Journal
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Fine Art
Photography
Fine art photography is defined as using your photography as a artistic medium, used to further conceptualise your ideas. When producing these types of photographs, here is usually a deeper meaning to them, it isn't just what it seems to be on the surface. It is different to commercial photography where it is designed to be appreciated for its aesthetic value whereas commercial photographs are intended to promote or sell a product, service or cause. Fine art photography can be linked with landscape and documentary photography because it can be anything which has a deeper meaning to it.
In this project I want to explore an object or place that is familiar and has a deep meaning to my life. I want to capture this in a way that doesn't immediately show its meaning to me, I want to tell a story in some way that shows someone what that object or place meaning to me.
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Research
Richard Misrach
Richard Misrach is a photographer that photographs the dynamic landscape of the American West through an environmentally aware and political lens. He is best known for his ongoing series of Desert Cantos, comprising of 40 distinct but related groups of photos that explore the complex conjunction between mankind and nature. His photographs of desert seas, rock formations and clouds are juxtaposed with unsettling scenes of desert fires, nuclear test sights, walls, and animal burial pits. I really like his range of photographs, as well as their style and aesthetic. As well as being pleasing to the eye, I also really like how the deeper meaning of the photographs are there, but they aren't very obvious, only if you were to read about the images.
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Chris Round
Chris Round is a landscape photographer based in Sydney, Australia. He primarily investigates our relationship with the contemporary environment, focusing on landscapes that bear an imprint of direct human intervention. His work invites viewers to reconsider their own relationship with natural and built environments that surround them. Round seeks to capture landscapes in a way that shows its authenticity, and rather than exaggerating or manipulating he lets the landscape speak for itself, producing images that are aesthetically striking. I really like the photographs I have chosen above because they each display a different landscape in a different way. Even though the photographs are simple, they each have some sort of deeper meaning to them, for example in the image to the far left, it possibly shows how landscapes will always have some sort of human trace, this photograph showing how people are living within the environment.
When I create my own photographs, I want to focus on a landscape that is close to my personal life, and I wanted to capture it in a way that shows how humans have recently left a scar on the landscape. As well as this, I wanted to show the beauties of the landscape, even though it has been heavily destroyed, as well as showing how people exist within the area how they interact with it.
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Photoshoot
I took these photos to show how a landscape has changed dramatically in a short amount of time due to the removal of trees that were planted 30 years ago. Even though my main focus was to capture the deforestation, I also wanted to show areas that are close to it, including the lake and the common area that is right next door. As well as capturing those landscapes as a whole, I also zoomed into parts that made the landscape what it is, including logs, paint marks, leftovers of a fire etc... My aim with this photoshoot was to show how humans have impacted this area.
I took these photos using a 18-55mm lens. I tried to not zoom in too much when capturing the landscape as a whole because I wanted to show a viewer what the whole landscape looks like rather than only a small section of it. I only zoomed in when there was a small aspect of the landscape that I wanted to show. I primarily stuck with using a low ISO value, as well as using a quick shutter speed to produce still images, changing the aperture value depending on the brightness.
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Edits
I created these 8 edits inspired by both Richard Misrach and Chris Round. I really liked how they both capture a landscape in different ways so I attempted to take my photos in a way that showed I was inspired by both of their styles. I chose these 8 photographs to edit in particular because I felt they showed that I was inspired by both of those photographers the best. I edited each photograph in a similar way, first adjusting the curves to make the photographs brighter, then using colour balance to add a brown tint to create a warmer feeling. I decided to create a brown tint because I felt as if it reflected the brown in the deforestation area the best, as well as reflecting how both Misrach and Round have a sort of warm tone to their photographs. I really like how these edits reflect the area I photographed in different ways, from zooming into smaller details to capturing the landscape and the surrounding area as a whole.
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Evaluation
For this project, I focused on capturing a landscape that has recently had a large portion of its trees removed, which were planted around 30 years ago. I began this project by researching two different fine art photographers which captured landscapes in a similar way to how I wanted to capture this landscape. Next, I went to the location to capture the landscape as a whole, as well as zooming into smaller details. Next I brought them onto photoshop, where I edited them in a way that continued to reflect how I was inspired by both of those photographers, and that also enhanced the landscape. I really like how those edits turned out because I think as well as showing someone what deforestation does to an area, it also shows beauties that surround it like the neighbouring common land and the views.
Overall I am very happy with how this Fine Art project turned out because I feel like I was able to show someone what this landscape now looks like and how I was inspired by both Richard Misrach and Chris Round. If I were to continue with this project, I would go on a second photoshoot to explore a different area of this deforestation, as well as possibly researching a third photographer to further understand how else I can shoot and edit my photos.
