Practical Brief
In this project I aim to create a series of landscape photographs that evoke a sense of abandonment and stillness. I will look into how remains of the built environment can tell us the history of an area and the people that lived there, similarly to Nadav Kander, Marc Wilson and Mathew Merrett. I will be photographing empty expanses where you would normally expect to find people and deserted residential areas. Subject matter will consist of wonderful buildings and areas that are now prey to neglect, vandalism and a demolition crew, from pubs, houses and flats to churches, shops and train stations.
First Set - Local Derelicts
For my first set of images I visited two local derelicts and a recycling dump after closing time. The first building was a derelict studio block, the windows were broken and boarded shut. The doors and many windows were a testament of the building's abandonment.
The second derelict was a home once owned by a man, known locally as 'Mole Man', who dug out a floor underneath his house through the foundations without professional help, the house subsided and he was evicted. The building is now deserted and fenced off, with scaffolding surrounding all four walls to stop it from sinking and collapsing. The many vertical and horizontal steel supports cloaking the derelict's exterior made an interesting image. I aimed to capture shots of abandonment, decay and signs of these buildings' history within this set to express my theme of abandonment and stillness.
The second derelict was a home once owned by a man, known locally as 'Mole Man', who dug out a floor underneath his house through the foundations without professional help, the house subsided and he was evicted. The building is now deserted and fenced off, with scaffolding surrounding all four walls to stop it from sinking and collapsing. The many vertical and horizontal steel supports cloaking the derelict's exterior made an interesting image. I aimed to capture shots of abandonment, decay and signs of these buildings' history within this set to express my theme of abandonment and stillness.
Edits
Second Set - Bankrupted Building Site
For my second set I visited a building site, that had been shut down and was devoid of workers, to achieve wider shots of empty expanses. I liked the fact that everything had been fenced off and left as it was the last time it was in use. Half of the site had been fully built but its interior hadn't been finished, the other half of the site was a large area of concrete with a mass of scaffolding holding up the first floor.
Edits
For these edits I simply intensified the principal colour by changing the colour balance and skewed the image to re-align the horizontal and vertical axes, in order to highlight the deep perspective present in many of this set. Some of the shots are successful in contrasting the cool interior shadows and tones and the play of sunlight on the building structures.
Boyle Family
The Boyle family are a group of four artists who are known for work across a wide range of media, including photography, painting and sculpture, films and projections, and electron-microphotography. They are known for creating large three dimensional textural pieces. One of their best known series is 'Sand, Wind and Tide', shown to the right.
The Boyle family began as a collaboration between husband and wife, Mark Boyle and Joan Hills, in the late 1950s.Their children Georgia and Sebastian joined them later. They work in a variety of media but their most famous work was a 'Journey to the Surface of the Earth', 1968. In this work, blindfolded volunteers stuck pins in the map of the world and then the Boyles realistically replicated small sections of the earths surface in painted fiberglass reliefs. The aim was to make the viewer more perceptually aware and to find beauty in banal materials. I wanted to express my theme of abandonment in a similar way to this group of artists. |
Boyle Family Response
To respond to the Boyle Family's texture pieces, I transfered an image I took in my first set onto a rough piece of cardboard to express the rough, weathered exterior of a derelict building. I used image transfer glue to paste the printed photo ono the cardboard, applied water to the back and by rubbing gently on the wet surface I removed the paper, leaving the image on the cardboard.
Using Remains
I developed this idea by transferring the image onto a crumbling breeze block, giving the photo an even rougher texture to express the state the building has been left in. I like the way the image emerges as the paper is rubbed away, which is almost the opposite of decay where surfaces lose clarity and becomes effaced. To build on this idea I could use textured objects taken from the abandoned sites that feature in my photos, this idea causes a juxtaposition by pasting an image of the derelict building onto a three dimensional remain of it's structure. I could develop this idea further by either transferring different images of the site onto all six sides of the block, or pasting images of different derelict sites onto rubble from the sites themselves and building a wall from the blocks.
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Although the image was clear and colours were still vibrant when freshly transferred, after being left to dry the colours faded. I noticed the colours returned to the image when wet, therefore a varnish may help to retain some of the image's vibrancy. This method will be tested on my next image transfer.
