Category Archives: Contextual Research

M4 – Contextual Research

Instagram

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@dpplimited

InstagramWhen last I commented on my Instagram account (31 October 2018), it was being followed by just 50.  Since then, 144 days have passed and my followers have increased by 16 – depressingly small, but then again, a 32% increase.  A limiting growth factor remains the need to add three images at a time (following my decision to maintain a specific grid layout).  Clearly, the somewhat sporadic nature of my research cannot help maintain a followers interest or draw others to a constantly updated feed.  It remains work in progress.

In that previous post I reference a Tutee who had over 52K followers.  Having just checked his page, he now has 63.2K followers and is still 13 years old!  Pleasingly his tally has gone up by a more meagre 21.5% over the same time span!

Tim Flach

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Kind gifts

Tim Flach is one of a tiny number who has managed to make my photographic kit look depressingly mediocre when it comes to sports photography at the school, but he makes up for this by always being happy to talk with me about his work.  For the past three years I have been teaching his son and coaching him athletics, which has only ever been a pleasure, so it was a wonderful surprise to be given a personalised copy of two of Tim’s books as a thank you for the care and support of his son.  I also have an invite to his London studio to see him at work – something to which I am much looking forward.

For much of his work, Tim uses a Hasselblad medium format camera, but for Endangered he needed the versatility of an SLR, opting for the 50.6-megapixel Canon 5Ds typically paired with the spectacular Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM lens with built-in 1.4x extender.  His underwater work necessitated much wider shooting for which the Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4L USM and a Nauticam housing.

Tim Flach

Flach, T. (2017) Endangered. Abrams, New York.

Prior to any photography for Endangered, Tim spent six months on research, interviewing scientists and conservationists.  The project itself required him to travel the globe for almost two years photographing the rare creatures.  He then sifted through his work selecting 160 to feature in the book.  He wanted to connect people to the characters and personalities of the animals: some images look as though they are staring at you from the pages of the book.

Articles and Interviews:

More Than Human represents seven years of animal portraiture with Tim attempting to demonstrate just how similar animal gestures and poses can be to those of humans.  Experimenting with different temperatures, lighting and sounds generated very different responses with each animal.   Through wonderful closeups in incredible detail, Tim manages to create a sense of intimacy and empathy even with the less attractive animals.

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Flach, T. (2012) More Than Human.  Abrams, Hew York.

The main section of each book is utterly uncluttered with nothing more than a full-page image.  This layout works thanks to an impressive Information section at the back, featuring a thumbnail of every page, together with pertinent information about the animal.

It is rare that I look through photographic publications thinking that I would be happy to have any of the images gracing my walls, but this is certainly the case with these two books.  It is almost impossible to select a favourite, but I find the following image stunning to look at – even though the eye are only just visible, they impart an extraordinary intensity.

Western-Lowland-Gorilla-Drinking.jpg

Tim Flach (2016) Western Lowland Gorilla Drinking [Endangered p.88]
Canon EOS-5Ds & Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM
28 August, 2016 | 383mm | ISO-3200 | f/14

The quality and size of these publications leaves one in no doubt as to the serious nature of the works therein and yet Tim’s practice will soon feature in miniature on an upcoming series of Royal Mail stamps.  The series of ten 1st class stamps, titled Birds of Prey will be released on 04 April.  Available individually, as a set, as postcards, limited edition prints, etc..

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Tim Flach (2019) Birds of Prey, Royal Mail

From large coffee table book to postage stamp, each style of publication lies outside the possibilities of my practice although of the 51 years of Christmas stamps, stained glass windows have provided the inspiration for the Royal Mail to produce three sets: 1971, 1992 and 2009 (further information HERE):

1971

Royal Mail Christmas Stamps (1971)

1993

Royal Mail Christmas Stamps (1992)

2009

Royal Mail Christmas Stamps (2009)

Pete Corson

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The stained glass windows of Atlanta

Pete Corson is an Atlanta-based journalist who has shone a light on the stained glass windows in the churches of Atlanta, Georgia.

