Category Archives: Project Development

M2 – Project Development

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Correcting years of damage

I remain ambivalent with regard to unnecessary alterations to the stained glass windows, although my intentions to create stand-alone art makes me inclined to correct cracks in glass, for example.  However I wanted to see how effectively I could restore more demanding damage.

The East window of the Chapel of St. Nicholas dates back to 1896 and is the largest work by Henry Holiday in the chapel.  Above the four lights is a roundel of Eunice and her son Timothy, which has sustained quite considerable weather-related damage over the past 120+ years, which is most obvious on the skin tones and in particular the two faces – why start with something simple?!

While this remains work in progress, I am particularly pleased with the results I have achieved on Eunice’s face.

There is still a long way to go with many of the individual pieces of stained glass.  Both items of clothing above have had an initial tidy-up, but could be further improved – it is all just a matter of available time.  With me heading off on a school trip to South Africa for the next two weeks, time is short!

The roundel is flanked by angels.  Oddly, the angel on the left was in pristine condition whereas the other required extensive post production work on each skin-coloured piece of glass.  Below is the semi-complete work:

Eunice & Timothy - repaired NEW (low res)

UPDATE: August 01, 2018

Another 10+ hours of editing has produced a more complete restoration, although I am less than satisfied with the work.  Some of the damage left minimal original material with which to work, making the reproduction of accurate textures very difficult.

The format of this blog better lends itself to a cropped view of the roundel of Eunice and Timothy, so below is a before and after animated GIF:

Eunice and Timothy GIF

Eunice and Timothy (Henry Holiday, 1896) Chapel of St. Nicholas

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Reverting back…

Work commitments in the summer months have not be kind to me where time for project development is concerned and more often than not, I have not even had the opportunity to hold my trusty Canon EOS-1D X Mark II when in situations that lend themselves to photography.  However, for the most part, on such occasions I would have the Canon G3X and iPhone X to allow some worthwhile photography and experimentation.

Quite often I have enjoyed wildlife photography in Africa.  A recent school trip to South Africa provided me the occasional chance to revert back to such work and witness the natural world – usually only if I was up and about some hours before the children.  Wildlife photography in South Africa requires the consideration that you are no more than part of the food chain.  Despite the knowledge that this Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) had recently eaten, distance was always kept.SA - Nile Crocodile submerged (low res)

South Africa’s smaller reptiles are certainly no less dangerous.  The following two images are not tame exhibits:  I was told under no circumstances to lie prone on the ground to capture the photographs I would have liked to have taken, as I would stand no chance of getting away from an attack.  With the venomous puff adder (Bitis arietans) accounting for more deaths than any other snake in Africa, I heeded the warning.SA - Puff Adder (low res)

A bite from the night adder (Causus rhombeatus), though also venomous, is unlikely to fatal to adult humans – notwithstanding, I remained at a safe distance.SA - Night Adder (low res)

The striped kingfisher (Halcyon chelicuti) is not easy to catch on film – particularly during breakfast.  Unlike the variants found in the UK, these eats mostly grasshoppers followed by other large insects. Small lizards, snakes and rodents are also occasionally taken.  This juvenile spent a few precious moments perched 10m away from me, before continuing with its hunting.  On this occasion, I was seen as the potential threat.SA - Striped Kingfisher chick (low res)

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The Chapel of John the Baptist – St. John’s College

The Chapel has been the focal point for Christian worship since before St John’s came into existence.  It was originally consecrated in 1530 as the chapel of St Bernard’s College, the Cistercian house of study in Oxford, and dedicated to St Bernard of Clairvaux.  The chapel was re-dedicated to St John the Baptist in 1557.   A small Baylie chapel was added in the north-east corner in 1662-9.

In addition to rather more period stained glass, the main body of the Chapel houses two windows by the acclaimed stained glass artist Ervin Bossányi, donated by his son Jo, depicting scenes from the life of St Francis of Assisi. Their placing is far from ideal where photography is concerned. In keeping with all of the windows, they are some 3m above floor-level, with one being very poorly lit during these summer months, as a result of large tree behind it, and the other being partially concealed by both the organ loft and a recently installed loop speaker.