Colin Winterbottom
Colin Winterbottom photographs close up sections and small details to express the atmosphere and feel of a particular area, similarly to how Martin Parr uses his close-ups. In his 'Elegant Corrosion' series Winterbottom captures details of decay and rust. I would like to re-visit the areas I focused on in my first and second set to locate and capture these small details. This would help to express the abandonment and desertion in these locations, almost as if the close ups were microcosms.
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The image to the left is a close up of a section of rusting metal, the outer layers are bubbling and peeling. The colours of the rusting metal are a strong range of reds oranges and browns. The idea of dereliction and abandonment is expressed well in this image as the older under-layers of paint and metal are being exposed over time. The layer structure communicates the age of the surface, like a geological sample.
I aim to capture such strong colours in my own close up images, I will photograph small details of rust, peeling paint, discoloured surfaces and areas subjected to vandalism such as burning, melting and scratching. |
Colin Winterbottom Response
I re-visited the locations that I photographed in my first and second set, as well as visiting several run down housing estates nearby my house, looking for examples of abandonment and dereliction. I took a set of close up and detailed images of decay, rust and mould in the style of Colin Winterbottom's 'Elegant Corrosion' series. The images below have been cropped, enlarged and edited, I increased the vibrancy of these images, slightly increased their saturation and altered the colour balance to bring out certain colours further.
Close-Up Edits
Left London
Alexander Shields and William Eckersley pieced together a 176 page study on their home town's abandoned and derelict sites. Having explored a wide range of sites, taking almost twenty thousand images, the authors of Left London were able to piece together a unique collection of photos that clearly illustrates the evocative and eye catching subject. As well as numerous interior and exterior shots, the book also contains various items left behind, which provide an additional visual narrative.
This image features in the Left London series. it shows a derelict building, stripped of it's roof, windows and interior walls. All that remains of the structure is a weak skeleton of it's former self.
The grey sky and discoloured bricks emphasise the vulnerability and age of the building. The remains of the building's past, such as the safety signs, scattered rubbish and remains of glass in the windows present a dramatic contrast to what is left of the abandoned site. The sprouting plants, discoloured exterior and rusting window frames reinforce the theme of decay. The image has been taken from an angle that allows the viewer to see through the structure, giving it a completely empty feel while making you wonder how it is still standing. |
Left London
The aggressive acts of vandalism presented in these images, such as graffiti, the smashing of windows and torching of the building underline the decline of the building and the lack of care and respect that it is now victim to. These images conjure up a personification of the abandoned building, which almost evoke sympathy in the viewer. I wish to achieve a similar viewer response in my next set of images.
Third Set - Abney Park Church
Below I responded to some of the styles that feature in the Left London series, I visited Abney Park Cemetary in Stoke Newington to capture interior shots of an abandoned church that has been derelict and boarded up for several years.
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Edits
For this set of edits I used a green/blue filter to highlight the nature growing over the structure of this building. In some of the edits I used a similar technique with a red filter to bring out the graffiti inside the church. There is a romantic sense of nature gently reclaiming the man made structure, so that it resembles a Gothic folly.
Nadav Kander
Nadav Kander is a London based photographer, known for both portraiture and landscape photographs. His Chernobyl series features a group of images that look into deserted and abandoned buildings and areas. His photos are usually illuminated with a cold white light interspersed with a range of vibrant details. |
This image is of an abandoned classroom in a derelict school in Pripyat, Chernobyl in former communist Russia. The wallpaper is peeling off, the light fixtures are dropping from the ceiling and the tables and chairs are rotting. Although this school is clearly derelict and no longer in use, the tables are still in place with chairs neatly stacked on top of them.
