In the early 20th century it was felt that the camera was the best tool to document the industrial revolution. One way progress and industry was apparent in our environment was the rapid changes happening in cities, particularly in the western world. Photographic technologies and the camera's ability to quickly capture the construction of the modern world perfectly reflected the speed and modernism of the time.
Since this point, photography of the ever changing, built environment has challenged photographers to create a breadth of responses. Photographs range from documenting the construction and appearance of the architecture to creating images that present a greater concept such as globalisation.
Photograms
Brutalist structure
"The city’s changing architecture is a kind of memorial of humanity’s endeavours and schemes, for all buildings have been fashioned according to the ideologies of their days". The term Brutalism was derived from the French ‘Béton brut’, or raw concrete, was a term coined for the futurist architecture being created by Le Corbusier and others like him. From this label the term Brutalism was created as a way to classify this style of architecture.The expression became associated with a movement emerging in postwar British architectural offices. The architecture itself is characterized by the large size of the buildings and the use of raw unfinished concrete. Brutalist buildings also make use of geometric forms in a way to attempt to communicate the buildings function and what the rooms behind the slabs of concrete are used for.
Simon Phipps
The photography by Simon Phipps provides a unique perspective and portrays Brutalist architecture in a sensitive, realistic and distinctive manner. Phipps has spent the last 15 years photographing and documenting Brutalist and buildings in the UK, creating a survey of photographic images that demonstrate the breadth of this contentious architectural style.
Negative space
Form/shape
Line and perspective
Geometric shapes
Evol- Street Art
German street artist EVOL transforms banal urban surfaces into miniature lifelike buildings. He is like an urban planner, but unlike the others, he creates a city within the city. The artist uses complicated stencils and photographs to quickly transform powerboxes, and other worn urban surfaces into miniature apartment buildings or other structures. By drawing tiny balconies and satellite dishes onto the side of an electrical box, he is able to turn it into a realistic tiny skyscraper.
The structure of the body
Structure of City
Marcus Lyon
Marcus Lyon focuses on the development of urbanisiation and how it is changing.In 2008, a watershed was crossed and the world saw the irreversible shift from a global majority of rural dwellers to a new army of urban residents. He photographed buildings and used post production to create the "busy" atmosphere of his pieces and manipulate the structure of the city.
My response:
For my response, i wanted to make the build up of the city more subtle so that my pieces look more realistic. I have done this by picking buildings which are smaller and unoticeable so that when i layer them using photoshop they are not obvious. for example i have layered cranes which
Structure Of Nature
Transport
This strand is inspired by the photographer Nils Jorgensen who has an instinct for finding low-key, easily overlooks details. He spots exquisite collisions of line and form in the most ordinary places. He says 'a shadow on a wall is more interesting to me than a fight' In my response i tried to capture things which would be recognisable to someone who uses London's public transport regularly that are not likely to be looked at in great detail as people tend to be rushing when travelling for example window stains from rain, handles, poles, lights on the ceilings and patterns on the floors and ceilings.