Bossányi was a Hungarian-born Jew, who was interned for five years in France during the First World War.  After the war he gained a significant reputation for himself in Hamburg across the disciplines of ceramics, murals, paintings, sculpture and stained glass.  His most significant commission to that point had been stained glass windows for the Ohlsdorf crematorium, which had been designed by Fritz Schumacher.  However, when the Nazis gained power shortly after this commission was completed, Schumacher was suspended as Chief Architect of Hamburg and Bossányi’s promising career there was ended.  In 1934 he emigration to the England with his wife and son, to escape the Nazi regime.  He then started a new career as a notable stained glass artist.  His vivid designs demostrate influences of Asian and in particular Indian art.  The obituary for Bossanyi published by the Daily Telegraph summed up his work well in saying that he had ‘brought a flood of colour to the world’ (Daily Telegraph, 1 October 1979).

The removal of the support bars proved particularly difficult as a result of the texture and cross-hatching that Bossányi uses in his work.  His use of strong colours is not particularly to my taste and it is becoming increasingly clear that this post-production work requires some understanding and empathy for the artist.  This might go some way towards accounting for why I battled for the best part of 12 hours in editing the artwork.

In keeping with all of the work for this project, the batch of photographs was shot at f/8.0, but in this case, the distance between me and the window necessitated the use of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, at 170mm.

St. Johns - St Francis of Assisi (low res)

St. Francis of Assisi (Ervin Bossányi, 1944) The Chapel of John the Baptist – St. John’s College

St John's - writingTo the top right of the artwork is some almost invisible and hard to decipher text, partially obscured by cobwebs.  Part of this text appears to be mirrored (although having flipped the image, it is no more clear).  I have done my best to clarify the text in the image below, depicted as viewed from within the chapel, but it remains far from clear.  I will need a second visit to the college chapel in order to better capture this fine detail and given time, will investigate further.

I may return to St. John’s in the winter months in order to photograph the second Bossányi  window, by which time, leaf-fall should improve its lighting.

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St. Edward’s School Chapel

Although there are a number of school links within my project, St. Edward’s School Chapel is one of just two school chapels to feature.  New College School; Magdalen College School and Christchurch Cathedral School are all choir schools, linked directly to the Oxford Colleges with whom they share their name.

The Chapel at St. Edward’s School was completed in 1878 and houses an assortment of stained glass, mostly depicting religious scenes.

Teddies, as it is more colloquially known, has a wealth of famous alumni and author Kenneth Grahame was an outstanding pupil there.  In 1936, four years after his death, his time at Teddies was remembered in an impressive stained-glass window by English designer Christopher Rahere Webb (1886-1966).  The window depicts one of stories from Dream Days, a collection of Grahame’s children’s fiction: Its Walls were as of Jasper.   Published in 1902, the book was illustrated by American painter Maxfield Parrish, from where Webb gained much inspiration.

Dream Days - Maxfield Parrish (low res)Maxfield Parrish (1902) – Its Walls were as of Jasper

In a summer of mostly clear blue skies, I was fortunate to gain access to the chapel on one of the few overcast days.  The window was at head height, resulting in images that demonstrated no converging verticals.  The batch of photographs for this window were shot at f/8.0, using the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II and the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, at 312mm.

Although the window features just two support bars, their integration is such that I opted not to attempt to remove them – indeed, had I done so, I would have had to replace them with identically placed (but thinner) calmes in order to maintain the grid design.   Consequently, the window appears below, essentially, as it is viewed within the side chapel.

St. Edward's - Kenneth Grahame (low res)

Kenneth Grahame window (Christopher Webb, 1936) St. Edward’s School Chapel

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Moroccan Tiles?

St John's - Baylie chapel window (low res)A visit to the Baylie chapel, to the left of the chancel, within The Chapel of John the Baptist, St. John’s College, reveals a window with three main lights each depicting the coat of arms of significant figures from St. John’s history.

Central to this window is Richard Baylie:  Dr Richard Baylie (1585–1667) was twice President of St John’s College, Oxford; twice Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University; Archdeacon of Nottingham; and Dean of Salisbury.  While at St. John’s, he built the Baylie Chapel in 1662.

