Landscape

Landscape

Definition & Theory

Landscape: spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. 
Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes.

The first recorded use of landscape was in 1598, as a painters' term when Dutch artists were pioneering the landscape genre.

Research of artist

Stephan Shore (born October 8, 1947) is an American photographer known for his images of banal scenes and objects in the United States, and for his pioneering use of colour in art photography. He was interested in photography from an early age. Self-taught, he received a photographic darkroom kit at age six from a forward-thinking uncle. At ten he received a copy of Walker Evans's book, American Photographs, which influenced him greatly. His career began at fourteen, when he presented his photographs to Edward Steichen, then curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

(A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

I like Stephan Shores' use of colour in his photography, because they add liveliness. Even though his images are based of America and in the 70s/80s, I feel as if I can capture similar photos in Harlow or elsewhere. I could edit my images so they look more vibrant or dull, depending on what the image is of. I like how his work is of a variety of buildings and he makes these images interesting by the space in the image being full (rule of thirds). His work looks very vintage and trendy, as in most of his images the colours 'pop' and are very

Image bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research...

The above images are different ways of showing landscape. In the second image the photographer (unknown) uses one object and the rest of the space is of sky, beach and sea, whereas the other two images are very 'busy' and are 'full'. I am inspired by these and Stephan Shores work and I feel I can achieve a variety of images for landscape.

(A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

Selected images - CONTACT SHEETS

Personal photoshoots

1

2

3

These are all of my photographs taken separated into 3 independent shoots. My images are mostly if nature (sky and trees, etc). I feel I need to widen my range and take more creative photos and use my creativeness. I am quite pleased with my images because they all turned out quite well, only a few need to be worked on.

My best images

This photograph was taken at the bus station and it is of one of the tall buildings in that area. I like this image because I took it at the right distance and it stands out amongst the clouds and the car parks below. 

I was up high to take this image, so I could look down on it and take a photo of what I see. This shows what happens on a daily basis, buses come and go and people walk past. I like how this represents that. This landscape photograph is of the urban town of Harlow this part is out of the way from the well-known fashion shops, restaurants, etc. The bus station is just slightly hidden so it does not affect the Town Centre 'vibe' of clothes and food.

 I took this as I was walking home. This shows the houses that are around Harlow, I like this image because there are a mixture of colours that make this photo look more 'welcoming' and 'homely'. The colours of the grass and homes compared to the grey clouds in the sky shows what Harlow is like. There are grey clouds everywhere but you always have those colours that make Harlow brighter.

This was taken outside around 3:30, where the sun was setting. As it is winter the sun sets earlier and the sky makes beautiful colours. I was at the right spot at the right moment when I took this because the sky is a beautiful light blue and there is a hint of pink near the bottom.

Images that require improvement

The first image was taken in college and it is of a girl walking away from the camera and she is being enclosed by the two buildings on either side of her, I like this image as there is a meaning behind it, she is escaping from that encasement and is walking into more space for freedom. However, I feel that may be difficult to visualise for some people. Also, that visualisation is ruined by the composition not being good, I did not use a tripod so the photo is uneven and not straight. If I were to reshoot this image I would use a tripod to make the photo more professional.

The second image was taken in the centre of town, this image was to show the common lives of Harlow citizens, which is intended to show people shopping and walking about continuing their everyday lives. I do not like this image however because like the first image it is not straight because I didn't use a tripod. If I were to reshoot this image I would use a tripod and possibly move to different place where more people are walking past, to show more of what I want the photo to present.

(A03: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress)

My idea of photographing landscape is to get as much in the photo as I can, for example in a park/forest I would try to get as much of the surroundings as I can (eg. the trees and sky). Also, in my opinion landscape needs to be detailed or have an aspect that is meant to have a huge impact on the photo. Taking photos of landscape appears to be easy only if you know exactly what you want to take a picture of and timing. My landscape photography is very basic compared to others as I base my ideas on the same setting, instead I should widen my ideas and choose a place that would achieve a interesting photograph at the same time as making the viewer think 'wow'.

(AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and 

processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops)

I used a Samsung NX20 20.3 MP SLR camera to take all of my images. I did not use a tripod for some of these images as I did not have access to one when I was at home, so I feel some of these images would have turned out better if I did use a tripod. I will refine some of my work by using photoshop and edit them to make them better than what they already are. Below is how I edited on of my images, I attempted to make it look more saturated...

I used the curves and hue/saturation tool to create my final image. As you can see in the screenshots you can see that the editing as made a difference, I have made the colours brighter (more saturated). I like my final edit because the shops look more welcoming and the town looks more lively.

(AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

Taking pictures of landscapes is very intriguing for me because I can see a lot of detail in one picture, I like how landscapes can make the viewer question the photographer of how they took it and if they can see more. By researching different artists and their ways of doing landscape photography, made me interested and wanted to look at more, I looked at a variety of landscape photography by different photographers.

(AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements)

Landscapes can be placed into the formal element of texture and pattern because if the photograph was of some mountains there will be a repetitiveness of peaks, they may be different sizes but they are all the same. My intentions for landscape photography was too get high of the ground and take pictures of what I can see and then further them by editing.

Below are some edits I made of some chosen images I feel are my best...