There are remains of stationery around the classroom, hinting at the room's previous use. There is a strong contrast with the life, bustle and noise of a classroom full of children and the emptiness and decay that we can see. Some chairs have been put on desks in preparation for the cleaner and others are on the ground suggesting a rapid departure and things left unfinished. Stationery and school books have seen left on the desks - there was no time to pick them up. There is a feeling of unseen menace based on the knowledge of what has occurred. The photo has been taken from the normal point of view of a teacher, the angle used emphasises the order and organisation of the classroom; the desks are neatly in line. The image has been bleached out and any vibrant colours have been removed, giving the impression that there is no warmth or life in the room. |
'Chernobyl' Series
Fourth Set - Sheerness, Kent
In order to capture larger, more dramatic interior shots or derelicts I visited Sheerness in Kent, a down at heel, working class sea side resort and it's neighbouring town; Leysdown, both known for numerous derelict and abandoned buildings. My subject matter ranged from houses and churches to hospitals and military defence structures. This gave me a chance to capture large abandoned expanses, similar to those that feature in the Left London Series and the work of Mathew Merrett. One site I didnt have the chance to visit was a large derelict steel factory, which I may re-visit in order to add to my series of interior shots.
For this set I used a Wide Angle Zoom lens to achieve a wider, greater view of the interiors of the buildings aswell as a Fish Eye lense which helped to emphasise the deep perspective of some of my shots.
For this set I used a Wide Angle Zoom lens to achieve a wider, greater view of the interiors of the buildings aswell as a Fish Eye lense which helped to emphasise the deep perspective of some of my shots.
Derelict Bungalow
My first subject matter on my visit to Sheerness was an abandoned 1960s bungalow. I could not go inside the building due to a dangerous structure, which had ben made clear by several warning graffiti signs stuck on it's front wall. However I did capture images of some of it's more obvious signs of distress and dereliction, such as it's lack of a roof, collapsed fences and doors and gaping holes in the widow frames caused by rot. The interior walls had been broken down and the living room had been torched, leaving piles of ash and black stains across the floor, the roof tiles were missing, leaving a skeleton of supporting beams.
Abandoned Hospital
This site was a derelict hospital, there were signs that tramps had lived here after it had been closed down, the interior was victim to graffiti and vandalism. The upper floor was unstable and the third floor had collapsed, but from the top of the staircase a wide view, lit by beams of daylight shining through broken church-like windows, of the roof beams was visible. Countless pigeons were nesting among the horizontal beams and their filth seemed to coat a majority of the hospital's interior. Signs of the building's history still remained such as intricate arches, washing machines and room keys but much of it had been torn apart and lost over time. The interior was almost too hostile to allow the growth of plants, but the outside car park had various signs of nature taking over, such as weeds growing up through the brickwork.
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Edits
The low viewpoint in the image of the buildings roof gives the impression that the viewer is almost sinking into the thick layer of droppings, bringing the scene to life.
Abandoned Church
This set contains images of an abandoned church which had been fenced off due to a weak and dangerous structure. Plants and signs of nature were growing back over the church's walls and floor. Grass had grown neatly over the central path which would normally have lead to the altar, but ended at a large skeletal window frame which had fragments of stained glass hanging from it. These empty window frames allowed beams of sunlight to shine through onto the church floor. Beside the entrance were two collapsed spiral staircases which lead to a collapsed floor above several stone arches, these curves were some of the only remains of the interior of the church.
Edits
Fish Eye Edits
I decided to put this image in black and white as the combination of vibrant colours, clear perspective and the fish eye effect all within one photo made the image too busy. When in black and while I found the image more aesthetically pleasing, allowing the viewer to focus on the images composition and the details of the building's decay. The details of the image became clearer and the black and white gave the image a gothic and reminiscent feel, almost making the structure look more ancient and delicate.
Abandoned Military Defence
Quick Edit Process
Above, I skewed the image, through the 'Transform' menu, to straighten the fence posts against the right hand edge which in turn expanded the area of blue sky.
Here I used HDR Toning through the 'Adjustments' menu to improve the detail of the image. To make it clearer I increased the strength of the edges and slightly increased the highlight and shadow percentage. I then improved the colour clarity of the image by increasing the vibrance and turning up the saturation.
I then altered the colour balance to add a sense of nostalgia, as the green tones of this sepia image reminded me of war-time news reels. I did this by increasing the blues in the shadows, the cyans and greens in the midtones and the yellows in the highlights, which gave the photo a green/blue tint. I selected the torn fabric stuck on the fence and increased the red and blue to make them a clearer feature as they give the image a sense of desertion and abandonment.
