Saturday 1 December 2012

Houses

I now have about 30 good images for this project. It is nice to finally have a coherent, cohesive set of images that really do tell a story about the neighbourhood where I live.

Below are the 21 images that rate above 3 star for my system. I am having some doubts about the 'labelling' of these images, that I was thinking of doing. I have the idea of labelling the houses with a self-attribute, such as 'mum', or 'photographer'. I'm wondering if this is a little clichéd  But it does mean something to me, and I recognise the feeling of identifying with others as being similar, but also different, but I'm worried I'm trying to put too much into it by adding the labels. Perhaps I should just let them stand on their own?


So far I have 'optimized' the colour version of each image, done some preliminary straightening (some of the hills are quite steep here) and done a little cropping. I have purposely tried to not choose houses with cars out the front (on the street) as I think it distracts from the image.

At the moment I have only done one version of the mono, in a high contrast dramatic black and white, but I need to experiment with this more.


I am feeling very happy with the images thus far, but am a bit unsure about the idea of the self-portrait... I need to do some more thinking over the next few weeks. I also will need to experiment with getting some images printed, perhaps on different paper for mono, and think about my framing...

4 comments:

  1. This does look like an interesting selection. Are you thinking of changing them all to bw? What would that add to the meaning or is it purely an aesthetic choice?

    In the process of doing a similar project myself and have looked at quite a few other such projects. The main other artists worth looking at in this context are of course the Bechers. The second part of Walker Evans's American Photographs has a strong typological element also. I have a note of a few other more contemporary takes on my notes at home and will try to remember to add those names when I get back.

    As for the names - I am also unsure about them. The typology probably achieves the aims you set out on the previous post without them. With them you add something else to the equation. I can see how it could work and add a layer of interest. It will certainly affect how the pictures are read by viewers. It's quite a difficult choice I can see.

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  2. Thanks Eileen for your thoughtful comments. I do need to do some more reading, and should blog about it also - the typography movement has always interested me but this is my first attempt at any large project of this kind, and it's very exciting! I have also looked at your blog and facades images - they are so different to those here in sunny Brisbane! That is partly the reason I am converting to monochrome, because I'm worried the brilliant blue skies will detract from the strong asthetics of the images. I want the focus to be on the shapes of the houses, not the colour of the walls and sky (though that would make an interesting project also). I am veering away from labels of any kind... Thanks for the suggestions of checking out Walker Evans, I had not realised the typological link there :)

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  3. Good luck with the project - I find working in series much more satisfying now than individual images. I confess I like the colour images very much and think they work really well but you must make your own mind up. It's interesting to see how many differences there can be in approach to a subject like this. I know that the Bechers were very intent on getting clear outlines - reading that made me realise that for me the thing is interaction (between plants and buildings, or buildings and cars, or all three).

    I was also surprised when I saw the second half of American Photos. Tow other contemporary artists that are work looking at are Klaus Pichler (his 'Middle Class Utopia' series - some are very funny). and Jeffrey Milstein ('Palm Springs' set).

    Looking forward to watching this develop. Also very jealous of the weather. It is pretty grey here just now and I seem to take even darker and greyer pictures as winter blues sets in.

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  4. Awesome, thanks very much for the suggestions. Yes we are lucky with the weather, though it will be 39 today and humid which doesn't sound that great...! I will check out those artists you suggested. Good luck with your project too, the comparison between them will be interesting :)

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