You can be a lifetime resident of Atlanta and still discover something new and wonderful behind a door you never entered. For many of us, those doors may be at the front of our neighbourhood church, where some of the city’s most breath-taking artwork can be found for free.

In what he describes as occasional photo tours, he first looked at the windows of Druid Hill Presbyterian producing a well-annotated gallery of 49 images HERE.

Today he published the second instalment, looking at the stained glass windows of First Presbyterian Church HERE which do look extraordinary and were designed by Tiffany, D’Ascenzo and Willet.  There is a very thorough and detailed history published by the church itself: The stained glass windows of First Presbyterian Church

It is revitalising to read of another who believes that such works of art should be appreciated by far more people – clearly this problem was not only confined to my mind!  Critical analysis of Corson’s photographic work highlights the development since his first set of images and those in the most recent gallery.  However, all lack clarity and careful composition (image distortion is not uniform, suggesting that the photographer was not perfectly central to the window).  I find it off-putting that some of his recent images are photographed with the background almost completely black whereas others portray very clearly the stone tracery around the glass.  The reason behind this is simple: in metering off the glass, a darker window would result in an image showing more of the background, whereas for a bright window, the glass alone will be recorded.  The intense saturation of the images suggests that these were recorded on a smartphone using HDR.

Pentacost

Pete Corson (2019) Pentecost [Nicola D’Ascenzo, 1939 – First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta]

I commend Corson’s efforts in better publicising these works of art.  But the stained glass windows of First Presbyterian Church (in particular) are exquisite and deserve to be recorded photographically in a manner that does justice to the quality of the artwork… it is these concepts that sits squarely behind my research project.

Notre Drame

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Notre-Dame de Paris – 15 March 2019

The ability of a building to tug at the heartstrings came as a surprise to many as they watched Monday evening’s shocking scenes of Notre-Dame de Paris engulfed in flames.  The feeling was captured so perfectly on the front page of Tuesday’s Libération newspaper, with the most subtle play on words in the headline Notre Drame : Our Drama.

Notre Drame (low res)

GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP/Getty Images (2019) The steeple and spire engulfed in flames collapses as the roof of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral burns on April 15, 2019 in Paris.

Listening to the live commentary on television, it was interesting to hear a number of Parisians comment that it was many years since they had visited Notre-Dame, although its simple presence provided them with reassuring comfort.  The priceless artworks within were seen by an astonishing 35,000 visitors every single day and yet for many locals they were hidden in plain sight, on a to-do list sometime in the future.  We are all guilty of taking for granted those treasures on our doorstep and while Notre-Dame may be a rare exception, it tends to be places of worship that are most easily overlooked whether locally or while on travels.  I am atypical with regard to visiting places of worship: having travelled the world singing with a choir in many of the most famous cathedrals (including Notre-Dame), I am always drawn to places of worship wherever I travel, knowing that they will be a calm, quiet and beautiful sanctuary, away from the bustle of everyday life.

It saddens me that cathedrals, churches and chapels are not more routinely visited and one of the principals behind my research is to open the eyes of visitors (and locals) to the fabulous beauty of Oxford’s chapels.  At the early planning stage, I was also keen to provide and archive facility for the stained glass windows, ensuring that even if completely destroyed, there was a high-resolution, high quality copy from which a facsimile could be created.  This was brought home to me by the scenes of Notre-Dame, as images of burnt-out windows devoid of their priceless stained glass began to appear.   Though reassured by the knowledge that all Her stained glass would be very well photographed indeed, photographs such as Martin’s, below, are rather haunting:

Notre Dame 02 lr

LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images (2019) Smoke and flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on April 15, 2019.

The following morning greeted the world with the news that the cathedral was largely intact and by some miracle, thanks to the protection provided by the vaulted ceiling, very few of the windows had been lost to the fire:

The whole episode made me wonder whether my time and efforts would be better put to use on an archiving project for Oxford’s stained glass, as had been my original plan.  However, in taking dozens of photographs of each window in an exposure bracketed batch, I am already archiving all the information it is possible to record.  It is those unedited photographs that would be requested by restorers, not the labour-intensive, final edited images that I produce.

Happy Easter!