Edits
Sepia Edits
Here I re-edited some of this set, putting them into sepia. For the picture with a distant view of the military defenses I kept the previous colour range and made the sepia tint faintly green which resulted in a slightly faded, desaturated image. The sepia makes reference to the reportage documentary style seen in old newspaper photography and classic documentary photography.
Using Remains
Here I transferred what I thought was the strongest image from my Sheerness military defence set onto a sheet of flaked rust. As the colour faded once the transfer had dried, I painted the image with acrylic varnish, which helped to bring back the vibrancy of the piece.
Sheerness Close Ups
These close ups are a simple portrayal of how decay has affected this site over the years, the wood has developed dry rot, lichen is growing over and thick spider webs have gathered in the corners.
Fifth Set - Abandoned Factory, Totteridge
For this set I visited a derelict plastic packaging factory in Totteridge, aiming to capture images of large empty expanses and interiors. On entering the building I noticed the interiors were coated in graffiti and street art. I used the intense colours that featured in the graffiti to make my photographic compositions more interesting as well as to tie together my series of the building. The factory had over seven rooms which all had clear signs of their previous use, such as Dictaphones, safes and desks in the offices, and mounds of packaging boxes, heavy machinery and electricity switches in the worker's factory floor. The utilitarian greys of the metal work, whitewashed walls and concrete contrast against the vibrant curvilinear shapes of the graffiti.
These photographs will document the gradual decay and increasing dilapidation of the building, capturing a moment which records the current state of decline.
These photographs will document the gradual decay and increasing dilapidation of the building, capturing a moment which records the current state of decline.
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Edits
Fish Eye Edits
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Similarly to my the fish eye edit of the abandoned church in my fourth set, this image had too many conflicting features. The wide range of bright colours alongside the numerous details and fish eye effect made this picture too busy. By putting the photo in black and white and altering the grey scale I managed to make the picture clearer and create a clearer focus on the details in the image.
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Sixth Set - Abandoned Factory, Totteridge - Revisit
Previously I captured large interior views as a means of recording the size and condition of the derelict, however for this set I revisited the abandoned factory in Totteridge in order to concentrate on the details of the building that I missed first time round and work on the composition of my photos. I also aimed to capture a brief set of close-ups as a further response to Colin Winterbottom's work, as well as bring back abandoned remains to transfer photos onto as a further development of my textural work.
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Edits
Sepia / Black and White Edits
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Setting these colourful images into black and white and sepia makes reference to the reportage documentary style seen in newspaper photography and classic documentary photography, such as the work of Don McCullin. The black and white clarifies and intensifies the light and shade in the image, opening up the composition and allowing the viewer to focus on the details of the scene. By paring the composition down to it's essentials a certain stillness is achieved, resulting in a silent and elegant feel. Using these black and white set images would make it easier to achieve a clearer image when photo transferring onto discarded remains, especially when transferring onto busy backgrounds such as rust or graffiti.
Totteridge Close Ups
Final Close Up Series
To create a final series of my work on close ups throughout my project, I chose the strongest images from each set of all of the locations, as well as capturing themes such similar to Colin Winterbottom, such as rust and decay, I branched out into more dramatic themes such as vandalism and chemical erosion.
Using Remains
I transferred images onto the remains I took from the derelict factory in Totteridge. The images I transferred were selected from the first and second visits to the factory.
1. Selecting Remains
I aimed to bring back a set of three objects that would clearly relate to my set of images of Totteridge. I decided to use three objects to stick to the rule of three as this would make a stronger set. I chose to use the doors from electrical boxes as they feature greatly in my Totteridge series and would be relatively easy to transfer an image onto. |
2. Priming the Object
I primed the three electrical box doors with white paint, which had to be non-water based. This would prevent the dark grey of the surface from showing through my image, and would create a clearer result. |
3. Applying Transfer Gel
I then generously applied the transfer gel with alternate brush strokes to retain some of the object's texture. |
4. Reversing the Image
As the image would be placed face down and result in a reversed image, I reversed the image using photoshop before printing onto standard printing paper. I also intensified the contrast and vibrancy as some of the colour would be lost during the transfer process. |
5. Soaking and Removing Paper
After leaving the objects for several hours to allow the image to transfer, I soaked the objects for 2-3 minutes to make it easier to remove the paper from the surface. This also gave me a chance to check how the image had transferred and see if any air bubbles had been trapped between the paper and the gel. |
6. Varnishing the Result
After removing the paper from the surface, revealing the image and leaving it to dry, the colour in the images had faded , especially the reds and greens. To bring back the vibrancy of the images I varnished them using acrylic varnish. I then re-attatched some of the screws, fittings and box numbers to restore them to their original appearance. |
For the transfers below I used three spray paint cans I found in the factory and transferred three vibrant close up images that featured vandalism and graffiti. For these I used the same process as the electrical box doors above, but this time left an inch revealed at the top of each can.