However, it was not the impressive shields and heraldry that drew me to this window, rather then decorations associated with the dedication at the bottom.  Reminiscent of Moroccan tiles, albeit rather too vibrant, they inspired me to be creative with editing of this window – one that might otherwise have remained untouched in a computer folder.

St. John's - Tiles (low res)

The Baylie chapel stained glass reworked as floor tiles (above) and a selection of Moroccan floor tiles (below).

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

Addendum:  My knowledge of tiles is far from perfect, and it would seem that the patterns are more in keeping with Indian tiles, which tend to be more vibrant and more floral:

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Harris Manchester College Chapel – Revisited

An important part of my work is to ensure that the printed images are true representations of the actual windows and with this in mind I revisited Harris Manchester College this morning.

In the summer months, Oxford heaves with tourists (too many years living outside the Westcountry prevents me from referring to them as grockles or emmets) who reduce movement to a crawl.  However, it was reassuring to see a small number in the chapel who I called upon to critique my proof prints.  Their observations I concurred with completely with regard to the saturation of colours within the light BJ 397 (Courage) and have consequently re-edited the image.

HMC - Re-editedIt should be noted that the photographs were originally taken on a bright, overcast day in late March, when the daylight colour temperature was less warm than today, as was the intensity of the light  (with today being partially cloudy).  However, since I had undersaturated some areas and oversaturated others, it was clear that the changes were not just as a result of weather or seasonal conditions.  The changes see an increase in the saturation of the helmet, together with a recolouring towards orange/gold; The wooden staff and hands have been desaturated; and finally, the red background drape has had a increase in saturation as well as a recolouring towards ‘pure red’ – I am not convinced that I have yet made sufficient changes to the colour of the drape.

The animated GIF to the left demonstrates these subtle changes (albeit with minimal wow factor in a 2-second cycle):

There is a lot of quality loss in a GIF, so below is a JPEG of the final re-edited image:

 

 

HMC - Courage - Re-edited (low res)Courage – BJ 397 (Edward-Burne Jones, 1896) The Chapel of Harris Manchester College

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St. Edward’s School Chapel

On entering the building, to the right there is a small Memorial Chapel that adjoins the bell tower and spire.  The east window therein comprises three lights dedicated to the memory of William Robert Weatherley who attended St, Edward’s School from 1922-1927 and was a Senior Prefect.  After St. Edward’s, he attended Pembroke College, Oxford.

Pembroke College Record (William Robert Weatherley) - (low res)The Pembroke College Record 1933-1934 records the dedication of the window by the Master of Pembroke College, Rev. Frederick Homes Dudden (page 9):

On 5 December 1933 the Master dedicated a window in the memorial chapel of St. Edward’s School, Oxford, to the memory of William Robert Weatherley, who was in residence from 1927 to 1930, and whose death at so early an age was a shock to the many who knew him well and appreciated his delightful personality.

The memorial window states Ob. 1930 – obijt mortem, meaning, he died 1930, at the age of just 21 years.

St. Edwards - William Weatherley (low res)

Shot at 85mm, using the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, and presented above with the actual spacing of the three lights, this window highlights a drawback of capturing such a scene in just one photograph: while the final image is an acceptable 15.8MP, each individual light is little more than 600 pixels wide – a tragically low resolution for such an impressively detailed and lavish work of art.  The colour and detail of the feathers in the angel’s wings is worthy of far more attention and warrants in itself a return visit.

Notwithstanding, the removal of fifteen support bars dramatically protracted the editing time, adding almost an hour per bar to the finished work.

St. Edwards - William Weatherley (detail)

Addendum:  Happy to have completed this work, I did a final check through the batch of images only to realise that the final skin tones were far too dark and too saturated.  With tree shadow working across the window from left to right, it has been difficult to balance the tone and colour of the angels, but I have now re-edited the skin tones to something far more in keeping with the actual window.

St. Edwards - William Weatherley - RE-EDITED(low res)

William Weatherley window (Artist unknown, 1933) St. Edward’s School Chapel

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Plain English & the Chapel of St. Nicholas

Feedback on my initial Work in Progress Portfolio suggested  the ‘it may be worth exploring the possibility of showing details or fragments in order to communicate other aspects of their importance.’ 

