images explains my reaction to them that I described above.

Summary

Shantaro has taken pictures of streets and pictures of skylines – this does not sound impressive but dig a little deeper and his unusual techniques serve to make his pictures very different.

With Neon lights his fragments of exposure to eliminate people leaves only the street and lights to be studied.  In Tokyo Twilight Zone his vantage points of fire escapes has created a a perspective on the city that feels intimate and an incite onto the communities within the city rather than the famous landmarks.

His approaches show how creativity in technique can feed forward into creative images too.  This is an incite for me as I had been thinking that perhaps technique would take on lesser importance as I shift my focus onto creativity and expression.

Bibliography

Shintaro, S. (1999). Night Lights. [online] Sato-shintaro.com. Available at: http://sato-shintaro.com/work/night_lights/index.html [Accessed 23 Jul. 2017].

Japanexposures.com. (2009). Interview with Shintaro Sato | japan exposures. [online] Available at: http://www.japanexposures.com/2009/08/25/interview-with-shintaro-sato/ [Accessed 23 Jul. 2017].

Shintaro, S. (2007). Tokyo Twilight Zone. [online] Sato-shintaro.com. Available at: http://sato-shintaro.com/work/tokyo_twilight_zone/index.html [Accessed 23 Jul. 2017].

Images

Figure 1. Sato Shintaro (2017) [Webpage] At: http://sato-shintaro.com/work/night_lights/index.html  [Accessed 23 Jul. 2017].

Figure 2. Shintaro, S. (1999). 09 Night Lights. [image] Available at: http://sato-shintaro.com/work/night_lights/index.html [Accessed 23 Jul. 2017].

Figure 3. Shintaro, S. (2007). Tokyo 2007. [image] Available at: http://sato-shintaro.com/work/tokyo_twilight_zone/index.html [Accessed 23 Jul. 2017].

Aesthetics Alone

This perspective is that which one would most likely read about in a popular press photography magazine.  Here they would most likely give the following advice:

• Take the shot in the ‘golden hour’ at the start or end of the day;
• If not then at least aim for morning or late afternoon so that there would be some shadows and contrast;
• If wanting a night shot then probably aim for the blue hour; or
• They would almost certainly tell you to avoid the middle of the day when the light would be harsh, and there would be a lack of contrast.

The tutorial from the Digital Photography School (Rowse, n.d.) is a perfect example of the advice given above.

What is apparent is that the advice is dispensed solely based upon the way it would make an image look.  It seems to define a set of rules that will end up with most images looking roughly the same in terms of their tones and contrast and very little thought would have been put in to the why exactly the shot was taken at a specific time.

Considering Light for Expression

In contrast to the pure aesthetic considerations, two photographers researched here take very different approaches to the use of daylight.

Sally Mann

In an interview Mann said “There is no coating on the lens of my old camera, which permits a much softer and more luminous light. I am less interested in the facts of a picture than in the feelings. The facts don’t have to be absolutely sharp. I can get information across by appealing to viewer’s emotions.” (Rong, 2010).

This point of view is totally in contrast to the aesthetic consideration.  Mann talks of putting her attention towards expressing emotion.  In her interview she wants to show the feeling expressed by the soft southern light, she is less concerned, in fact not much concerned at all with the technical accuracy.  Figure 1 below is a good example of this.

Whilst a traditional photographer might have concerned themselves in how to balance the forest trees with the bright sky light in the top centre of the image, Mann has chosen to capture the image in a way that accentuates the light.  A beautiful soft glow is the main focus of the image, the trees that are also present become a frame for the light itself.

As Mann’s images are in black and white, there is no clue as to what time of day the images are captured however given the bright glow that the light is creating, I suspect the timing was judged so that the framing of the trees would capture a shot directly into the sunlight, or close to it.

Michael Schmidt

Schmidt on the other hand takes a view that is an opposite to Mann.  In an article of his he says “Photography was invented to enable us to portray reality with complete precision to the last detail. There is no other medium – apart from media which derive from the invention of photography (e.g. film and television) – which is in a position to document reality exactly as it is by means of technical process. This is how I regard photography.” (Schmidt, 1979).

Whereas Mann was primarily concerned with emotion, Schmidt is concerned with the accuracy with which he captures physical reality.

In terms of using the light, in the same article Schmidt says “I prefer to work with neutral diffused light, i.e. to produce an image without noticeable shadows. The viewer must allow the objects portrayed in the photograph to take their effect upon him without being distracted by shadows or other mood effects.” (ibid.).   Schmidt chooses to eliminate any influence that light might make to the viewers emotions and deliberately therefore aims for no shadows and soft neutral light.

An example of Schmidt’s images is shown in Figure 2.

The image is very neutral across its whole area.  The only shadow that can be seen is directly under the car at the front, left hand edge.  The shadow is directly underneath the car and so I think that the image is likely captured towards the middle of the day.

Learning Points

This piece of research has highlighted the popular press approach to using light which is largely aesthetic versus an artistic or expressive approach.

Looking further at the artistic approach the two example photographers take very different views.  Mann is concerned with using light to express an emotion, Schmidt is concerned with using light to portray a neutral image in order to allow a viewer to derive their own emotions.  Either approach, and there are of course many others that could be taken, considers emotion and expression and the effect that light has on those things.  This is the key learning point to take forward, choosing the light in which to capture an image needs to be more considered than simply what it looks like; the choice of light needs to be at least congruent with the desired emotion of the image and can possibly used to set that emotion in its own right.

Bibliography

Rong, J. (2010). INTERVIEW: Sally Mann – “The Touch of an Angel” (2010) – ASX | Photography & Culture. [online] AMERICAN SUBURB X. Available at: http://www.americansuburbx.com/2013/01/interview-sally-mann-the-touch-of-an-angel-2010.html [Accessed 18 Jun. 2017].

Rowse, D. (n.d.). Bright Ideas For Shooting In Midday Sun. [online] Digital Photography School. Available at: https://digital-photography-school.com/bright-ideas-for-shooting-in-midday-sun/ [Accessed 18 Jun. 2017].

Schmidt, M. (1979). MICHAEL SCHMIDT: “Thoughts About My Way of Working” (1979) | #ASX. [online] AMERICAN SUBURB X. Available at: http://www.americansuburbx.com/2010/10/michael-schmidt-thoughts-about-my-way-of-working-1979.html [Accessed 18 Jun. 2017].

Images

Figure 1. Mann, S. (1996). Virginia 04. [image] Available at: http://sallymann.com/selected-works/southern-landscapes [Accessed 20 Jun. 2017].

Figure 2. Schmidt, M. (1979). Berlin-Stadtbilder. [image] Available at: http://www.americansuburbx.com/2010/10/michael-schmidt-thoughts-about-my-way-of-working-1979.html [Accessed 20 Jun. 2017].