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Stained Glass Resurrection

Cosmic Microscapes

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Neil H. Buckland – Meteorite thin-section microscopy

In week 2 of this module, while discussion Emerson’s “scientific division” and “artistic division”, I referenced my undergraduate years studying as a geologist.  In those years, it was prior to the straightforward photography of rock and mineral thin sections viewed through a microscope.  Consequently, the archived records of the thin sections were hand-drawn, with the images having to be facsimiles of the microscopic view, often taking ten or more hours to complete.  This was work I loved to do, requiring fantastic levels of concentration and attention to detail – something that echoes in my current practice.

Thin Section - porphrytic sample

Dominic Price (1997) Porphyritic rock thin section, Mull

While the images were pen and ink, in a single colour, indicative of the standard plain light microscopy, we would constantly switch to the beautifully colourful cross-polarised light used in order to clarify the details and composition of the rock sample.

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Carey Rose (2019) Meteorite thin section with visible colours altered by rotating one of the two polarised filters.

It pleases me to see the launch of an exhibition that reflects this area of scientific study, albeit working with meteorite thin sections.

Neil H. Buckland has always obsessed over detail: landscapes were his mainstay for fifteen or more years, with his approach being stitched landscape photography, using dozens of images for each completed photograph.  He has taken this approach to a microscopic level, photographing 300 or 400 2×2 mm tiles of cross polarised meteorite thin section, then stitching them together to allow him to produce 4m wide prints.

While my work used a Leica Light Microscope, but Buckland opted to build his own rig, not least because with a depth-of-field of just 3.5 microns (0.0035mm), the tiniest vibration during the 4-hour long capturing of a batch of 300+ images would result in him having to start all over again.  The result is a 25 Kg beast that is vibration-free:

Metiorite rig

Carey Rose (2019) Buckland’s rig is almost entirely custom-made for this specific purpose.

The results speak for themselves and reflect Buckland’s drive and passion:  “I’m obsessed with detail. When I make these giant landscape prints, I want you to stand in front of them and feel like you’re there,” Buckland said.  “With this custom rig, I can do that with a micro subject – not just giant landscapes.”  Thus, the name ‘microscape’ was born.

Metiorite print.jpg

Carey Rose (2019) Neil Buckland (and Brian) next to a completed print in his studio.

Buckland rather fell into this project following a request to supply a laboratory thin section image of a meteorite sample. On completing that task, he felt that he could do a much better job. Fascinated and inspired by the mysteries of science, he set out to blur the line between science and art.

The similarities between his practice and mine are striking – even down to the reasoning behind the research, followed by an almost obsessive pursuit for depth and detail.  Both  subjects (stained glass and laboratory thin sections) require transmitted light; both practices fulfil a similarly unique gap in the spectrum of photography and the execution is not dissimilar, with the need for atypical photography and then substantial amounts of post-production work.

The Cosmic Microscapes exhibition is current at the Frederick Holmes & Co. Gallery of Modern Art in Washington.

 

Light Masonry

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York Minster light installation by Jason Bruges

In medieval times, windows, stained glass or otherwise, were essential to the churches, illuminating the building and the people within, both literally and spiritually.  In the eyes of the worshipers, they allowed the light of God into the church.  At a time when few could read, painted windows were used to instruct people in the Christian faith and encourage religious devotion.  Many windows illustrated scenes and stories from the Bible and the lives of the saints, who were revered both as a source of help in everyday life and as mediators in Heaven.

Light is fundamental within places of worship, so it was appropriate that artist and designer Jason Bruges used light to sculpt a secondary layer of dynamic, temporal and ephemeral architecture within the nave of York Minster back in 2016.   Bruges’ artwork is influenced by and extends from the design of the building, investigating the relationships between the vaulted ceiling, the lights and the audience.

A bank of 48 computer-controlled moving-head lights worked in sequence to the accompaniment of the Minster’s organist, producing a show that payed homage to the architecture of the building.

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James Medcraft (2016) Behind the scenes – Masonry Light, York Minster

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James Medcraft (2016) Behind the scenes – Masonry Light, York Minster

It is this contextual link between location and light that I hope to be able to embrace and demonstrate within my practice.