While I am confident that the Plain English Campaign could host a symposium on English language and its use in art critique, I rather relished investigating this suggestion and hope that my interpretation of its meaning is true to the author.  To that end, I have investigated the finer detail of the stained glass in order to demonstrate the various associated processes – something already done in part, but perhaps overlooked, during Module 1: Three dimensions? in which I demonstrated the unexpected three-dimensional nature of parts of some of the lights, with two layers of painted glass providing greater depth as well as increased saturation to areas of the installation:

800x800 DCP_8432d

With illumination being so critical to stained glass window photography, I conducted numerous visits to the Chapel of St. Nicholas covering most lighting conditions, (overcast; partially cloudy, clear skies; morning sun; midday sun; afternoon sun and evening sun). in order to find the most opportune time to demonstrate best the macro world of stained glass.  Countless hours of lab time spent examining assorted geological samples during my graduate studies taught me that oblique illumination is typically best for revealing the rather more hidden stories.  Stained glass windows typically found on all walls of places of worship – certainly the case for the Chapel of St. Nicholas, but on a clear day, the late-afternoon/early-evening sun resulted in the most revealing illumination of the north and south aspects.

Some 140+ images later, interesting an revealing detail of the quality of the glass, nature of the painting, together with the structure of the windows became more apparent.  I rather like the images and undoubtedly, these abstract, out of context, colour panels could be displayed in their own right.

The glass clearly shows its age with impurities, inclusions and many vesicles throughout:

Fine relieving (removal of paint from the surface of the glass prior to firing) formed the final process.  In this case needlework was used:

The painting at times is far more akin to pen and ink, with precise, controlled lines often not more than 1mm thick, providing the patterns and textures:

800x800 DCP_8458

In close-up, the order of events can also be identified particularly when looking at pale washes of colour… bold lines – shading – colour – dry brush:

800x800 DCP_8451c

Beyond the glass, the quality of the metalwork is exquisite, with the calmes that hold together the pieces of glass being soldered together very cleanly and precisely:

Calmes.jpg

Creative interpretation

This micro-project also presented the opportunity to be ‘creative’ with the exquisite artwork… undoubtedly Henry Holiday will be turning in his grave.

12x12 composition (low res)

Contemporary Tiles

NEW Composition (low res)

Abstract Tiles

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Chapel of St. Nicholas

When photographing the Chapel of St. Nicholas in early July, I was undecided which light would be best to edit, so with conditions being ideal, I photographed a selection.

The completed image below strikes me as being rather dark, although as I recall, this was the case particularly in comparison with Fight the Good Fight, for example.  I have yet to take a copy to the chapel for comparison and possible re-editing.

One omission from most of the windows or lights that I edit is the inscription.  This window was given by the parents after the death of their son.

The inscription reads:

In Loving Memory of EDWARD HORACE PERCIVAL, who died at Summer Fields March 9, 1900, added 14.

The boy in the image is apparently a likeness of Edward.

St. Nicholas - Be Ye Kind One to Another (low res)

Be Ye Kind One to Another (Henry Holiday, 1901) Chapel of St. Nicholas

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The Chapel of John the Baptist – St. John’s College

IMG_7058 (edited)I have just revisited The Chapel of John the Baptist at St. John’s College in order to understand better the text scratched into the glass at the top right of the right hand light.  The image to the left is deliberately over-processed in order to make the lettering as clear as possible – and at last, fully understandable.

In combination with the original image, taken from a higher vantage point, it is possible to identify the characters below the twisted cobweb.   As a result, it has been possible to interpolate all of the text, as shown in this second image.  Consequently, I can conclude that the writing states BOSSANYI 1944 (followed possibly by -195) LONDON.

IMG_7058 (edited with text)The two lights are replicas of a pair made by Bossányi for a 1944 commission, which reside in the Zouche Chapel of York Minster.  Bossányi retained the copies for permanent display in his studio to show prospective clients.

Further research has revealed additional information on the context of the light: this shows St. Francis of Assisi with the leper, who, according to the story, was restored to health and reconciled to faith by the saint’s ministrations, and who appeared to Francis in a vision as his soul ascended to the heavens.  The image depicts Francis’ complete engagement with the man’s sufferings, above which the Holy Spirit hovers in the form of a dove.