For the piece below I printed off two images from the Totteridge series and inserted them into two plastic bags which I found in the factory. These plastic sheathes where one of the main products produced by the factory when it was still in business, so I thought it would be fitting to include them in my final series combined with images related to the factory's past era of production. I then inserted a paper detail into an information slot in the bags to reinforce the meaning of the item and it's original location, shown below to the right.
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This photo transfer used a shallow drawer I found in the main office of the factory, used for storing accounts and order information. I stuck down three of the sheets which had the most writing, painted the section I would be transferring onto white, and then transferred the image over the accounting sheets. Originally I did not paint the image's background, which resulted in the writing showing through the image and the ink bleeding through in some areas, making the image busy and making it hard to decipher fine details.
I chose the image of the factory toilet, which had severe signs of decay as it contrasted with the once very important accounting information, almost acting as a comment on the buildings abandonment and increase in decay. The colours in the wooden drawer and the image were similar, which brought the image and the object closer together.
I chose the image of the factory toilet, which had severe signs of decay as it contrasted with the once very important accounting information, almost acting as a comment on the buildings abandonment and increase in decay. The colours in the wooden drawer and the image were similar, which brought the image and the object closer together.
Further Development
To develop my final set I will transfer images onto larger remains, such as the large metal doors shown to the right, the chair that features in my final set or even transfer images onto panes of glass in a window frame.
To extend my idea I will transfer a large A2 image from my factory set and transfer it onto one of the factory walls, re-photograph this and present it as a juxtaposed piece.
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Returning Remains
Factory Transfer
First Step - Applying Image
I located the flattest and driest wall in the factory, bearing in mind what colour of graffiti my image would sit well on. I measured out the size of the image and sprayed the area white to make a clear and crisp final image. I then applied the transfer gel and adhered the A3 sheets in numbered order onto the white area. I then covered the nine A3 sheets with newspaper and left them to dry overnight.
On my return to the transfer the next day I found that water had leaked from the roof, the paper had been torn and someone had graffiti-ed over the transfer, which really shows how much of a changing environment this abandoned site is. The graffiti did not affect the image, and the tear was minor, but the leaking roof had prevented some of the image from transferring properly. This meant that in unknown areas of the piece, when removing the paper layer, the image behind would come with it.
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Second Step - Removing Paper and Varnishing
After overcoming the initial set-back of the graffiti and tear I proceeded to slowly remove the paper from the image, which took almost four hours in total due to the size of the piece and it's water damage. The final two images in the slideshow above displays how the varnish helps to bring back the darker tones and vibrancy of the transfer. Below, to the left, is an image that shows the numerous tears in the transfer gel, which occurred due to the wet conditions of the room and the fairly rough texture of the wall. To the right is a detail of the jagged paper frame I left unpeeled on the edges of the image, this helped to tie the image in with its rugged surroundings and background of graffiti.
Final Large Scale Transfer
I photographed my final transferred image alongside objects which featured in my first Totteridge set, including the chair which features in the transferred image itself. The image below displays the kind of heavily juxtaposed image of abandonment and the decline of derelict buildings which I aimed to achieve at the beginning of this project.
I like to think of this final piece as a shrine to the building and it's former state, although as the piece is now part of the building it is likely to change and decline with it. It is likely to be obliterated with numerous layers of graffiti, just as the chair in the original image has changed, shown below.
I like to think of this final piece as a shrine to the building and it's former state, although as the piece is now part of the building it is likely to change and decline with it. It is likely to be obliterated with numerous layers of graffiti, just as the chair in the original image has changed, shown below.